Chá de bugre is a very popular plant indigenous to Brazil, where it is sold in great quantities in the cities of Bahia, Goias, and Minas Gerais. It is one of the plant species which is most used in Brazil by the common people for its traditional medicinal properties.
Chá de bugre is a tree which grows to be 8-12 meters in height with a trunk 30-40 cm in diameter. It produces fruit like berries which are used traditionally to make tea and medicine. This small Brazilian tree has many names. In Brazil, it is botanically classified as Cordia salicifolia and is commonly called café do mato or coffee of the woods. The red fruit resembles a coffee bean which is roasted and then brewed into tea as a coffee substitute. It is also found in tropical forest areas of Argentina and Paraguay and is classified there as Cordia ecalyculata.
Chá de bugre is especially well known in the more remote areas in the interior of Brazil, where the local population consume the plant in abundance because of family lore regarding Chá de bugre's beneficial effects on diet and health.
Antimicrobial & Cytotoxic Actions:
Hayashi, K., et al. “Antiviral activity of an extract of Cordia salicifolia on herpes simplex virus type 1.” Planta Med. 1990; 56(5): 439-43.
Cardiotonic Actions:
Matsunaga, K., et al. “Excitatory and inhibitory effects of Paraguayan medicinal plants Equisetum giganteum, Acanthpspermum australe, Allophylus edlis and Cordia salicifolia on contraction of rabbit aorta and giunea-pig left atrium.” Natural Medicines 1997; 51: 478-481.
