Useful Brazilian plants listed in the field books of the French naturalist Auguste de Saint-Hilaire (1779-1853)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Information regarding the use of beneficial, native Brazilian plants was compiled by European naturalists in the 19th century. The French botanist Auguste de Saint-Hilaire (1779-1853) was one of the most important such naturalists; however, his manuscripts (field books) have not yet been studied, especially in the context of useful plants. Aim of the study: To present data documented by Saint-Hilaire in his field book regarding the use of native plants by the Brazilians. Materials and methods: Data on useful plants were obtained from field books (six volumes) deposited in the Museum national d' Histoire naturelle in Paris, France. The vernacular names of the plants, registered as "N.V." or "Nom Vulg." in the field book, were carefully searched. Traditional information about these plants was translated and organised using a computer. The botanical identification of each plant was determined and updated from the original descriptions and names cited in the field books by A. de Saint-Hilaire. Correlated pharmacological studies were obtained from PubMed. Results: A total of 283 useful plants were recorded from the field books and 165 (58.3%) could be identified to genus or species. Fifty-eight different traditional uses were registered for the identified plants; the most common were as purgatives and febrifuges. Other data recovered were related to edible fruits and plants with interesting sensorial characteristics. For the few species that have been subjected to laboratory studies, the efficacy of the recorded traditional uses was confirmed. Conclusion: The data recorded by the French naturalist A. de Saint-Hilaire represent a rich, unexplored source of information regarding the traditional uses of Brazilian plants. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.