Levantamento etnobotânico de plantas medicinais com fins ginecológicos no município de Frei Martinho - PB.

Abstract

It is estimated that a large percentage of Brazilian women have already presented or they will present, at least once in a lifetime, some type of gynecological disorder. In this scenario, this work aimed to perform an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants with gynecological uses in the municipality of Frei Martinho, state of Paraiba. To develop this search the following methodologies were used: free listing, semi structured questionnaires, formal and informal conversation, participant observation; with “key informants”, chosen intentionally and using the snowball sampling method. From the survey, it was announced the knowledge of 70 plant species with gynecological uses and among the most representative families are: Fabaceae (11%), Lamiaceae (9%), followed by Malvaceae and Curcubitaceae (6%, respectively). Within this cast, there was the use of 42 species by the participants, being the most cited: Anacardium occidentale L. (10%); Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng; Ximenia americana L. and Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken (9%, respectively). The main gynecological problems that led them to resort to folk medicine were: inflammation of the reproductive system (19%), discharge and wound in the uterus (15%, respectively). Based on these results, it can be observed that the studied community holds a broad knowledge of the medicinal flora. The use of folk medicine for gynecological purposes is a common practice among women in the community and is although encouraged by the municipal health professionals. In addition, it was possible to show that, even today, issues related to sexuality are still permeated by taboos and prejudices.