Determination of the Composition of Copaifera (Fabaceae) Leaf Extracts with Potential Antioxidant Activity by Metabolomics Approach

Copaifera species display several biological activities, such as antimicrobial, antinociceptive, gastroprotective, and anti-inflammatory. Some of these activities are directly associated with the presence of compounds with significant antioxidant properties. Determination of the chemical composition of the leaf extracts of nine Copaifera species was performed, by attributing which compounds are responsible for the antioxidant activity based on metabolomic analysis, through qualitative chemical analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry and in vitro antioxidant activity assay. Eighty-one compounds were found in all analyzed extracts, being 60 peaks totally identified as phenolic compounds (galloylquinic acids and flavonoids), organic acids, coumarins, and terpenes. Orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis indicated that six galloylquinic acids and one flavonoid were the most active compounds. The chemical composition of the nine Copaifera species leaves revealed different classes of compounds. Graphical Abstract