Abstract
Inserted in one of the largest families among the Angiosperms, Genipa americana L., Rubiaceae, can be found in all Brazilian territory, presenting great medicinal importance, where several uses have been attributed. In view of this, this work has the purpose of analyzing the ultrastructural, biomineral, phytochemical and histochemical characteristics of the leaves of this native species from Brazil. For this, light microscopy, polarization and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used with X-ray scattering energy, associated to chromatographic and histochemical tests. The anatomical ultrastructural characteristics of the leaves detailed information about the type and arrangement of the cuticle, trichomes, surface and arrangement of the tissues that determine the botanical identity of this species. The phyto-chemical tests allowed determining their chromatographic pattern and histochemistry to determine the exact storage site of these substances in the leaf. It was observed that the characterization of the crystalline macro-pattern present in the analyzed species, as well as its exact elemental composition, can be considered an important differential diagnosis factor. The results characterize the leaves of this species in different aspects, being a native species and pharmacologically promising, with different popular uses and proven pharmacological activities, and more in depth studies is needed.
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ALV and AVS assisted in carrying out the laboratory work. RJRP and LCA helped in conducting the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. ALV wrote the paper and KPR provided a critical reading of the manuscript. ALV and KPR planned the project, collected the plant material and was responsible for its identification. KPR supervised the laboratory work. All the authors have read the final manuscript and approved the submission.
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Vasconcelos, A.L., Santos, A.V., Padilha, R.J.R. et al. Anatomical characterization of ultra-structures, biominerals and histolocalization of metabolites in leaves of Genipa americana. Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. 27, 541–548 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjp.2017.05.002
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjp.2017.05.002