Organizing co mmittee

OVER TEN YEARS RESEARCH WITH SARACURA MIRÁ: 
AMPELOZIZYPHUS AMAZONICUS THE BRAZILIAN 
ADAPTOGEN FROM THE AMAZON 
Suzana Guimarães Leitão
1 
 
1
Faculdade de Farmácia, Departamento de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos, 
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS, Bl. A, Ilha do Fundão, 21.941-902, Rio 
de Janeiro, Brazil. 
[e-mail]
Ampelozizyphus amazonicus
Ducke (Rhamnaceae) is an Amazonian medicinal plant 
popularly known as “saracuramirá” or “cervejade-índio” that is found in the Amazon 
forest territories, occurring in Brazil in the States of Amazonas, Pará, and Roraima [1].
An aqueous drink with reported tonic and antimalarial properties can be prepared from 
the bark and roots of the plant [1]. Ethnopharmacological studies indicate both 
stimulatory and energetic properties for 
A. amazonicus
. Due to the growing interest in 
dietary supplements with adaptogen properties, our research group engaged in the study 
of its immunomodulatory properties, its chemistry and its biotechnological applications. 
The water extract from the barks was spray dried without drying adjuvants, resulting in 
a powder (SARF), which was characterized by its physicochemical properties and 
proximate, mineral and saponin contents [2,3]. The effect of SARF on the immune 
response was investigated which confirmed that SARF possesses immunomodulatory 
properties, inducing an in vivo modification of the B lymphocyte response and an 
increase in the basal levels of anti-ovalbumin, anti-LPS and anti-dextran IgM antibodies 
[2,3]. The SARF saponins were isolated into different groups by countercurrent 
chromatography (CCC) and characterized by off-line ultra-high-performance liquid 
chromatography/high resolution accurate mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS
n
) analysis 
[4]. More recently, we initiated the study of a water extract from the woods, which are 
discarded in the traditional process of beverage preparation, but generate saponin-rich 
extracts as well. A methodology developed to dereplicate aqueous extracts from both 
bark and wood by high resolution (HRMS) precursor and tandem mass spectrometry 
(MS/MS) will be discussed. Taken together, these results suggest that SARF could be 
an interesting new functional ingredient for food applications or pharmaceutical 
products.