Melaleuca alternifolia: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF BRAZILIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

The Melaleuca alternifoliaisashruboriginating of Australia, belonging theclassofeudicotyledonous angiosperms. Inrecentyears, itschemicalcompositionandbiologicalactivities havebeenthesubjectofintensescientificanalysis. Thus, thisarticle aims to investigate how the studies on Melaleuca alternifoliain Brazil and their use in research areas conform. To this end, a review of the Brazilian literature was performed, with a systematic search in three electronic databases, namely: Scielo, web of Science and Google Scholar. Twenty years of production were selected,from 1999 to 2019. Were selected and analyzed for review152 scientific papers. The Melaleuca alternifoliahas been found to be an important medicinal plant in Brazilian studies, involving several thematic axes, such as agriculture, aquaculture and public health, for example. Thesystematic review also showed that it, besides being known in folk medicine, has been scientifically tested and expresses larvicidal, repellent, aromatic, insecticidal, antimicrobial, biocidal and antifungal activity.

Keywords

• antimicrobial potential
• plant extracts
• phytotherapy
• tea tree