Avaliação da variabilidade química de espécies de coral-sol coletadas na Baía de Todos os Santos.

Abstract

Corals of the genus Tubastraea (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) are native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, being currently distributed along the tropical waters of the Atlantic, mainly on the Brazilian coast, due to the bioinvasion process. The colonies of Tubastraea are known as ‘Sun Coral' and the chemical defense present is an important strategy, being sustained by the production of antifouling, antipredation and release of allelopathic metabolites, due to the production of hydrocarbons, terpenes, steroids and alkaloides as the main classes of substances. Moreover, studies have demonstrating important pharmacological activities for alkaloids present in marine organisms, such as specific toxicity to cancer cells, antiplasmodial and antimicrobial activities, besides properties related to neurotransmission modulation. In this context, the present work was intendend to determine the chemical profile to evaluate the chemical variability of sun coral species collected at the Todos-os-Santos Bay (BA). The corals were collected at the Todos-os-Santos Bay (BA), in different months between 2020 and 2021. The extracts were prepared using methanol as a solvent in the ratio of 1:3 w/v (coral:solvent). The colonies, after lyophilized, were extracted using ultrasound bath and then static maceration. The HPLC/DAD method was developed using luna® C18 column (5μm, 250 x 4.6 mm) with a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. The mobile phase used was water: trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (99.94:0.06 v/v;) (phase A) and methanol as phase B in a gradient elution. Analysis of Tubastraea chemical profile showed higher peaks at 24min, 27min and 30min with UV spectrum at wavelengths of 250nm, 277nm and 348nm, characteristic of aplisinopsin alkaloides. It concludes that the method developed for extraction and chemical analysis was effective for the objective proposed by the work. This work made it possible to establish a chemical profile for the sun coral in Todos-os-Santos Bay (BA), where we could observe the chemical variability between the types and collection sites. This similarity in the special metabolism of coral-sun species, where it was possible to establish a major compound as a possible chemical marker of the species, because it is repeated independently of the location and type of sample.