Levantamento de plantas medicinais utilizadas em comunidade rural do Município de Teixeira, Paraíba, Brasil.

Abstract

Conventional medicine has advanced greatly in recent years, however, in developing countries, especially in rural communities, the use of medicinal plants is still common practice, because the interaction of human plants associated with the availability and low cost of medicinal plants. However, it is important to remember that improper use of medicinal plants can cause serious health risks to the user. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the knowledge and use of medicinal plants in a rural community in the city of Teixeira-PB. It is a descriptive study with quantitative and qualitative approach. Date were collected between april-may 2011, in the homes of participants. The instrument used for data collection was a structured form composed of two parts: socio-demographic data of participants and issues, objective and subjective, referring to knowledge and use of medicinal plants. The sample comprised 59 respondents, of whom 81,4% are female and living on a monthly income of up to 1 minimum wage (42,4%). In cases of disease rely primarily the physician (55,9%), believe in the cure of diseases through the use of medicinal plants (100%) and their harmful if used incorrectly (89,8%). Respondents cited 32 species of medicinal plants distributed in 21 families, where families Lamiaceae (12,5%) and Fabaceae (12,5%) were the most cited. The plant most often mentioned for the treatment of diseases was mint (Mentha x villosa Huds) with 15,3%. The disease that most affects this community is influenza (10,8%). With respect to the plants mentioned above, the sheet (48,7%) represented the most widely used vegetable body and how to prepare, the home remedies, tea was more frequent (57,3%). Most species are grown (36%), native to Brazil (59,4%) and arboreal features (37,5%). How to use, 42,3% did not associate the preparation of plant remedies, 69,2% prefer to swallow natural remedy with weaker doses, 71,1% conventional drugs do not mix home remedies and 57,7% had never used remedies made from medicinal plants for longer periods. Effectiveness is the main reason why the community uses medicinal plants (54,7%). Knowledge about the use and method of preparation comes from family (75%). According to data analysis, the community has studied a broad knowledge about the healing properties of plants, as well as their use as much of the information obtained on the form of medicinal plants by the use of informants, as is the literature.