Antioxidant potential of the Caatinga flora

Abstract

Background: This review sought to gather scientific evidence that points to the antioxidant potential of plants from the Caatinga. It also verified the amplitude of scientific production in the last ten and a half years on the antioxidant activity of the plants of this biome. Method: Scientific articles present in the Scopus and PubMed databases published between the years 2010 and June 2021 that investigated the antioxidant action of extracts or isolated compounds of Caatinga plants were collected. Results: The quantitative and qualitative results of this research were then extracted. It was possible to observe a reduced number of articles published on the antioxidant activity of Caatinga plants in the time interval chosen for this review. Also, few sampling sites were the focus of these studies, which may suggest that not all regions of the Caatinga are having their plants investigated by scientific research. In this study, it was also possible to observe that the most investigated plants of this biome are Opuntia ficus indica, Poincianella pyramidalis, Anadenanthera colubrina, Ziziphus joazeiro and Cnidoscolus quercifolius. Conclusions: These results point to the need for further studies that explore the antioxidant potential of the Caatinga flora.

Keywords

• Caatinga biome
• Antioxidant Activity
• Isolated Compounds
• Plant Extracts
• Systematic Review