Incorporation of tannic acid in formulations for topical use in wound healing: A technological prospecting

The tannic acid is a polyphenol with several properties that give it different applications, including leather and pharmaceutical industry. It belongs to the group of water soluble metabolites, and has the ability to complex macromolecules and metal ions, which gives it antioxidant, antimicrobial and healing activity. Therefore, such properties can be used to develop technologies related to wound healing systems. This prospective study summarizes bibliographic information about the use of tannic acid in topical formulations for healing skin wounds. The data were collected through the search tool available in patent databases (INPI, USPTO, EPO, WIPO, DERWENT) and articles (Web of Science) about the application of tannic acid in skin wound healing system. In recent decades, there has been growth in number of searches for elucidation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of tannic acid, and its incorporation in biomaterials in the pharmaceutical field. The United States, Japan and China stood out in inventions and publishing articles. The Brazilian biodiversity is immense, although underexplored and poorly study about extraction and properties of tannins in topical formulations, which lacks encourages to research technologies for healing system more effective and cheap. Key words: Tannic acid, cutaneous healing system, technological prospecting.