Plantas medicinais comercializadas na feira livre do município de Cuité, Paraíba: conhecimento do raizeiro versus literatura.

Abstract

The healing power of plants is as old as the appearance of the human species in earth. About Much of the world's population uses traditional medicinal plants to meet their need for primary health care being, therefore, it’s necessary to know the actual therapeutic potential of these species, and especially to know their correct identification, in order to increase its use in health. In this context there is the healer figure, calling attention to the valuation of popular knowledge, which is the source selection material for scientific study. The work now developed aimed to make an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants sold by salespeople in the street fair in the city of Cuité, Paraíba, and correlate the information with traditional scientific. The research was exploratory, descriptive and field, being held from July to August 2014 through semi-structured interviews with application of questionnaires previously prepared containing information on plants, such as: common nomenclature, how to use, the used and therapeutic indication. It was possible to detect the existence of eight salespeople who agreed to participate in the study by signing the Informed Consent and Informed (ICI) and register the sale 64 medicinal plants recognized in 61 species, grouped in 35 botanical families. For forms of use stated by salespeople 76,56% of the cases were in agreement with the literature, whichever tea (49,5%). With regard to plant parts suitable for the preparations of the home remedies, it was found that 89% of the citations were in agreement with the literature, predominantly the use of the leaves (28%), then tuber/shell/bead (27%). Indications of healers when compared to the literature show an expressive percentage of agreement of 70%. It was possible to identify the species at risk of extinction, those without scientific studies and those with toxic or abortifacient potential. In developed research, there are no reports for all species for the concentration and dose required to produce a therapeutic effect, thus preventing a possible comparison between traditional and scientific information regarding the dose. The survey showed that there was a significant percentage of reliability of the information provided by the healers to those described in the literature. It is clear, however, the need for standardization of the language of the healers and the existing literature, to a greater exchange of both empirical as scientific information, which can be accomplished through projects that join the University and this group studied.