Antitermitic and antioxidant activities of heartwood extracts and main flavonoids of Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart.

Hymenaea stigonocarpa, is an endemic tree from the Brazilian cerrado (savannah) and popularly known as jatobá-do-cerrado. The wood of this species is resistant to biodegradation and is used in naval and civil construction. Cuttings from heartwood of this species showed resistance to fungi and termites. In this paper, we report the antitermitic and antioxidant activities of H. stigonocarpa heartwood ethyl acetate extract and its main flavonoids constituents, hultenin (1), taxifolin (2), quercetin (3) and 7-methoxycathequin (4). The structure elucidation of the isolated flavonoids was performed by spectroscopic methods. The ethyl acetate extract possesses highest antitermitic and antioxidant activity when compared with isolated flavonoids.