Poisonous plants of Belize: a mini toxicological review
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REVIEW
Poisonous plants of Belize: a mini toxicological review Danladi Chiroma Husaini1 · Cindy J. Bush2 · Israel Coc3 · Elsbeth Guerra4 · Ayleen W. Perez5 · Chen‑Yi Wu6 Received: 13 May 2020 / Accepted: 14 July 2020 © Institute of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University 2020
Abstract The global increase in the use of plants for food and medicinal purposes, especially in developing countries, proffers an urgent need for toxicological studies on such plants. Results of extensive toxicological studies tend to provide safety information on toxic plants and help avert public health issues while providing safety guides to the public. Belize is a developing nation, and the only English-speaking country in Central America. More than half of the country is covered by rainforest, and many plants are consumed for food and medicinal purposes mostly without regard to the scientific toxicological characteristics of such plants. To the best of our knowledge, presently no published scientific toxicological reports exist on poisonous plants uniquely native to Belize. A careful bibliographic search was therefore conducted on published scientific reports applicable to plants native to Central America, and unpublished reports on poisonous plants of Belize to describe the toxicological information of such plants. A total of 16 plants from 7 families were identified to be toxic. The identified plants were reviewed for their toxicology. 13 plants were reported to be toxic, 2 plants were shown to be non-toxic, and no scientific studies were found for 1 plant. There is an urgent need to conduct toxicological research on plants native to Belize, especially that many such plants are used for food and medicinal purposes. Keywords Poisonous plants · Medicinal plants · Toxicology · Belize
Introduction The documented use of plants has been as old as the existence of man. Plants and other natural products have been central as agents in indigenous medicines, nutrition, and have been instrumental in the discovery of many drugs (Petrovska 2012). Many plant products have both useful biological and pharmacological effects; however, they are
toxic to both humans and other forms of life. The toxicity of plants in the management of various types of cancers has been reported (Wang et al. 2012). The continuous development and research in plant knowledge has aided in the advancement of medicine. This knowledge has also brought an increase in the awareness of the usefulness of plants for medicinal purposes (Ekor 2014). Moreover, pharmaceutical products derived from plant sources need to pass through a
* Danladi Chiroma Husaini [email protected]
University of Belize, Belmopan Central Campus, Belmopan, Cayo, Belize
Cindy J. Bush [email protected]
2
CJS Pharmacy, 4 Independence Str., Benque Viejo, Cayo, Belize
Israel Coc [email protected]
3
Codd’s Pharmacy, 1451 Constitution Drive, City of Belmopan, Belmopan, Cayo, Belize
Elsbeth Guerra [email protected]
4
Friendly Pharmacy, Market Square Area, City of Belmopan, Cayo,
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