BACKGROUND In various regions of Brazil, several species of the genus Byrsonima (Malpighiaceae) are widely used to treat gastrointestinal complications. This genus has about 150 species of shrubs and trees distributed over the entire Neotropical region. Various biological activities have been identified in these plants, especially antioxidant, antimicrobial and topical and systemic anti-inflamm...

Cochlospermum regium (Mart. and Schr.) Pilger, popularly known as "algodãozinho do campo", is a medicinal plant that grows in the Cerrado of Brazil. This plant has been used in traditional medicine against various diseases such as leucorrhoea, gastritis and ulcers. It has also been effective in treating skin problems like pimples, boils and blotches. In the present study, the in vivo antimutage...

The hot water extract of the herbal tea, Gynostemma pentaphyllum Makino, was not found to be mutagenic in Salmonella mutation assay with or without metabolic activation. However, the extract had both DT-diaphorase inducing activity in the murine hepatoma (Hepa1c1c7) cell line and antimutagenic properties towards chemical-induced mutation in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. Mutagen...