Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC (Fabaceae)

• Autor(a) principal: López, Raquel Elisa da Silva
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Fitos
• Texto Completo: https://revistafitos.far.fiocruz.br/index.php/revista-fitos/article/view/149
• topic: Canavalia ensiformis; feijão-de-porco; constituintes químicos; efeitos farmacológicos; Canavalia ensiformis; jack bean; chemical constituents; pharmacological effects

Canavalia ensiformis is a widely distributed tropical legume. It is extensively used in agriculture as a green cover for the nutritional enrichment of soils. Due to the high nutritional values the seeds are used to feed cattle and the leaves are food for humans. It is quite resistant to changes in environmental conditions, insects and microorganisms. The major compounds of C. ensiformis are biologically active proteins, peptides, enzymes or amino acid derivatives. Among these compounds it is important to mention concanavalin A, ureases, canatoxin, jaburetox, serine proteases, glycosidases and L-canavanina/L-canalina. These compounds play important biochemical roles in the plant and, their activities have been the subject of intense investigations. In addition, these major compounds extracted from seeds of C. ensiformis have important pharmacological effects, thereby aiding in the understanding of physiology of organisms and in the treatment of various pathologies.