PLANTAS MEDICINAIS UTILIZADAS NO NORDESTE DO BRASIL: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

Abstract

The Northeast region of Brazil has an extension of approximately 1,558,000 km2 of territory, highlighting its vast diversity of plant species, climates and habitats. The floristic diversity of this region has provided a wide variety of plants that are used by several groups, such as: Riverside, fishermen, farmers, indigenous people and rural communities, for the treatment and prevention of various diseases. This knowledge of popular medicine has called the attention of several researchers around the world, in order to test the efficacy and truthfulness behind the seemingly true benefits in the treatment of these diseases. This way, the present study aims to analyze and discuss the most used medicinal plants in northeastern Brazil. In order to do this, a qualitative analysis was performed regarding the importance and use of such plants in the northeast region of Brazil. Through the analysis of 104 articles of the platforms Scielo, Pubmed and Scholar Google, dated between 2009 and 2019. As a result, 20 species of plants belonging to 17 families were identified and information about their medicinal use was reported in all regions. It is also important to highlight the great importance and potential application of medicinal plants in northeastern Brazil for the treatment of diseases with their popular use and their use for the production of drugs, allied to future biological investigations to the benefits and safety control required for proper uses.