ABSTRACT
This chapter explains about the significance of plants with antivenom properties. In Brazil, natural and animal resources favour the study and discovery of new plant activities, and hence the use of plants with antivenom property is an interesting area of research. In United States, 4735 native venomous snakebites are reported every year and approximately half of these are from crotalids. The main therapeutic strategy to solve snakebite envenoming is the use of antiserum therapy that is able to avoid the lethal effects of venom. Plant secondary metabolites or their analogues have proven effective and safe in the antivenom activity. Bioactive compounds such as quercetin, myricetin, catechin and gallocatechin were isolated from the extract of Schizolobium parahyla leaves, and fibrinogenolytic and hemorrhagic activity of bothrops crude venoms was evaluated. Identification of bioactive compounds present in plants extracts can be performed using analytical techniques that allow identifying the profiles and elucidating molecular characteristics of the main compounds enrolled in antivenom activity.
