Chemical constituents of Pseudobrickellia brasiliensis leaves(Spreng.) R.M. King & H. Rob. (Asteraceae)

ABSTRACT Pseudobrickelliabrasiliensisis aspecies endemic toBrazil, popularlyknown as “arnica”/ “arnica-do-campo”/ “arnica-do-mato” and used for itsanalgesicand anti-inflammatoryproperties. The objective of this research was thephytochemical studyof the essential oilandhexaneandethyl acetateextracts of the leaves of this species. The essential oilwasextracted byhydrodistillation using a Clevengerapparatusand was analyzed byGC/MS, 25components were identified, with a predominance ofmonoterpenes. The extractswere subjected toclassicalchromatographyand the fractionswere analyzed byGC/MS, 1D 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and 13C-NMR-DEPT 135.α-amyrin, α-amyrin acetate, β-amyrin, β-amyrin acetate, lupeol, lupeolacetate, pseudotaraxasterol andtaraxasterol (triterpenes), andkaurenoicacid (diterpene) were identified.Theseterpenesarechemo-taxonomicallyrelated to theEupatorieaetribe(Asteraceae) and may be responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity attributed to the plant