Medicinal plants for skin and wound-healing in Brazil: an ethnobotanical and antibacterial review

Brazil harbors remarkable biological and cultural diversity, reflected in a rich body of traditional knowledge regarding the medicinal use of plants. This study synthesized ethnobotanical evidence on plants traditionally used for skin and wound healing in Brazil and examined their convergence with available antibacterial data. An integrative literature review identified twenty ethnobotanical studies, mainly involving rural populations and local residents, reporting 51 plant species traditionally used for skin and wound healing across 22 genera, predominantly native and mainly documented in the Northeastern and Northern regions. The most frequently cited species included Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. and Anacardium occidentale L., followed by Stryphnodendron adstringens (Mart.) Coville. Fabaceae and Anacardiaceae concentrated the highest number of species with confirmed antibacterial activity, followed by Piperaceae and Euphorbiaceae, which also showed a high proportional representation of active species. A meaningful convergence between ethnobotanical use and experimental antibacterial evidence was observed for more than half of the plants, frequently against Staphylococcus aureus, a key pathogen in wound infections. Antibacterial data were predominantly derived from in vitro assays using non-standardized extracts, and only a limited number of studies reported possible mechanisms of action, such as membrane disruption and biofilm inhibition. Furthermore, few investigations evaluated antibacterial activity in infected wound models or quantified bacterial load reduction in vivo. Future studies should prioritize chemically standardized extracts, testing against resistant clinical strains and mature biofilm models, and validation of safety and therapeutic efficacy in clinical investigations. These findings reveal a gap between traditional use and clinically validated applications, underscoring the urgent need for standardized research approaches and reinforcing Brazil’s potential as a strategic reservoir of bioactive plant resources for primary health care. Addressing these limitations is essential to strengthening the translational basis for the rational use of medicinal plants in primary health care and public health contexts.