Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used by Some Residents of Three Rural Communities in the Municipality of Cabaceiras do Paraguaçu, Bahia

Abstract

Research on ethnobotany involves surveys in traditional societies about the use of vegetables in the home pharmacopoeia, as well as cultural and economic issues of the population, as well as man’s interactions with the environment. Ethnobotany it is a study of the knowledge of the flora of a region, which is concerned with the subjects and their knowledge, gathers information from primitive peoples who, directly or indirectly, maintained relations with plants and with cultural elements of a people. The objective was to conduct an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants usedin three rural communities in the municipality of Cabaceiras do Paraguaçu/BA. Two hundred eightysix questionnaires were applied to community members in their homes. For the analysis of the data, the relative frequency was used. Participants were investigated for the socioeconomic profile and use of medicinal plants. Forty five medicinal species belonging to 25 botanical families were identified. The Lamiaceae and Asteraceae families were the two most representative botanical families in the ethnobotanical study. The Lamiaceae family was the most representative in number of species used as medicinal and the most cited species of bee balm (Lippia alba L.), capim santo (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill), boldo (Plectranthus barbatus Andrews) and mint (Mentha spicata L.) were the medicinal species most reported by the interviewees. The plants are purchased in the backyards of the houses, used in the form of tea or infusion. The leaves were the parts of the plant most used. Thus, it became evident the importance of conducting ethnobotanical studies, as a way to rescue and prevent the loss of traditional knowledge from the communities of Jacarezinho, Nova Aparecida and Pé de Serra and the conservation of medicinal species of the region’s flora.