Jatropha gossypiifolia L. (Euphorbiaceae): A Review of Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of This Medicinal Plant

Table 3

Popular medicinal uses of Jatropha gossypiifolia L. described in the literature.

Plant part	Popular use	Preparation and/or mode of use	Reference
Whole plant	Analgesic (headache)	Leaves anointed with “Sebo de Holanda” (mutton tallow) and heated in the fire are used as compress for headaches	[5]
	Analgesic (toothache)	Not specified	[3]
	Antimicrobial	Not specified	[3]
	Antipyretic	Decoction	[20]
	Dyscrasia	Not specified	[3]
	Dysphonia	Not specified	[3]
	Wound healing	Not specified	[74, 75]
Aerial parts	Antianemic (malaria treatment)	Decoction, used by oral route	[76]
Leaves	Abscess	Bath	[77]
	Alopecia	Ash leaves	[25]
	Analgesic (eye pain)	Not specified	[78]
	Analgesic (headache)	Not specified	[78]
	Analgesic (headache and otitis)	Not specified	[79]
	Analgesic (pain in general)	Decoction or infusion	[80]
	Analgesic (toothache)	Decoction or infusion	[80]
	Antianemic	Decoction	[81]
		Decoction by oral route	[82]
	Anticancer	Ash of leaves	[25]
		Decoction of the association of leaves of J. gossypiifolia with leaves of Petiveria alliacea and aerial parts of Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, by oral route	[29]
		Not specified	[3]
	Anticonvulsivant	Not specified	[83]
	Antidiabetic	Decoction	[84, 85]
		Decoction by oral route	[30]
	Antidiarrheal	Decoction by oral route	[30]
		Not specified	[3]
	Antihemorrhagic	Decoction by oral route	[30]
		Fresh crushed leaves are used in cases of cutaneous and nasal bleeding	[86]
	Anti-infective	Decoction by oral route	[30]
		Not specified	[87, 88]
	Anti-inflammatory	Not specified	[78]
	Antipyretic	Decoction	[81]
		“Tea”	[5]
		Not specified	[88]
	Antiseptic	Bath prepared from the leaves	[5]
	Antithrombotic	Decoction or infusion	[80]
	Antiulcerogenic	Decoction by oral route	[30]
		Leaf juice	[89]
	Boils	Application of the pounded leaves	[90]
	Burns	Ash of leaves	[25]
		Used in association with seeds of Gossypium arboreum, sugar, honey bee, and fat of ram, prepared by grinding, applied topically	[29]
	Contraceptive and oxitotoxic	Not specified	[79]
	Depurative	Squeezed, the juice obtained is drunk	[91]
	Detoxificant	Not specified	[92]
	Eczema	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Emetic	Squeezed, the juice obtained is drunk	[91]
	Gastrointestinal disorders	Not specified	[79]
	Gingivitis	Leaf juice	[89]
	Gonorrhoea	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Healing	Bath prepared from the leaves	[5]
		Decoction	[30]
		Decoction or infusion	[80]
	Hemorrhoids	Used in association with leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and copper sulphate, boiled in water, and used as steam directed at the anal region	[93]
	Hemostatic	Decoction or infusion	[80]
	Hepatitis	Not specified	[12]
	Itching skin	Application of the pounded leaves	[90]
	Leprosy	Leaf juice	[89]
	Malaria	Decoction	[81]
		Decoction by oral route	[82]
		Used in association with leaves of Azadirachta indica and Combretum sp., boiled, for steam baths and by oral route	[94]
		Used in association with leaves of Combretum ghasalense and whole plant of Ocimum canum, by oral route or for steam baths	[94]
	Mastitis	Pounded leaves applied on swollen breasts	[90]
	Mycosis	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Psychoactive	Not specified	[79]
	Purgative	Not specified	[3, 88]
	Rheumatism	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Scabies	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Skin diseases	Not specified	[3]
	Stomachic	Decoction by oral route	[30]
		Not specified	[88, 92]
	Syphilis	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Thrush (oral candidiasis)	Ash of leaves	[25]
	Treatment of “cultural syndromes,” “derrame,” “quebrante,” “espante,” “vento-caído,” “panema,” “doença-do-ar,” “mãe-do-corpo”	Not specified	[79]
Vaginal infection	Slightly boiled, used as vaginal wash	[91]
Veneral diseases	Not specified	[92]
Vermifuge	Ash of leaves	[25]
Vertigo	Not specified	[3]
Wounds and rashes	Bath of the leaves	[24]
	Decoction by oral route	[30]
	Decoction used as baths for cleaning wounds in dogs	[95]
Wound disinfectant	Slightly boiled, used as wound wash	[91]
Stem	Analgesic (toothache)	Not specified	[96]
	Antianemic	Decoction by oral route	[82]
	Anticancer	Decoction by oral or topical route	[26]
	Emmenagogue	Decoction of barks	[70, 92]
	Malaria	Decoction by oral route	[82]
	Rheumatism	Not specified	[77]
	Thick blood	Not specified	[77]
Roots	Anticancer	Decoction by oral or topical route	[26]
		Root bark used for cancer of the lungs	[73]
	Anticonvulsivant	Not specified	[83]
	Antidiarrheal	Not specified	[89]
	Antimicrobial	Root bark used in bacterial infections	[73]
	Impotence	Decoction of the association of roots of; J. gossypiifolia, Chiococca alba, Citrus aurantifolia, Desmodium canum, Roystonea regia, Senna occidentalis, Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, and Waltheria indica with the whole plant of Commelina erecta, Cyperus rotundus, and sugar, by oral route	[29]
	Leprosy	Not specified	[3, 92]
	Snakebites	Not specified	[22, 92, 97, 98]
	Urinary pain	Not specified	[92]
	Uterus diseases	Decoction by oral route	[99, 100]
Seeds	Analgesic (body pain)	Not specified	[101]
	Analgesic (headache)	Not specified	[79]
	Antigripal	Used in strong colds	[5]
	Antihemorrhagic	Not specified	[9]
	Antiulcerogenic	Seed oil	[3]
	Contraceptive and oxitotoxic	Not specified	[79]
	Depurative	Not specified	[91]
	Emetic	Not specified	[70, 91, 101]
	Gastrointestinal disorders	Not specified	[79]
	Leprosy	Seed oil	[3]
	Mycosis	Seed oil	[3]
	Psychoactive	Not specified	[79]
	Purgative	Not specified	[3, 9, 101, 102]
	Treatment of “cultural syndromes,” “derrame,” “quebrante,” “espante,” “vento-caído,” “panema,” “doença-do-ar,” “mãe-do-corpo”	Not specified	[79]
	Vaginal infection	Slightly boiled, used as vaginal wash	[91]
	Wound infection	Slightly boiled, used as wound wash	[91]
Fruits	Analgesic	Massaging pregnant women’s bellies with tea or garrafada* when they are in pain	[77]
	Analgesic (headache)	Tea or garrafada*	[77]
	Analgesic (toothache)	Tea or garrafada*	[77]
	Laxative	Ingestion in natura of the powder fruit	[102]
	Numbness after bug stings	Tea or garrafada*	[77]
Latex	Alopecia	Not specified	[25]
	Analgesic (eye pain)	Not specified	[78]
	Analgesic (pain in general)	Drink or massage the affected area with latex	[80]
	Analgesic (toothache)	Cotton soaked with latex kept in contact with the sore tooth	[103]
		Drink or massage the affected area with latex	[80]
	Anticancer	Not specified	[25]
	Antihemorrhagic	Not specified	[9, 24, 86, 95]
	Antithrombotic	Oral route	[80]
	Antiulcerogenic	Not specified	[20, 89]
	Bite of venomous animals	Application of fresh latex at the affected site	[5]
	Diuretic	A few drops of fresh latex in water	[6]
	Eczema	Not specified	[25]
	Gingivitis	Not specified	[89]
	Gonorrhea	Not specified	[25]
	Hemostatic	Not specified	[25, 80]
	Infected wounds	Application of fresh latex at the affected site	[5, 20]
	Leprosy	Not specified	[89]
	Mycosis	Not specified	[25]
	Purgative	A few drops of fresh latex in water	[6]
		Not specified	[9]
	Rheumatism	Not specified	[25]
	Scabies	Not specified	[25]
	Skin burns	Application of fresh latex at the affected site	[104]
		Not specified	[25]
	Stop of itching of cuts and scratches	Not specified	[95]
	Syphilis	Not specified	[25]
	Thrush (oral candidiasis)	Not specified	[25]
	Vermifuge	Not specified	[25]
	Wound healing	Application of latex at the affected site	[5]
		Drink or massage the affected site with latex	[80]
		Not specified	[74, 75]
Resin	Toothache	Toothpowder	[27]
	Wounds in lips and tongue	Topical application	[27]
Oil	Arthritis	Applied locally	[89]
	Purgative	Not specified	[89]
	Skin disease	Applied locally	[89]
Not specified	Alopecia	Tea applied locally in dogs	[105]
	Analgesic	Not specified	[13]
		Poultices	[95]
	Anticancer	Not specified	[13, 66]
	Antidiarrheal	Not specified	[28, 45, 106]
	Antihypertensive	Not specified	[45]
	Anti-inflammatory	Not specified	[13, 28]
	Antipyretic	Not specified	[28]
	Antiseptic	Not specified	[45]
	Antiulcerogenic	Not specified	[28]
	Coughs and colds	Bark juice (4 spoonfuls, 3 times a day) by oral route	[107]
	Detoxication	Not specified	[28]
	Diuretic	Not specified	[45]
	Eczema	Not specified	[28]
	Gum infection	Not specified	[28]
	Healing	Not specified	[45, 108]
	Hydropsy	Not specified	[5]
	Leprosy	Not specified	[28]
	Obstructions of the abdominal tract	Not specified	[5]
	Purgative	Not specified	[5]
	Regulate menses	Not specified	[109]
	Rheumatism	Not specified	[5]
	Snake and scorpion bites	Not specified	[3, 22]
	Stomach pain	Not specified	[28]
	Venereal diseases	Not specified	[28]
	Wounds	Poultices	[95]
		Used as bath	[28]

∗Garrafada: preparation done by macerating plant parts in alcohol or hydroalcoholic mediums, in general, brandies.