ABSTRACT
The high value of medicinal plants could be attributed not only to the medicinal uses they have, but some can be used with other purposes (e.g., spices/seasoning/in culinary), and for a specific population (indigenous/peasant/afro-descendant), they can provide it an economic means for survival. This chapter describes the plants selected by each country (region) in the text, together with exploitation/sustainability, and opportunity for drug development (patent analysis). The plants to be described below are native and very important in traditional medicine in at least one of the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia/Venezuela, Mexico (or Central America), and Peru. The plant is distributed in rainy forests (at altitudes 0-1000 m) from Central America to Bolivia/Brazil, including Suriname. The extracts/fractions and isolated constituents from the endemic and wild medicinal plant S. aristolochiifolia root have evidenced particular bioactivities related to metabolic syndrome (e.g., antihyperlipidemy, antihypertensive, antidiabetes), anemia, antifungal, and cytotoxicity.
