ANTICARIOGENIC POTENTIAL OF TANNINS OF FOREST SPECIES
natural tannins, bioactive substances, antimicrobial activity, dental caries, cariogenics bacterias.
In Brazil are many species tannin-producing, but few of them are used for this, which has negative impacts on the few species that are traditionally explored for that purpose. The presence of tannins arouses pharmaceutical interest in many plant species, based on the principle of popular use, and the antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiviral and antitumor properties of tannins, which are already well known and documented. The objective of this study is to extract, characterize chemically the tannins of Acacia mangium Willd., Azadirachta indica A. Juss Mimosa tenuiflora Willd, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth, and to verify the antibacterial activity of these tannins against cariogenic bacteria strains. The tannin content of tree bark from 4 - year - old commercial plantations located in an experimental area in Macaíba, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil will be analyzed. The peels, after being collected, will be air-dried, milled and graded, using the portion passing through the 1x1 mm mesh sieve, and being retained in a 0,25x0,25 mm mesh. For extractions, 25 grams of bark will be used in 250 mL of distilled water. The obtained extract will be sieved, filtered through a glass funnel and concentrated. Then, the total solids content, Stiasny index and the content of condensed tannins will be determined. The chemical characterization of the tannins will be performed by infrared spectrometry with Fourrier transform. The evaluation of the antibacterial activity of the tannins will be carried out by means of the determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration for Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus sobrinus. The realization of this work will contribute to the knowledge of the taniferous potential of the studied species, to the efficacy and safety in the popular use of the species as a therapeutic resource against bacterial strains of dental importance, and for the valorization of the forest species under study from the use of a non-timber forest product. M. tenuiflora and A. mangium causing higher TTC percentages (23.40% and 12.41%, respectively), indicating potential for industrial tannin production. Although M. caesalpiniifolia was submitted to low TTC (8.38%), the species presented high IS (91.27%), characterized by the high degree of pure tannins. Chemical analysis allowed to characterize the tannins and allowed a considerable amount of extract information to be obtained in a limited time.