The Use of Brazilian Cerrado Plants in the Control of Microbial Infections

摘要

This article exposes the importance using the vegetal biodiversity of Brazil's cerrado biome in order to obtain products used in the control of microbial infections, as well as the need for its preservation and study. The Cerrado biome is the second largest biome in South America. It occupies a vast area of 2,036,448 km and represents about 22% of the Brazilian territory. Within this territorial area, the springs of the three largest hydrographic basins in South America can be found-the Amazon Basin and the Tocantins, the Sao Francisco River Basin and the Prata Basin-and as a result, there is high biodiversity in this biome. The cerrado is considered one of the main biodiversity hotspots worldwide, and presents an extreme abundance of endemic species; however, it has suffered a great loss of habitat lately. The Brazilian Cerrado is recognized as the richest savannah in the world, sheltering 11,627 species of native plants already described, widely used in traditional folk medicine [1]. Because of this, it has been the focus of several research papers.