1. Medicinal Plants from North and Central America and the Caribbean Considered Toxic for Humans: The Other Side of the Coin
- Author
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Alan Joel Ruiz-Padilla, Nimsi Campos-Xolalpa, Juan José Maldonado-Miranda, Candy Carranza-Álvarez, Fabiola Domínguez, Juan Ramón Zapata-Morales, and Angel Josabad Alonso-Castro
- Subjects
Thevetia ,Traditional medicine ,fungi ,Chenopodium ambrosioides ,food and beverages ,Review Article ,lcsh:Other systems of medicine ,Biology ,Native plant ,biology.organism_classification ,lcsh:RZ201-999 ,01 natural sciences ,Argemone mexicana ,0104 chemical sciences ,010404 medicinal & biomolecular chemistry ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Complementary and alternative medicine ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Ethnobotany ,Bibliographic search ,Medicinal plants - Abstract
The consumption of medicinal plants has notably increased over the past two decades. People consider herbal products as safe because of their natural origin, without taking into consideration whether these plants contain a toxic principle. This represents a serious health problem. A bibliographic search was carried out using published scientific material on native plants from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, which describe the ethnobotanical and toxicological information of medicinal plants empirically considered to be toxic. A total of 216 medicinal plants belonging to 77 families have been reported as toxic. Of these plants, 76 had been studied, and 140 plants lacked studies regarding their toxicological effects. The toxicity of 16 plants species has been reported in clinical cases, particularly in children. From these plants, deaths have been reported with the consumption ofChenopodium ambrosioides,Argemone mexicana, andThevetia peruviana. In most of the cases, the principle of the plant responsible for the toxicity is unknown. There is limited information about the toxicity of medicinal plants used in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. More toxicological studies are necessary to contribute information about the safe use of the medicinal plants cited in this review.
- Published
- 2017