Medicinal plants and other botanical products from the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the results of a thorough survey in the four editions of the Brazilian Offi cial Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS), in a search for data about the plants and other botanical products included in them. The growth of the pharmaceutical industry since the second half of last century markedly affected the Brazilian offi cial medicine. The paper analyses the transformation within the Pharmacopoeia, focusing on the presence of Monographs for Native medicinal plants. The result showed a strong substitution of Native American medicinal plants by industrialized medicine and foreign medicinal plants in FBRAS and confi rms the necessity of investiments in research for the validation of Brazilian Native plants.