A historical review about the native food species from caatinga in Pernambuco state, Brazil was conducted. A matrix of the food plants was created using a primary source ("Contribution to the study of the flora from Pernambuco, Brazil", by Dárdano de Andrade-Lima) and secondary sources of past use (centuries XVI/ XVII/ XIX), contemporary (50s-70s decades) and current (from the 70s decade) to the central work. This study has revealed the potential of the native food flora from caatinga and the importance of prioritizing the record of this information, which is proven, the number of research for nutritional analysis of these species is still limited.