Stryphnodendron Species Known as "Barbatimão": A Comprehensive Report.

Stryphnodendron spp., popularly known as "barbatimão", is the native Brazilian tree most often employed to treat wounds and infections. The aim of the present study was to highlight the importance of S. adstringens, as well as other Stryphnodendron species recognized as "barbatimão", to human health, depicting the relevance of ethnopharmacological knowledge to scientific evidence for uses, related chemical compounds, development of pharmaceutical formulations, and the establishment of toxicity parameters. For this purpose, the literature databases PubMed, Scielo, Lilacs, CAPES Thesis and Google Scholar were searched until 2017. It was observed that stem bark was the primary part of the plant used, mainly as a decoction, for wound healing and treatment of infectious and inflammatory disorders. Confirmed biological activities, including wound healing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities, were related to the presence of compounds from tannin class, mostly proanthocyanidins. Toxicity parameters for stem bark were inconclusive, but toxicity was observed to a significant extent when seeds were ingested by cattle or other animals. Due to these important and confirmed biological activities, government policy encourages the phytotherapic use of S. adstringens, and some formulations with stem bark extracts were developed and patented. Furthermore, antiprotozoal, hypoglycemic and antiviral activities were identified as promising.

Antifungal, antiradical and cytotoxic activities of extractives obtained from Tagetes patula L. (Asteraceae), a potential acaricide plant species.

Tagetes patula L. shows a complex chemical composition, ranging from glycosylated flavonoids and thiophenes in extracts until terpenoids in the essential oil. In the present study, due to this rich flavonoidic constitution, its antioxidant potential was determined, having shown values of antiradical percentage superior to reference compounds, mainly the extracts prepared with flowers. Previous studies performed emphasized the acaricide potential of T. patula and thus, the present study aimed to verify the action of extractives obtained from aerial parts on growth of entomopathogenic fungi related to biological control of brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus and the action against pathogenic fungi closely associated with pets. None of the samples inhibited the growth of strains of Beauveria bassiana or Metarhizium anisopliae, enabling feasible future studies of synergism on acaricide activity of formulations containing fungi and extracts. The antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extract of flowers (FlEtOH70%) against Microsporum canis and Trichophyton rubrum was significant (193.3 µg/mL and 253.9 µg/mL, respectively), as well as ethanolic extract from aerial parts (APEtOH70%) against T. rubrum (312.5 µg/mL). In order to ensure the safety of a topical formulation containing the extractives of T. patula, the cytotoxic potential of these samples were tested in murine macrophages cells. At higher concentrations all extracts were quite lethal, with IC50 ranging from 210.96 µg/mL to 468.75 µg/mL for APEtOH70% and FlEtOH70%, respectively. These results suggest that the application of a product containing T. patula extractives in the control of ticks could be used, at principle, only on the environment.