Ethnopharmacological Uses of African-Origin Medicinal Plants in Afro-Brazilian Traditional Medicine: Implications for Integrative Medicine, Biocultural Conservation and Global Health

Abstract

African Traditional Medicine comprises a plural set of healthcare systems that integrate biological, social, cultural, spiritual, and environmental dimensions of health. During the African diaspora, ethnomedical knowledge, plant species, and healthcare practices were displaced, preserved, adapted, and re-signified across different territories of the Americas, including Brazil.

In the Afro-Brazilian context, terreiros, sacred home gardens, and other community spaces may conserve plant species used for medicinal, food, liturgical, and symbolic purposes, while also maintaining knowledge regarding their identification, cultivation, preparation, and use. Ethnopharmacology provides a relevant interface between this knowledge and scientific research; however, it requires a distinction between evidence of traditional use, phytochemical data, experimental findings, and clinical efficacy.

The World Health Organization recommends that traditional medicines be integrated into health systems in a safe, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate manner. In Brazil, this discussion is aligned with the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices in the Unified Health System (SUS) and the National Policy for Comprehensive Health of the Black Population. Nevertheless, syntheses that articulate African-origin species preserved in Afro-Brazilian communities with ethnobotanical, phytochemical, pharmacological, ritual-therapeutic, and biocultural data remain limited.

In response to this gap, this study conducted an integrative ethnopharmacological review of nine medicinal species of African origin preserved in traditional Afro-Brazilian communities. The objective was to analyze their traditional uses, phytochemical composition, pharmacological evidence, ritual-therapeutic functions, and persistence within the context of the diaspora, critically discussing potential interfaces with integrative medicine and biocultural conservation.