Trends and gaps in the global scientific literature about Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae), a tropical plant of economic importanceTendências e lacunas na literatura científica global sobre Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae), uma planta tropical de importância econômica Abstract Jatropha curcas L., popularly known as the physic nut, is a monoecious, perennial lactiferous species belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Recently, interest in this species has been growing, due to its ability to flourish on degraded land and in soils with low natural fertility, the high oil content of its seeds, its rapid growth and easy propagation, and the identification of several secondary metabolites with medicinal importance. This study aims to report the main trends and gaps in the global scientific literature about J. curcas L, using a scientometric analysis. We have carried out this scientometric analysis on the global literature to identify: 1) temporal publication trends; 2) the quality of scientific production, estimated using citation numbers and journal impact factors; 3) the main journals and countries interested in this topic and the language of scientific divulgation; 4) the main research fields; 5) the use of wild or commercial cultivars; and 6) average authorship levels and international collaboration networks.Our findings have revealed a continuous increase in both quantitative and qualitative parameters in studies about J. curcas. The main trends in physic nut studies involve biofuel production and the plant's agronomic characteristics. The main knowledge gaps relating to J. curcas are in the fields of forestry, sustainability, animal nutrition, and genetic improvement. Another problem identified in this study is a lack of commercial seeds; none of the studies analyzed have used commercial seeds. India, Brazil, and China together are responsible for 55% of the knowledge about this species, obtained through scientific production. Only moderate international collaboration has been observed between countries, perhaps as consequence of conflicts of interest. Despite an increasing number of articles, some countries have stopped producing J. curcas L, and the worldwide crop production has decreased.

ABSTRACT-The economic and scientific interest in Hancornia speciosa (mangabeira) has been growing in recent years, mainly due to the marketing of fruit and extraction of natural compounds with high pharmacological potential. In this study, a scientometric survey about mangabeira was carried out in order to promote and direct future studies on the species. As a result, low scientific productivity associated with this species was found, with only 131 articles published in the last 69 years. In addition, this study identified some trends in bibliographic production on mangabeira, among them: the increasing number of articles over the years; scientific dissemination in nationwide journals; the main focus of this study is associated with agronomic studies; the experimental approach is more frequent and usually associated with populations of restricted geographical distribution; and the scientific production is mainly from education institutions. Furthermore, this study also allowed the identification of some gaps in knowledge about mangabeira, among them the difficulty in describing and characterizing botanical lines; lack of analysis of the genetic diversity of widely distributed populations; lack of management and conservation projects for the species; lack of description of cultivation, collection and preservation techniques of fruits; and lack of identification of natural compounds responsible for its pharmacological activity. It is expected that the data generated in this study will serve to direct future studies on H. speciosa. Index terms: mangabeira, native fruit, scientometrics. ESTADO DA ARTE DA LITERATURA CIENTÍFICA SOBREHancornia speciosa: TENDÊNCIAS E LACUNAS RESUMO-O interesse econômico e científico sobre Hancornia speciosa (mangabeira) vem crescendo nos últimos anos, devido principalmente à comercialização de seu fruto e extração de compostos naturais com alto potencial farmacológico. Neste estudo, foi realizado um levantamento cienciométrico sobre a mangabeira, com o objetivo de fomentar e direcionar futuras pesquisas sobre a espécie. Como resultado, verificou-se a baixa produtividade científica a respeito da espécie, com a publicação de apenas 131 artigos nos últimos 69 anos. Além disso, o presente estudo identificou algumas tendências na produção bibliográfica sobre a mangabeira, com destaque para: o aumento do número de artigos ao longo dos últimos anos; o fato de a divulgação científica ser realizada principalmente em revistas de âmbito nacional; a abordagem experimental ser mais frequente do que a abordagem teórico-descritiva; os trabalhos experimentais serem geralmente associados às populações de distribuição geográfica restrita; e a produção científica ser proveniente, principalmente, de Instituições de Ensino Superior. Por outro lado, este estudo também permitiu a identificação de algumas lacunas no conhecimento sobre a mangabeira, entre as quais se destacam: a dificuldade em descrever e caracterizar as linhagens botânicas; a falta de análise da diversidade genética de populações de ampla dist...

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Vernonanthura polyanthes, popularly known as assa-peixe, is a medicinal plant that has been widely used by Brazilian Cerrado population for treatment of diseases without a detailed evaluation of their effectiveness, toxicity, and proper dosage. Thus, more studies investigating the safety of V. polyanthes aqueous extract before the use are needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the toxicity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract using the Artemia salina and Allium cepa assays. For the A. salina assay, three groups of 10 larvae were exposed to V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract at the concentrations of 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/ml. For the A. cepa assay, 5 onion bulbs were exposed to V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract at 10, 20, and 40 mg/ml, and then submitted to macroscopic and microscopic analysis. As result it was identified a toxicity and cytotoxicity of V. polyanthes dependent on the extract concentration. The A. salina assay suggests that the concentration of 24 mg/ml of the V. polyanthes extract is able to kill 50% of naupllis; while the A. cepa assay suggests that V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract is toxic at concentrations higher than 20 mg/ml; however the cytotoxic effect in A. cepa root cells was observed at 40 mg/ml of the extract. It is important to say that the V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract concentration commonly used in popular medicine is 20 mg/ml. Thus, the popular concentration used is very close to toxicity limit in A. salina model (24 mg/ml) and is the concentration which showed toxic effect in A. cepa root cells (20 mg/ml). No genotoxic activity of V. polyantes leaves aqueous extract was observed in the conditions used in this study. Because of the antiproliferative action and no genotoxic activity, V. polyanthes leaves aqueous extract may present compounds with potential use for human medicine. However more detailed studies need to be performed to confirm this potential.

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