Volume 147, Issue 1, 2 May 2013, Pages 180–189
Amazonian Brazilian medicinal plants described by C.F.P. von Martius in the 19th century
- Under an Elsevier user license
Open Access
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Information
regarding the use of beneficial, native Brazilian plants was compiled
by European naturalists during the 19th century. The German botanist
C.F.P. von Martius was one of the most prominent naturalists and
described the use of several Brazilian plants.
Aim of the study
To present data on Amazonian medicinal plants documented by von Martius in his books.
Materials and methods
Data
on Amazonian medicinal plants were obtained from three books published
by von Martius. Traditional information about these plants was
translated from Latin and the cited plant species reorganised according
to current taxonomic criteria. Correlated pharmacological studies were
obtained from different scientific databases.
Results
A
total of 92 native medicinal species from the Amazon were recorded in
von Martius' books. These accounts described 117 different medical uses
for these plants. Several parts of the plants were used, including many
exudates. The principal use of the species recorded was the treatment of
dermatological problems, followed by gastro-intestinal, urinary and
respiratory disorders. Few species were recorded as purgatives and
febrifuges, a result that differs from the observations of other
naturalists. The efficacy of the recorded traditional uses has been
confirmed for the few species that have been subjected to laboratory
studies.
Conclusion
The data
recorded by the German naturalist von Martius represent a rich,
unexplored source of information about the traditional uses of Brazilian
plants.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
- C.F.P. von Martius;
- Medicinal plants;
- Amazon;
- Historical records;
- Brazil
1. Introduction
Brazil
became a Portuguese colony in 1500 and this period produced important
records of the use of plants by native Brazilians. Jesuit priests were
the first to establish direct contact with the native inhabitants. Other
reports followed, including that of Gabriel Soares de Souza, who
recorded the use of several plants (Souza, 1938).
Brazilian territory remained under rigid colonial control until the
early 19th century. This policy was intended to conceal the potential of
the country's natural resources from other nations. From 1630 to 1654,
northwestern Brazil was occupied by the Dutch. During this period, the
physician William Pies described the use of important indigenous drugs,
including jaborandi, ipecac, copaiba and tobacco (Pisonis, 1648).
In 1808, Bonaparte's invasion of Portugal forced the Portuguese royal
family to resettle in Rio de Janeiro. Remarkable progress occurred in
the economy and in culture and science during the 13 years that they
lived in Rio de Janeiro. During this period, foreigners gained
permission to enter the country. Several European naturalists, artists
and scientists travelled in the vast Brazilian territory and recorded
the mineral, animal and vegetal resources as well as the customs of the
inhabitants. The information gathered by naturalists has contributed
significantly to the growing knowledge of South American biodiversity
and has produced significant advances in understanding of the
continent's natural history (Brandão et al., 2008 and Brandão et al., 2011).
Carl
Friedrich Phillip von Martius was one of the most prominent naturalists
to travel in Brazil. His studies of the country included investigations
in botany and anthropology (Schmelz, 2000).
He travelled throughout the country, accompanied by the zoologist
Johann Baptist von Spix. After their arrival in Rio de Janeiro in
November 1817, von Martius and Spix travelled southwards in the
direction of São Paulo, proceeded through Minas Gerais over Goiás to
Bahia, and then travelled farther north to the Amazon. In Fortaleza da
Barra do Rio Negro, today's Manaus, von Martius and Spix separated to
make independent journeys to the frontiers of Colombia and Venezuela. In
December 1820, they returned to Rio de Janeiro and Munich. The
collections made by this important expedition included thousands of
natural history specimens. In all, these collections included 86
specimens of mammals, 350 of birds, 130 of amphibians, 116 of fish, 2700
of insects, 6500 types of plants, minerals and a great number of
cultural objects from the native tribes (Tiefenbacher, 1994).
A substantial number of important publications in the fields of botany
and other sciences were also produced. These publications still possess
extraordinary scientific value. Von Martius′ comprehensive work “Flora
brasiliensis” (http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/)
remains the most extensive complete publication about the plants of
Brazil. The work of more than 60 years and several specialists was
required to produce this substantial project, which comprises 15 volumes
divided into 40 parts and containing information on 22,267 plant
species, primarily Brazilian angiosperms (et al., and et al.,). The interests of von Martius extended beyond taxonomy to the traditional uses of Brazilian plants (Wuschek, 1989).
In this area of study, he published the “Systema de Materia Medica
Vegetabilis Brasiliensis” (Systema) as well as “Das Naturell, die
Krankheiten, das Arztthum und die Heilmittel der Urbewohner Brasiliens”.
The Systema includes detailed descriptions of the origin of popular
plant names, scientific names and the traditional/ medicinal use of 730
species (Martius, 1843).
This
study aims to retrieve, organise and update information on medicinal
plants from the Amazon described in the Systema and to complement these
results with data from other studies published by von Martius. The
medicinal use of plants was compared and/or confirmed by referring to
relevant correlated pharmacological studies if available.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Ethnopharmacological historical literature survey
The selection of data on Amazonian medicinal plants was based on the Systema de Materia Medicae Vegetabilis Brasiliensis ( Martius, 1843).
To access information in the Systema is a difficult undertaking because
the data are not always logically organised, often appear incomplete,
are taxonomically antiquated and are generally presented in Latin,
Portuguese or German. In this report, we restrict our investigations to
the plants of the Amazon because the naturalists covered a wide
geographical area and because data on the medicinal plants of this
region are scarce.
Native
species for which data on traditional medicinal use were included and
the vernacular names of the plants specified in the Systema were
selected for further analysis. The actual botanical names were checked
in the Flora Brasiliensishttp://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br/
and the websites www.theplantlist.org and www.mobot.org. The status of
each species as a plant native to Brazil was verified in an official
Brazilian species list, “Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil” (Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br).
The
traditional uses described by von Martius (in Latin or German) in the
bibliography were summarised from the original books, translated into
English and included in Table 1.
Particular uses such as “chlorosis” (hypochromic anaemia) or
“alexipharmaca”, are described in their original format. The uses of
certain exotic species, such as Zingiber officinale Roscoe or Sesamum indicum
L., were also recorded by von Martius from the Amazon but are not
considered in this study. Additional data were obtained from the travel
diaries, published from 1823 to 1831 and first translated into
Portuguese soon afterwards, in 1838.
