Extracts from the stem bark of Stryphnodendron adstringens (barbatimão) exhibit relevant medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and wound-healing activities, which reinforce their potential for developing herbal medicines. The $550 billion plant bioactive market (by 2030) demands safer, green-chemistry-aligned extraction methods for responsible industrial scaling. In this study, dry extracts obtained from the stem bark of S. adstringens were obtained by ultrasound-assisted maceration in one- and two-step extraction systems. Parameters such as yield, solvent evaporation time, cost, acute toxicity, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) concentration, cell viability, antioxidant potential, and anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated. High-EGCG two-step organic extracts were industrially difficult, needing more raw material and toxic solvents. In contrast, the single-step extracts showed a better balance between yield, cost, safety, and biological efficacy. All extracts showed cell viability above 70% at safe concentrations and significantly reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines. Thus, the results confirm that optimizing single-step extraction, with lower environmental impact solvents, enables producing safe and effective polyphenol-rich extracts, consolidating water as the main candidate for industrial-scale phytotherapeutic formulations of barbatimão, in line with its traditional use in infusions.

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro antioxidant (AA) and anti-inflammatory activity of commercial plant extracts used in traditional Chinese medicine, namely: Curcubita moschata (CMO and CMV), Juniperus chinensis (JC), Peucedanum ostruthium (PO), Pinellia ternata Breit. (PTO and PTV), Rubus coreanus (RC), Rubus chingii Hu (RCH), Solanum tuberosum (STV and ST), and Viola mandshurica (VM). AA was determined by the Folin–Ciocalteu reagent reducing substances (FCRRS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) methods. In vitro production of inflammatory cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages was determined by Griess reagent (nitric oxide [NO]) and tumor necrosis factor-α/interleukin-10 (TNF-α/IL-10) by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. The PTO, RCH, RC, PTV, and VM extracts had the highest FCRRS and FRAP values. RCH, RC, and VM had the highest ORAC values. All the extracts exhibited anti-inflammatory activity by reducing NO and TNF-α production or increasing IL-10. RC and JC treatments showed the highest inhibition of NO production, 68.63% and 64.91%, respectively. PTO and PTV treatments increased IL-10 production up to four-fold. The Pinellia ternata Breit. extract (PTO) was the most promising among all bioactivity assays performed, as it exhibited electron transfer-based AA activity and demonstrated anti-inflammatory effects by stimulating IL-10 production.