Estudo etnobotânico de plantas medicinais utilizadas pelos moradores do Sítio Logradouro, Lagoa, Paraíba.

Abstract

Plants have been used by man since ancient times in order to prevent or cure their ills. Brazil, for having the world's highest floristic diversity, ethnobotanical studies have been intensified in order to register the traditional botanical knowledge, particularly related to the use of the resources of flora for therapeutic purposes. The present study aimed to conduct an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in the Logradouro countryside in, Lagoa - PB, rescuing and describing aspects of botanical species as medicinal. We administered a semistructured questionnaire to 48 respondents, aged 21-85 years, of both sexes, from March to April 2012, which addressed the popular and scientific name of the plant part used and method of preparation. The results showed 59 species belonging to 33 botanical families in the medical category, and the most cited were the tiny mint leaf (Mentha pulegium L.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), the cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale L.) , wild lavender (Hyptis suaveolens (L) Poit. macela and (Egletes viscosa (L) Less. The families with the largest number of species were cited Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Apiaceae and Asteraceae. Pharmacological and phytochemical studies may contribute more information and better guidance for use of these plants in the health and environmental quality.