Bioactivity and potential therapeutic benefits of some medicinal plants from the Caatinga (semi-arid) vegetation of Northeast Brazil: a review of the literature

Abstract

Abstract:Medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine for several thousand years all over the world. In this sense, information from Brazilian ethnic groups on folk medicine have contributed to the discovery of pharmacological activities from various plant-derived agents potentially leading to the innovative drugs. The Caatinga (semi-arid) vegetation is a highly threatened biome, covering a vast area in northeastern Brazil and has suffered from strong human influence for many decades. Many plants species found in the Caatinga have been widely used in folk medicine and for commercial manufacturing of phytotherapeutic products. Thus, the present review aims to disseminate to the scientific community some known species of medicinal plants found in the Caatinga that have been studied and analyzed in pharmacological scientific assays. Among the species that stood out for their local importance and multiplicity of uses were: Amburana cearensisand Zingiber officinalis L. (gengibre). The present study shows that several herbal constituents from Caatinga plants, whose pharmacological actions have been well characterized, may be relevant candidates for future and innovative therapeutic development.

Commiphora leptophloeos Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Characterization

“…Hemolytic assays were performed to assess cell safety in future pharmacological preparations without causing any harm. In the present study our trials with Commiphora showed lower hemolytic activity when comparing to other species from the Caatinga biome (Silva et al, 2011; Tam et al, 2015). …”

“…Commiphora leptophloeos , usually known as Imburana of Sertão, belongs to the Burseraceae family, which includes trees and shrubs from tropical and subtropical regions, and is traditionally used by indigenous tribes as an infusion, tea or syrup for the treatment of their illness, such as infectious and inflammatory ones (Bennett and Prance, 2000; Silva et al, 2011). The Commiphora genus comprises over 150 species most of which are confined to Eastern Africa and are usually applied in traditional medicine (Abdel-Daim et al, 2015).…”

Antimicrobial Activity and Phytochemical Screening ofBuchenavia tetraphylla(Aubl.) R. A. Howard (Combretaceae: Combretoideae)

“…Traditional medicine is used by a large proportion of the semiarid Brazilian population as the major health need of humans and animals [1, 2]. Caatinga medicinal plants have become the focus of intense study recently in terms of conservation and as to whether their traditional uses are supported by actual pharmacological effects or merely folklore [3, 4].…”

Toxicidade do extrato hidroalcoólico das folhas de Cissus sicyoides

“…Segundo Meyer et al (1982) os extratos brutos são classificados em tóxicos (CL50 <1000) e não tóxicos (CL50> 1000; Arcanjo et al,2012;Rosa et al, 2016 O uso de plantas é uma prática prevalente na população, principalmente onde as condições sociais e econômicas desfavoráveis (Balbinot et al, 2013;Messias et al, 2015). A C. sicyoides é amplamente usada na medicina popular brasileira, uma vez que, a presença de metabólitos secundários como agente diurético, anti-inflamatório, antidiabético, anti-gripal, dentre outras ações que comprova efetividade em relatados científicos e na vivência popular (Silva et al, 2012).…”