Traditional Plants Used in Southern Brazil as a Source to Wound Healing Therapies

Abstract

In southern Brazil, the biodiversity is great and the traditional use of medicinal plants for wound healing has been documented in ethnobotanical studies and pharmacological studies have assessed their wound properties and phytochemistry. Therefore, this study evaluated ethnobotanical surveys regarding medicinal plants used in southern Brazil for wound healing and studies about the healing properties of these plants published between 2000 and 2022. To retrieve articles related to the study, Web of Science, PubMed (NLM), Open Access Journals, Scielo, Lilacs, and Google Scholar, with keywords including medicinal plants, wound healing, and South of Brazil, have been used. As a result, 73 medicinal plants belonging to 39 families were found in ethnobotanical surveys as a traditional resource used for wound healing in southern Brazil, 15 of which were cited more than once. Besides, 14 of these 15 plants were also used as healing agents worldwide. The most cited plant with healing actions in southern Brazil was Symphytum officinale L. (comfrey). From 2000 to date, 44 articles scientifically demonstrated the wound‐healing effects of the southern Brazilian plants found in ethnobotanical surveys reviewed. The folk medicine of southern Brazil presents a variety of medicinal plants for wound‐healing purposes, and scientific data were found for some of those plants. However, the wound‐healing properties of many plants have yet to be investigated, and the current literature still needs more phytochemical information about the plants studied. Aside from this, the future focus should be on the standardization of herbal extracts, and further research is required to investigate the pharmacological mechanisms. Clinical research in this area remains in its infancy and warrants more robust further clinical studies.

In Vitro Assessment of Antioxidant Capacity, Potential to Induce Autophagy/Mitophagy, and Mitochondrial Turnover of Natural Compounds for Cytotoxicity Studies

“…Many phytochemicals/active compounds (polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenes, etc.) have antioxidant properties that are responsible for therapeutic effects of plants/herbs [14,32]. Evaluating antioxidant potential of herbal/plant extract is the easy and very useful way to validate extract's therapeutic efficacy toward oxidative stress.…”

“…Spices and herbs that are sources of natural antioxidants, can protect against oxidative stress and thus play preventive role in many diseases [13]. The medicinal properties of folk plants are mainly attributed to the presence of flavonoids, other organic, and inorganic compounds such as coumarins, phenolic acids, and antioxidant micronutrients and are able to counter various metabolic disorders, cancers, and COVID-19 [14][15][16][17].…”

Evaluation of the gastroprotective activity of Spondias purpurea L. (Anacardiaceae) fruit juice

“…Furthermore, plants have a diversity of bioactive components, such as phenolic compounds, which are secondary metabolites with anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, gastric cytoprotective and antisecretory effects. These compounds have the ability to protect the gastric mucosa from harmful agents, by reducing the production of gastric secretion and/or enhancing gastroprotective activity (MATULJA D, et al However, despite the richness of its flora, the number of information, in recent years, about medicinal plants in Brazil, grows only 8% annually and studies referring to the use of plants in alternative medicine have been increasingly highlighted due to the successive information and clarifications they provide to science (PEREIRA IA, et al, 2023).…”

Preliminary Evaluation of Wound Healing Potential of Leonurus japonicus Houtt. Extracts

“…In the east of the State of Paraná in Brazil, people use L. japonicus as folk medicine, macerating the fresh leaves and adding them over the wounds as a "cataplasma". [11] The extracts of leaves and flowers are utilized for stomach disorders such as vomiting, dysentery, and trapped gas. [12] The leaf extracts treat rheumatism and dermatitis, [13] and the dried plant for menstrual pain, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, and renal disease.…”

“…Some popular uses of L. japonicus are related. In the east of the State of Paraná in Brazil, people use L. japonicus as folk medicine, macerating the fresh leaves and adding them over the wounds as a “cataplasma” [11] . The extracts of leaves and flowers are utilized for stomach disorders such as vomiting, dysentery, and trapped gas [12] .…”