Fridericia chica (Bonpl.) L.G. Lohmann: An Overview of Medicinal Plant Studies

Fridericia chica (Bonpl.) L.G. Lohmann (synonym Arrabidaea chica Verlot) has aroused the medical interest of researchers in recent years. The leaves of F. chica are used in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, for wound healing of skin or mucous membranes, ulcers, intestinal colic, diarrhea, and blood disorders such as hemorrhage and anemia. Herein, we present a review of the scientific production on F. chica employing the SciVerse Scopus database to elucidate the research trends and perspectives in this field of science. To identify relevant publications, 95 research articles and 10 reviews were selected, totaling 105 publications, of which Brazilian researchers published 91. The research areas most covered in the publications were Pharmacology, Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with the keywords highlighting flavonoids chemical class as the most cited. The data collected provides an overview of the status of this species, with scarce research reports on the application of F. chica products. Furthermore, F. chica is also unexplored in Food Science and Technology, demonstrating new research opportunities.