*Corresponding author:
Cristiane Fernandes Lisboa, Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Engineering Department, Viçosa, BrazilReceived: May 15, 2018; Published: May 22, 2018
DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.04.001097
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The healing power of plants is as old as the appearance of the human species on Earth. The first civilizations realized that some plants contained, in their essences, active principles which when used in the combating disease revealed empirically their curative power, representing an important therapeutic resource [1-4]. Approximately 25% of the drugs prescribed worldwide are derived from plants and, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), its great use is due to the fact that traditional medicines ensure, for all population, access to health care [2]. The Brazilians are, more and more, betting on treatments based on medicinal plants and herbal medicines. Between 2013 and 2015, the search for these products in the Unified Health System (UHS) more than doubled, growing 161%. In 2013 about 6 thousand people went to some primary care pharmacy to receive the inputs; in 2015 this demand has reached almost 16 thousand people.