Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal species utilized in the Coqueiros Community, Brazil / Estudio etnobotánico y etnofarmacológico de especies medicinales utilizadas en la Comunidad de Coqueiros, Brasil

This paper explores the medicinal plants used by Coqueiros Community, Brazil, for the treatment of various ailments. We apply the structured interview and the participant observation, and the local knowledge was analyzed using quantitative measures applied to the general sampling to contribute to selection of promising species for biotechnological development. This community cited 105 species from 53 plant families. The most representative families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae, Myrtaceae, Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Lamiaceae and Rutaceae. Among the species mentioned in this survey, 66,7% of them occur in the Cerrado as native vegetation. The species considered the most important by interviewees are those with action for the largest number of health problems. Thus, the statistical indexes used here, such as Relative Impotance (RI), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), contributed to identify these species. To conclude, from this research we have known the potential of the Brazilian vegetation for the development of biotechnology.

Este artículo explora las plantas medicinales utilizadas por la comunidad de Coqueiros, Brasil, para el tratamiento de diversas dolencias. Aplicamos la entrevista estructurada y la observación participante, y se analizó el conocimiento local mediante medidas cuantitativas aplicadas al muestreo general para contribuir a la selección de especies promisorias para el desarrollo biotecnológico. Esta comunidad citó 105 especies de 53 familias de plantas. Las familias más representativas fueron Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae, Myrtaceae, Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Lamiaceae y Rutaceae. Entre las especies mencionadas en esta encuesta, el 66,7% de ellas se encuentran en el Cerrado como vegetación nativa. Las especies consideradas más importantes por los entrevistados son aquellas con acción para el mayor número de problemas de salud. Así, los índices estadísticos utilizados aquí, como Importancia Relativa (RI), Factor de Consenso del Informante (ICF) y Frecuencia Relativa de Citación (RFC), contribuyeron a identificar estas especies. Para concluir, a partir de esta investigación hemos conocido el potencial de la vegetación brasileña para el desarrollo de la biotecnología.

Knowledge and use of wild edible plants in rural communities along Paraguay River, Pantanal, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Wild plants are used as food for human populations where people still depend on natural resources to survive. This study aimed at identifying wild plants and edible uses known in four rural communities of the Pantanal-Brazil, estimating the use value and understanding how distance to the urban areas, gender, age and number of different environments available in the vicinity can influence the knowledge and use of these plants by local people. METHODS: Data on edible plants with known uses by communities were obtained through semi-structured interviews. A form with standardized information was used for all communities in order to obtain comparable data for analysis. For the quantitative analysis of the factors that could influence the number of species known by the population, a generalized linear model (GLM) was conducted using a negative binomial distribution as the data consisted of counts (number of citations). RESULTS: A total of 54 wild species were identified with food uses, included in 44 genera and 30 families of angiosperms. Besides food use, the species are also known as medicine, bait, construction, technology and other. The species with the highest use value was Acrocomia aculeata. Older people, aged more than 60 years, and those living in more remote communities farther from cities know more wild edible plants. Statistical analysis showed no difference regarding gender or number of vegetation types available in the vicinity and the number of plants known by locals. CONCLUSION: This study indicated more knowledge retained in communities more distant from the urban area, indifference in distribution of knowledge between genders and the higher cultural competence of elderly people in respect to knowledge of wild edible botanicals.