[2][3] The latex has medicinal properties, and is used by local peoples as a liquid bandage, applied to seal wounds, as it dries quickly to form a protective skin-like barrier.

[5] Croton lechleri are native to the Amazon basin and are distributed across the tropical regions of the South American countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

[4][10] The earliest written reference to Croton lechleri dates to the 17th century, when Spanish Jesuit missionary, naturalist, and explorer, Bernabé Cobo encountered the use of the plant's resin by indigenous tribes throughout Mexico, Peru and Ecuador.

[8] For centuries, the sap has been used to cover abrasions, cuts, scratches, blisters, bites and stings to prevent bleeding, decrease inflammation, seal wounds and injuries to protect from infection.

[4] Beyond cutaneous ailments, the use of sangre de grado is taken orally for gastrointestinal disorders and irregularities including gastritis, gastric ulcers, intestinal infections, and inflammation.

[14] Antimicrobial Activity Some compounds of the resin, as found in a particular study, 2,4,6-trimethoxyphenol, 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene, crolechinic acid, and korberins A and B showed exhibited antibacterial properties individually.

In one study, disk diffusion method proved concentration-dependent antifungal activity against Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton, three of the most common species of dermatophytes that cause superficial fungal infections of human skin.

[16] Further research is needed, however, to examine the role of sangre de grado from Croton lechleri as an effective antifungal agent in animal and human models.

Antiviral activity against influenza, parainfluenza, Herpes simplex viruses I and II, and Hepatitis A and B by Croton lechleri extracts and compounds have been exhibited.