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Urban ethnobotany: open-air fairs in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a potential source of new antitubercular plants

2012; Thieme Medical Publishers (Germany); Volume: 78; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1055/s-0032-1320588

1439-0221

Fernanda Leitão, SG Leitão, MZ de Almeida, J. Cantos, Tatiane S. Coelho, PEA da Silva,

Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity

Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology have been used as a strategy to select plants that can result in the development of new drugs. This study aims to relate the medicinal plants traded in open-air fairs in Rio de Janeiro State, popularly used to treat tuberculosis. Ethnobotanical techniques were used among the sellers and Salience Index was calculated. As a result from the interviews, 36 plant species were listed belonging to 12 families. Plants indicated for tuberculosis with a higher Salience value were Erva-de-passarinho (Struthanthus marginatus and S. concinnus) and Assapeixe (Vernonia spp.). The ethanol extracts of these three species were assayed in vitro against susceptible (H37Rv) and resistant (35338) M. tuberculosis with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values ranging from 25 to 200µg/ml. From the active fractions, phytol, lupeol, 3-O-n-acil-lup-20(29)-en-3β,7β,15α-triol (Struthanthus marginatus) and taraxerol, obtusifoliol and phytol (S. concinnus) were isolated. This study demonstrated the importance of ethnobotanical surveys in open-air markets as a source for the research of new drugs and scientific validation of popular use.