The different roles of Griffonia simplicifolia in the treatment of depression: a narrative review

Abstract

The oldest recorded entry on the use of medicinal plants for the purpose of making a pharmacological compound for the treatment of diseases was found on a chalkstone, from approximately 3000 BC, from the ancient Sumerian civilization in Nagpur, a city in India, in the state of Maharashtra. 1,2 In this registry, 12 formulations were found for the organization and preparation of drugs consisting of more than 250 different herbs.There are reports in the literature that put the Egyptian civilization in this dispute for the pioneering of the discoveries of medicinal plants, dating from 6000years ago, approximately 4,000 BC, however, it includes, in addition to plants, products of animal origin. 3 Then, this dispute approaches, the Chinese book on roots and grasses, written by Emperor Shen Nung around 2500 BC, which discusses about 365 medicinal substances, derived from the dry parts of different plants and, at the same time, the encyclopaedia of the days Chinese medical material published in 1977 registered almost 6000 medicinal substances, of which 4800 are of plant origin. 1 The use of medicinal plants was also widespread among the peoples of India, around 2000years ago. 4 The Indian sacred books, Vedas, composed in a language called Vedic Sanskrit, mention the treatment with plants, which are abundant in that country. Many spice plants used today are from India, such as: nutmeg, pepper, cloves, among others. 1 The peoples of Mexico and Central America, the Aztecs, have been exploring the effectiveness of medicinal herbs for at least 1000years, even referring to treatments for simple diseases, such as acne, even the most complex, such as epilepsy. 3 In ancient history, the most relevant record on plant drugs was prepared by the Greco-Roman author, Pedânio Dioscórides, considered the founder of pharmacognosy, who, as a military doctor and responsible for pharmacology in Nero's army, studied medicinal plants. Around 77 AD, he wrote a work, 5 divided into 5 books, where, of the total of 944 drugs described, 35 drugs were of animal origin, 90 of mineral origin, of which only about 130 already appeared in the Corpus hippocraticum and 657 were of vegetable origin. 1 The great strength and the first leap, which made it possible to study the effects of medicinal plants, was given by a Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician, Carolus Linnaeus, creator of binomial nomenclature and scientific classification, considered the founder of modern taxonomy, who documented and classified in a standardized manner thousands of botanical species about medicinal plants in the 18th century. Species Plantarum was first published in 1753 in two volumes. 6 Anyway, there are several studies that address the effects of medicinal plants on diseases that affect the liver, kidneys, stomach,

Beneficial Properties and Sustainable Use of a Traditional Medicinal Plant: Griffonia simplicifolia

“…simplicifolia (DC) Baill. [9] is a flowering herb belonging to the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family with several health-promoting effects, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and nephroprotective activity [10][11][12][13] as well as having efficacy in the management and treatment of depression, anxiety, migraines, headaches, and insomnia [14][15][16]. It grows in the tropical rainforests of the West and Central Africa, and it is also cultivated in Togo, Ivory Coast, and Ghana.…”