Eduardo Gama Ortiz Menezes

By Ana Paula de Souza e Silva, Wanessa Almeida da Costa, Marielba de Los Angeles Rodriguez Salazar, Priscila do Nascimento Bezerra, Flávia Cristina Seabra Pires, Maria Caroline Rodrigues Ferreira, Eduardo Gama Ortiz Menezes, Glides Rafael Olivo Urbina, Jhonatas Rodrigues Barbosa and de Carvalho Raul Nunes

This chapter reviews plant-based fatty acids as well as their methods of production, applications in the industry, and benefits in treatments of cardiovascular and cerebral diseases, besides being a source of food. The fatty acids obtained from vegetable matrices have been acting as alternatives to the use of lipids of animal origin, due to their limitation in relation to the increase in demand. Thus, plants have been investigated in order to act as sources of fatty acids and assist in the supply of such demands. Vegetable oils represent not only an economical alternative but also a beneficial source of human health.

Part of the book: Biochemistry and Health Benefits of Fatty Acids

By Kelly Roberta Pinheiro Pantoja, Eduardo Gama Ortiz Menezes, Diana das Graças de Oliveira, Jean Maurício Leão Pinheiro, Verônica Maria Souza Bezerra, Fernando de Freitas Maués de Azevedo and Raul Nunes de Carvalho Júnior

Brosimum acutifolium is a large tree with high medicinal and pharmacological value, widely used in folk medicine by some communities in South America and northern Brazil, as a potent antirheumatic, antiarthritic and anti-inflammatory, so this work aims to address the chemical composition and biological activities of the bark of the species, reported in the scientific literature in the last 30 years. Information was collected from the databases such as the Google Scholar, Scientific Electronic library online (Scielo), National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Elsevier, institutional repositories and government websites. The bark of the plant species has a variability of compounds in its composition, such as flavonoids, coumarins, phytosterols, alkaloids and lignoids, representing an important source of phenolic bioactives, which makes it a natural antioxidant. In this research, biological activities, such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and anticancer activities, were found. The biological properties observed are related to the promotion of human health, and when added to the vast diversity in secondary metabolites present in the bark, it transforms the species into a strong candidate to act as an auxiliary therapeutic alternative in the control and treatment of certain diseases and as an input for the development of bioproducts.

Part of the book: Functional Food