STUDY OF THE PHARMACOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THE LEAVES OF PERESKIA ACULEATA MILLER (ORA-PRO-NÓBIS): POPULARLY USED AS FOOD AND DRUG

Abstract

The ora-pro-nóbis (known as Pereskia Aculeata Miller) is a medicinal plant with a vast application on folk medicine in Latin American, and specially, in Brazil. In the past decades, this plant has been subjected of intense scientific research with respect to therapeutic potential of the extracts of its leaves. On this basis, the purpose of this work was to carry out an analysis of secondary metabolites of the extract of the leaves of Pereskia Aculeata Miller of scientific articles from literature. Specifically, with the purpose to identify and classify the biomolecules, and correlate them with the pharmacologic profile mentioned in folk medicine in Brazil. The results of the analysis demonstrated different classes of bioactive secondary metabolites in the polar or apolar extracts from the leaves. Certainly, the pharmacologic profile of ora-pro-nóbis stemmed from phenolic, alkaloids, and terpenes secondary metabolites. Besides, among the biomolecules which were attempted to be characterized by spectrometric and spectroscopic methods some were structurally like bioactive molecules endogenous to our metabolism or used in clinic. These similarities evidence that the secondary metabolites may act as agonists or antagonist in our body modulating our metabolism, and consequently, altering our homeostasis. These scientific piece of information supports the application of ora-pro-nóbis in folk medicine and reinforce the potential of this medicinal plant for development of new therapeutic agents for clinic use.