The potential of a plant with medicinal and nutritional properties, Anredera cordifolia, is reviewed. Its common names include “Bertalha” and “folha gorda” and it is popularly used for wound healing and against fungal infections and other types of infection. Its pharmacological properties have been widely investigated and acknowledged, especially with regard to its antibacterial activity, which improves the healing of wounds infected by Staphylococcus aureus, and to its antifungal activity against Candida albicans. It is an unconventional food plant, with leaves and aerial tubers used as food prepared in varied ways. It is also considered an invasive plant in several countries and thus classified as a weed. Its characteristics of a Brazilian native plant, with proven medicinal properties and unconventional use as food, underlie our study on its ecology and botanical classification, as well as the pharmacological assays and screening of chemical constituents.

Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis is a vine species native to Brazil that is considered an unconventional food plant and a medicinal species whose phenolic compounds exert antioxidant activity. Since the production of metabolites is determined by environmental factors and leaf maturity, it is important to track these changes in order to determine the best time to harvest. This study aimed to verify whether leaf phenology and seasonality cause variations in the amount of phenolic compounds and in the antioxidant activity of this species. The leaves were collected in different seasons between September 2018 and April 2019, and separated according to maturity: young, mature, and senescent. Daily atmospheric temperature and rainfall data were used to characterize the collection period. The total phenolic content (TPC), determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method, was significantly higher in the young leaves collected in winter, a season of lower temperatures. These leaves showed 54.4 mg of gallic acid equivalents per 100 g of dry matter (mg GAE 100 g-1DM). Other results averaged 25.6 mg GAE 100 g-1DM. The highest antioxidant activity, assessed via the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, regardless of leaf phenology, was observed in leaves harvested in autumn (73.7%) and winter (71.1%), seasons with lower rainfall. Leaves harvested in summer and spring had lower antioxidant action rates (54.3 e 37.5%, respectively). There was no significant correlation between the total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Thus, the phenolic composition of A. cordifolia, and consequently its activity on free radicals, varies seasonally in response to temperature and rainfall, and may or may not interact with the age of the leaves.