Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell) Brenan : aspectos etnobotânicos, fitoquímicos, farmacológicos e toxicológicos

Abstract

Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan is an endemic tree to South America and different parts of it is used by the population for the treatment of various diseases, as well as in indigenous rituals. This species has high pharmacological potential, but may present toxic potential due to the presence of psychotropic compounds.Therefore, the aim of this study was to review and compile published studies with the species A. colubrina regarding ethnobotanical, phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological aspects. A literature review was performed accessing published articles on databases such as: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scielo, Scopus, Taylor and Francis online, Springer Link, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), ACS Publications, Chemspider and Google Scholar. The keywords used were: "Anadenanthera colubrina" or "Mimosa colubrina" or "Piptadenia colubrina" or "Piptadenia macrocarpa" or "Piptadenia grata" or "Anadenanthera macrocarpa" and "medicinal plants" or "pharmacological" or "phytochemicals" or “traditional use” or “toxicological” or “ethnobotanical” or “pre-clinical trial” or clinical trial. This robust tree has been popularly useful for agroeconomic, medicinal and as a hallucinogen in religious rituals. The main parts of the plant are the bark and seeds that are mostly used for respiratory conditions and as entheogens, respectively. Many pharmacological properties like anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antidiarrheal, wound healing, antimicrobial, antitumoral, antioxidant antiaddictive, insecticide and allelopathic were described in in vitro and in vivo assays for extracts from different parts of the plant, suggesting a therapeutic potential for this species. Although most relate to medicinal uses, these are preliminaries, and do not show the mechanism of action. The phytochemical assays showed the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, triterpenes, steroids and alkaloids. Some of the compounds are anadantoflavone and anadanthoside which is exclusive to this species and the genus respectively, and was nor assayed and bufotenine that was isolated from seeds and is related with hallucinogenic and antiviral activity. In vivo and in vitro toxicology assays showed that the extracts prepared from leaves, bark, gum and fruits are apparently safe. Due to the presence of bufotenine in the seeds, it can be toxic, however it was not found toxicological assays with the seed extracts. Therefore, part of the studies confirms the popular use of A. colubrina, however more assays are necessary to corroborate other uses and to elucidate the mechanisms of action of all activities. Thus, it should be noted that the use of this species must be controlled in order to minimize the environmental impact, as most of the pharmacological potential were shown with the bark and seeds. Due to its wide use in folk medicine, it is part of the Brazilian medicinal species with priority for conservation.