Medicinal plants for the treatment of obesity: ethnopharmacological approach and chemical and biological studies.

Obesity is a global epidemic that has shown a steady increase in morbimortality indicators; it is considered a social problem and entails serious health risks. One of the alternatives in the treatment of obesity is the traditional use of medicinal plants, which supports the research and development of obesity phytotherapy. In this article, we provide information about ethnopharmacological species used to treat obesity, through an electronic search of the periodical databases Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and Scielo, considering the period 1996-2015 and using the descriptors "plants for obesity", "ethnopharmacology for obesity" and "anti-obesity plants" in both Portuguese and English. We analyzed and organized data on 76 plant species, cataloged per the taxonomy, geographic distribution, botanical aspects, popular use, and chemical and biological studies of the listed plants. The anti-obesity effect of the cataloged species was reported, describing actions on the delay of fat absorption, suppression of enzymatic activities, mediation of lipid levels and increase of lipolytic effects, attributed mainly to phenolic compounds. Given these findings, ethnopharmacological approaches are relevant scientific tools in the selection of plant species for studies that demonstrate anti-obesity action. Deeper botanical, chemical, pre-clinical and clinical studies are particularly necessary for species that present phenolic compounds in their chemical structure.