Estudo etnobotânico sobre a diversidade e uso de plantas medicinais por moradores do município de Puxinanã, PB.

Abstract

Ethnobotany is a multidisciplinary science, and therefore it involves knowledge that goes beyond the barriers of Biological Sciences. One of the most important branches of ethnobotanical is the study of medicinal plants, it includes the simplest ways to produce homemade medicines to the most sophisticated pharmaceutical herbal techniques in the production in large commercial scale. The Caatinga is a biome located in semi-arid northeast region of Brazil and because of the irregular rainfall, faces problems of water scarcity in most months of the year. In this environment the anthropogenic pressure is bringing problems regarding conservation. Scientific studies in this biome are incipient compared to other Brazilian environments. This study conducted a survey on the medicinal plants used by residents of the city of Puxinanã, located in the Mesoregion of Borborema in the micro-region of Campina Grande , PB , Brazil , through semi-structured questionnaires . Data from 42 interviews were collected and discussed, in which most of the participants were female, married, with children, with low education and the occupation of farmer. The most abundant plant families mentioned in the research were Fabaceae and Asteraceae (7 species each). The species with the highest number of citations were Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng .(27) Chenopodium ambrosioidesL. (26) , Lippia alba (Mill.) NE Br and Bauhinia cheilantha (Bong.) Steud (25 each). We also gathered information about the particular use of these plants for various diseases, being especially used for inflammation, influenza, bronchitis, diarrhea and verminosis among others. The most widely used parts of the plant are the leaves (47%) and stems (13.6%) and the preparation methods were teas (44%) and cooking (16%). We calculated the rate of agreement with the corrected primary use (CUPc) and Relative Frequency (FRi) of the plants mentioned by the interviewed. The plant with greater and greater Fri CUPc was Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. species that got CUPc = 85.19 % and Fri = 64.29 %. These results demonstrate that many of the plants cited by interviewed uses a concordant with current scientific knowledge about its therapeutic effects.