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The interest in South American native plant species has been growing in recent years due to their health benefits. Brazil is one of the world's mega-diverse locations with over 40,000 different plant species representing 20% of the world's flora. The country was visited in the 19th century by European travelers and naturalists, who described the use of native plant species as food. In this study, data on 67 species was recovered from historical documents and bibliographies. Several of the recorded species show potential as functional food in laboratory studies. Other species are unknown or not yet submitted to any study, in order to verify their health benefits.

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Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae), a medicinal plant used worldwide, has antimalarial activity as shown in previous work. This study tested ethanol extracts from wild plants collected in three different regions of Brazil and from plants cultivated in various soil conditions. The extracts were active in mice infected with P. berghei: doses of < or =500 mg/kg administered by oral route reduced malaria parasitaemia and mouse mortality; higher doses were found to be less effective. Tested in vitro against three P. falciparum isolates, two chloroquine resistant and one mefloquine resistant, the plants cultivated under standard conditions, and in humus enriched soil, were active; but the wild plants were the most active. Analysis using thin layer chromatography demonstrated the presence of flavonoids (compounds considered responsible for the antimalarial activity) in all plants tested, even though at different profiles. Because B. pilosa is proven to be active against P. falciparum drug-resistant parasites in vitro, and in rodent malaria in vivo, it is a good candidate for pre-clinical tests as a phytotherapeutic agent or for chemical isolation of the active compounds with the aim of finding new antimalarial drugs.

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The data recorded by the French naturalist A. de Saint-Hilaire represent a rich, unexplored source of information regarding the traditional uses of Brazilian plants.