Abstract
Ethnopharmacological research investigates the plants and other medicinal and toxic substances utilized by different traditional populations. One approach in this field is a literature search of the available publications on medicinal plants. The purpose of the current study was to select plants with psychoactive effects described in a Brazilian literary work written by Pio Correa in 1926. Those mentioned plants were classified in accordance with their indications for use as stimulants and depressors of the central nervous system. For the phytochemical study herein, we researched these species via a database search, and all the obtained information was compiled into a new database to analyze possible correlations between the chemical compounds and the psychoactive categories. Of the 813 plants searched in the literary work, 104 presented chemical data in the scientific periodicals consulted. Seventy-five of them belong to the stimulant category, while 31 are depressors and two of them belong to both categories. Phenols and flavonoids were the main compounds observed in plants of both categories, though at different frequencies. Monoterpenes (29.9%) and sesquiterpenes (28.6%) were also observed in plants from the stimulant category, while 25.8% of plants from the depressor category were comprised of carotenoids and 22.6% of steroids. The main specific compounds were identified as ferulic acid, α-pinene, limonene, α-humulene and kaempferol among the stimulant plants. Otherwise, in depressor plants were characterized caffeic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, β-carotene, physalins and withanolides as specific compounds. The association between ethnopharmacological and chemotaxonomic data, as presented in this study, could support plant selection in further investigations by research groups whose studies focus on psychoactive plants as potential therapeutics.
Keywords: Database, ethnopharmacology, medicinal plants, psychoactive plants, phytochemistry.
Related Journals
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Allergy Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
Current Computer-Aided Drug Design
Current Bioactive Compounds
Current Cancer Drug Targets
Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening
Current Cancer Therapy Reviews
Current Diabetes Reviews
Current Drug Safety
Current Drug Targets
Related Books
Frontiers in Clinical Drug Research-Dementia
Anthocyanins: Pharmacology and Nutraceutical Importance
Computer-Aided Drug Discovery Methods: A Brief Introduction
The Roles and Responsibilities of Clinical Pharmacists in Hospital Settings
Interventional Pain Surgery
Endoscopy and Fetoscopy Techniques for the Brain and Neuroaxis
Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants for Cancer Therapy and Chemoprevention
Regenerative Medicine & Peripheral Nerve Endoscopy
Advances in Diagnostics and Immunotherapeutics for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Drug Addiction Mechanisms in the Brain
30
