ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the use of 22 wild medicinal plants found in abundance in the state of Piaui-Brazil used in place of usual remedies or the concomitant use of medications, taking into consideration popular reports and scientific investigations. Piaui, the third-largest state in northeastern Brazil with 251,529 km2 of territorial area, has its vegetation belonging to Caatinga and Cerrado. In this state, some plant species belonging to the Fabaceae, Combretaceae, Sapotaceae, Xanthorrhoeaceae, Solanaceae and Oleaceae families have demonstrated prominent anti-inflammatory activity. Angico is a tree present in the Brazilian phytogeographic domains of the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Cerrado and Amazon. The aroeira is highly exploited as a source of wood, fuel and medicine in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil. The black jurema stem bark is used in folk medicine by infusing the bark to wash wounds, gargle and rinse in case of mouth injuries or inflammations, and can even be used to eliminate parasites from the human body.
