The forest is his pharmacy - The research of Brazilian plants to combat tropical diseases in the nineteenth century

Abstract

The isolation of the first pure substances from the plant kingdom began in the nineteenth century. During this century the majority of the work involved extraction especially organic acids and bases which later received the designation of alkaloids. Some plant species have been studied in Brazil since the nineteenth century for the treatment of diseases that were later classified as tropical diseases, including malaria and yellow fever. This paper aims to present the studies carried out by Bernardino Antonio Gomes (1768-1823), José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (1763-1838) and Ezequiel Corrêa dos Santos (1801-1864) with Brazilian plants (cinchona of Rio de Janeiro and pau-pereira) for the treatment of intermittent fevers and malaria.