Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activities of Eight Species of Fabaceae That Are Commonly Used in Traditional Medical Practices in the Republic of Suriname

The consumption of diets rich in antioxidants may minimize the chances of developing debilitating diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetic, inflammatory, neoplastic, and cognitive disorders. The Fabaceae or pea family is the third most species-rich plant family on Earth and includes more than 19,000 species in over 700 genera. Many species of Fabaceae are ingredients of staple diets and medicinal substances. This may be attributable to the presumably high content of antioxidants in these plants, particularly phenolic compounds. The Republic of Suriname (South America) harbors over 400 species of Fabaceae in more than 100 genera and has a rich ethnopharmacological tradition that also involves a number of Fabaceae species. In this chapter, we evaluated the literature to determine whether the traditional use of eight of the medicinally most commonly employed Surinamese species of Fabaceae may be associated with their phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Our results suggest that this may hold true for Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Cajanus cajan, Clitoria ternatea, Desmodium adscendens, Lablab purpureus, and Tamarindus indica but not for Copaifera guyanensis and Dipteryx odorata, the bioactivities of which mainly seem to be determined by terpenoids and coumarins, respectively, without an apparent involvement of antioxidant effects.