Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants by population of Valley of Juruena Region, Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological importance
The
use of medicinal plants for treatment, cure and prevention of diseases
has been described by many people since time immemorial. Because of this
use, commercial and scientific interests have emerged, making it
necessary to realize ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal plants species,
which is important for subsequent chemical and pharmacological
bioprospections.
Aim of the study
This
study aimed at surveying, identifying, cataloging and documenting the
medicinal plants species used in the Valley of Juruena, Northwestern
Mato Grosso, Legal Amazon Brazil for the treatment of various human
diseases, as well as assessed the species of interest for bioprospecting
potential.
Materials and methods
Informants
were interviewed using semi-structured form to capture information on
socio-demographic and ethnopharmacological data of medicinal plants such
as vernacular name, uses, geographic origin, habit, form of preparation
and part used. Results were analyzed using descriptive and quantitative
means: indices of use-report (Ur) and informant consensus factor (ICF),
for the selection of plant species with therapeutic potential.
Results
Three
hundred and thirty two (332) plants species belonging to 90 families
were reported for medicinal purposes and totaling 3973 use-reports were
reported by 365 (92.9%) of the people interviewed. Asteraceae (32.2%),
Fabaceae (26.7%) and Lamiaceae (24.4%) families were the most
represented, with majority being species native (64.45%) to Brazil.
Leaves (64.5%) were the part of the plant most used and infusion (45.7%)
was the most utilized form. Gastrointestinal disorders followed by
respiratory complaints topped the list of use-reports. The native or
naturalized plants with the highest use reports in the order of
decreasing absolute frequency per each emic-category are Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapfc (104), Mentha pulegium L. (94), Arrabidaea chica (Humb. & Bonpl.) B. Verl. (97), Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze (71), Baccharis crispa Spreng (57), Phyllanthus niruri L. (48), Gossypium barbadense L. (44), Solidago microglossa DC. (40) and Bauhinia forficata L. (20). And the most cited exotics are: Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (151), Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f., (89) and Rosmarinus officinalis
L. (72). In some cases, high ICF values were found, which reflects high
degree of homogeneity of consensus among informants in this region on
medicinal plants.
Conclusion
The
population of Valle of Juruena makes use of a wide array of medicinal
plants distributed in all use categories with predominance of those use
in the treatments of gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments. The
therapeutic potential of some of the species of medicinal importance
extensively utilized by the population of the region have been
scientifically validated, and are therefore promising prototype of new
drugs. However, there are some of these species whose ethnomedicinal
uses are yet to be scientifically verified and thus constitute an
unexplored terrain for future biological/pharmacological studies.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Emic use;
- Ethnobotanical;
- Amazon rain forest;
- Use-reports;
- Informant consensus factor
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