PROSPECTION OF THE MAIN MEDICINAL APPLICATIONS OF MANDACARU (Cereus jamacaru) THROUGH A LITERATURE REVIEW.

Abstract

Cereus jamacaru is a plant from the cactaceae family present in the semi-arid northeast, specifically in the Caatinga, presenting characteristics of a tree or shrub, with the presence of flowers, fruits and thorns. Popularly known as mandacaru, this plant has different pharmacological actions reported in local folk medicine, which encourages a search in the literature regarding its medicinal effects with antibiotic, cytotoxic, anti-cytotoxic, antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal and anthelmintic in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical-therapeutic scope. The present study sought to explore the possible medicinal effects of mandacaru already published in the literature by consulting scientific articles in the Periodicals CAPES, PubMed and LILACS, using the following descriptors: “Cereus jamacaru” and “medicinal”. Among the main activities found are cytotoxic, anti-cytotoxic, antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal and anthelmintic, in addition to its gross use in popular medicine. In relation to biotechnological potential, it was found that the various activities have benefits to be explored by the industry, requiring more investments in exploratory research.