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Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C Contents Vol. 69c (2014)

Z. Naturforsch. 69c, 46 – 52 (2014)

doi:10.5560/ZNC.2012-0192

Bioguided Identification of Antifungal and Antiproliferative Compounds from the Brazilian Orchid Miltonia flavescens Lindl.

Leticia F. Porte¹, Silvana M. O. Santin¹, Lucas U. R. Chiavelli¹, Cleuza C. Silva¹, Terezinha J. Faria², Ricardo T. Faria³, Ana L. T. G. Ruiz⁴, João E. Carvalho⁴, and Armando M. Pomini^1,*

¹Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Departamento de Química, Avenida Colombo, 5790, CEP 87020-900, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. Fax: + 55 44 30114125. E-mail: ampomini@uem.br

²Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Departamento de Química, CEP 86051-990, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

³Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Departamento de Agronomia, CEP 86051-990, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

⁴Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), CPQBA, CEP 13081-970, Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil

^*Author for correspondence and reprint requests

Received October 18, 2012 / November 20, 2013 / published online March 5, 2014

The Orchidaceae family is appreciated worldwide for the beauty of its flowers, and hundreds of species of this family occur in Brazil. Yet little is known about the potential of orchids for therapeutic application. We have investigated bioactive compounds produced by the South Brazilian orchid Miltonia flavescens Lindl. Bioguided studies with the fungus Cladosporium herbarum allowed the identification of hydrocinnamic acid as the active antifungal compound. In addition, the chloroform fraction exhibited an interesting activity against human cancer cells, and 5,7-dihydroxy-6,4′-dimethoxyflavone isolated from this fraction was found to be active against seven human cancer cell lines, including NCI/ADR-RES ovary sarcoma, with an IC₅₀ value of 2.6 μg/mL. This is the first report on the cytostatic activity of this flavone against human ovary sarcoma.

Key words: Miltonia flavescens, Flavone, Human Ovary Sarcoma

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