Development of Agrobiodiversity: Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants in the Community of Boa Esperança in the Municipality of São João de Pirabas, Pará

Abstract

Agrobiodiversity is the result of the relationship between human beings and the environment, allied to the development of a community together with ethnobotanical research, in which these researches assist in the survey of species for pharmaceutical use, in addition to cultural and economic issues of the population. The objective was to carry out an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants as part of the agrobiodiversity concept, in a community of family farmers and artisanal fishermen in Vila de Boa Esperança, in the municipality of São João de Pirabas, Pará. Semi-structured and structured interviews were carried out, with the application of questionnaires, in
addition to the interviewee’s observation of the local flora. To carry out the estimates, the frequency of
use of each species in ecosystems of capoeiras and backyards was obtained, and grouped according
to the classification of diseases of the World Health Organization. In the backyards, 113 medicinal
species distributed in 47 botanical families were recorded. In the capoeiras, 50 species distributed
in 25 botanical families were recorded. The white Pião obtained the highest frequency of use in backyards with 44.83%, and, in capoeiras, Barbatimão, Pau de horse and Verônica had the same frequency values with 93.10%. Most plants used as medicines were intended for the treatment of infectious and parasitic diseases. The leaves were the part of the plant most used as medicine. In this way, ethnobotanical studies tended to rescue the knowledge of the community of Boa Esperança, and to conserve the medicinal species found in backyards and capoeiras, aiming at a sustainable development of the region.