Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products From Brazil: How Can We Improve Quality?

Rafael M Palhares,Fernanda L B Mügge,Leopoldo C Baratto,Marina Scopel,Maria G L Brandão

doi:10.3389/fphar.2020.606623

Abstract

Brazil has widely diverse flora, rich in medicinal plants, which are an important part of the Amerindian traditional knowledge (Levis et al., 2017). Some Brazilian plants were included decades ago in different Pharmacopoeias because they provide important substances used in medical practice worldwide. Examples are Carapichea ipecacuanha (Brot.) L. Andersson (ipecac), source of the emetic and amoebicide alkaloid emetine, and Pilocarpus microphyllus Stapf ex Wardlew, source of the antiglaucoma pilocarpine (Nogueira et al., 2010). More recently, Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), native from the Amazon rainforest, became notorious in the international market as a nutraceutical (Carey et al., 2017). Despite its potential, the native vegetation of Brazil has been undergoing intense destruction: all the ecosystems, including the Amazon rainforest, have been quickly replaced by monocultures of sugarcane, soybeans, eucalyptus, and livestock, leading to an intense process of genetic and cultural erosion. On the other side, more recently, the development of bioproducts from Brazilian plants has been stimulated, aiming at a market based in the bioeconomy, which not only brings health benefits but also is important for conservation of biodiversity and consequent mitigation of climate changes (Dinerstein et al., 2020). However, due to the current precarious situation of the herbal products market in Brazil, many steps need to be taken until such a goal is achieved.

Highlights

Brazil has widely diverse flora, rich in medicinal plants, which are an important part of the Amerindian traditional knowledge (Levis et al, 2017)
Other problems were described for Ayurvedic herbal products sold in Norway, Romania, and Sweden (Seethapathy et al, 2019), HP sold in Canada and United States (Newmaster et al, 2013), and Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) entering the Australian market (Coghlan et al, 2012), among other countries
Considering the current situation of the HP sold in Brazil, some points must be considered to reach the full potential and benefits from it: (1) Develop Pharmacopoeia Monographs for Brazilian native plants including DNA barcode

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Brazil has widely diverse flora, rich in medicinal plants, which are an important part of the Amerindian traditional knowledge (Levis et al, 2017). The denomination herbal products (HP), in Brazil, includes dried plants, sold as tea, and the finished products used as medicine, nutraceutical, or cosmetics In this internal market, it is possible to find HP from plant species from three different origins: i) native species that are collected in the local ecosystems, ii) cultivated exotic species, and iii) imported species (mainly dry plants and extracts). Since the 1960s, there are regulatory rules for the correct identification of medicinal plants for the commerce in Brazil (Brasil 1967), and more recently, new legislation was launched for regulating the commerce of plants used in traditional knowledge (Carvalho et al, 2018) Despite such efforts, studies done using classical analytical procedures, provided by monographs from Brazilian Pharmacopoeia and Pharmacopoeia from other countries, have shown the existence of serious problems. In a recent review, Ichim (2019) showed the results of studies using DNA-based methods for species identification in herbal products commercialized in 37 countries. Other problems were described for Ayurvedic herbal products sold in Norway, Romania, and Sweden (Seethapathy et al, 2019), HP sold in Canada and United States (Newmaster et al, 2013), and Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) entering the Australian market (Coghlan et al, 2012), among other countries

DISCUSSION

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CONCLUSION