Biological activity of the Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae families of medicinal plants present in the Northern Coast of Colombia: worldwide overview and their therapeutic potential

Abstract

The Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae families in Colombia are distributed along the northern coast of Colombia, have been traditionally used by native communities for different purposes, and represent a promising source of molecules with therapeutic activity, whose effectiveness has been verified internationally through biological assays. A systematic review of the existing literature was carried out and data on taxonomy, world distribution, phytoconstituents, ethnopharmacology and pharmacological activity of the Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae families were collected using several databases such as PubMed, CAplus, Medline, Latin America & Iberia database, Science Direct, Web of Science and Google Scholar, Abstracts. The pharmacological activities reported were antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive and antileishmanial. In conclusion, the Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae families are important producers of active metabolites with high impact on public health, which strengthens the Colombian Caribbean as a center for the generation of molecules for the pharmaceutical field.