Identificação anatômica de amostras comercializadas como espinheira-santa na Região Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro

In Brazil, three different species are currently sold as “espinheira-santa”: Monteverdia ilicifolia (Mart. ex Reissek) Biral (Celastraceae), Sorocea bonplandii (Baill.) W.C.Burger, Lanj. & Wess.Boer (Moraceae) and Zollernia ilicifolia Vogel (Leguminosae). However, only M. ilicifolia is formally recognized for its medicinal properties, while the other two species are potentially toxic. Our aim was to verify the identity of the “espinheira-santa” sold in cities of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. We acquired 19 sam-ples, mainly from fairs, city markets and natural products stores. In order to identify the material, we made free-hand anatomical sections of the midrib of rehydrated leaves, and the anatomical descriptions were compared to literature data and to reference slides. Only 5 out of 19 samples matched M. ilicifolia, while the others mainly corresponded to S. bonplandii. Plant anatomy is an excellent tool for fraud control in medicinal plants due to its low cost and simplicity.