American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2020, 11, 323-343 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ajps ISSN Online: 2158-2750 ISSN Print: 2158-2742 DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2020.113024 Mar. 13, 2020 323 American Journal of Plant Sciences Bredemeyera floribunda Wild Elemental Content and Comparison with Nutritional Recommendation for Adults: Medicinal Plant Used by the Brazilian Rural Population to Treat Fatigue and Exhaustion Paula Fabiana Saldanha Tschinkel 1 , Elaine Silva de Pádua Melo 1 , Daniela Granja Arakaki 1 , Valdir Aragão do Nascimento 1 , Melina Ribeiro Fernandes 1 , Nayara Vieira Lima 1 , Luana Carolina Santos Leite 1 , Hugo Santos Pereira 2 , Kassia Roberta Nogueira da Silva 2 , Francisco José Mendes dos Reis 1 , Valter Aragão do Nascimento 1* 1 Group of Spectroscopy and Bioinformatics Applied to Biodiversity and Health, School of Medicine, Postgraduation Program in Health and Development in the Midwest Region, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, School of Medicine, Campo Grande, Brazil 2 Institute of Chemistry of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil Abstract Bredemeyera floribunda Wild (Polygalaceae), also known as pau-de-ovo is a medicinal plant used to treat snakebites, as tonic and fortifiers to treat fatigue and exhaustion. The aim of the present study was to document the knowledge of herbal sellers in the preparation of the so-called “B. floribunda fortifier” and to compare the plant root content with the recommended nutritional values and the permitted limit for medicinal plants. The study revealed that, unlike other regions of Brazil, in the Midwest region, the root of the plant is used as food to treat fatigue and exhaustion. The contents in B. floribunda root decreased in the following order: Ca > K > P > Na > Fe > Mg > Si > Mn > Zn > Cu. Daily intake of 30 grams of B. floribunda roots are considered as an excellent source of Cr, Cu, Mn and Se for people 19 to 50 years of age according to the RDA. In addition, Cu and Fe showed content above the es- tablished limit for medicinal plants stipulated by other countries. The root of the plant has low K, Mg, P, Na and Zn content. When the contents in roots of the plant are below the oral dose of reference, consumption of this plant can be considered safe and without risk to human health. On the other hand, concentration of elements such as Cu, Fe, Ni, Al, Cr and Se exceeding the al- lowable limit may cause serious health problems due to prolonged ingestion How to cite this paper: Tschinkel, P.F.S., Melo, E.S.P., Arakaki, D.G., do Nascimento, V.A., Fernandes, M.R., Lima, N.V., Leite, L.C.S., Pereira, H.S., da Silva, K.R.N., dos Reis, F.J.M. and do Nascimento, V.A. (2020) Bredemeyera floribunda Wild Elemental Content and Comparison with Nutritional Recommendation for Adults: Medicinal Plant Used by the Brazilian Rural Population to Treat Fatigue and Exhaustion. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 11, 323-343. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2020.113024 Received: February 9, 2020 Accepted: March 10, 2020 Published: March 13, 2020 Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access