Local Knowledge and Use of Medicinal Plants in a Rural Community in the Agreste of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil

Ezequiel da Costa Ferreira; Maria da Glória Vieira Anselmo; Natan Medeiros Guerra; Camilla Marques de Lucena; Cattleya do Monte Pessoa Felix; Rainer W Bussmann; Narel Y Paniagua-Zambrana; Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena

doi:10.1155/2021/9944357

Local Knowledge and Use of Medicinal Plants in a Rural Community in the Agreste of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Dec 29:2021:9944357. doi: 10.1155/2021/9944357. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ezequiel da Costa Ferreira¹, Maria da Glória Vieira Anselmo², Natan Medeiros Guerra³, Camilla Marques de Lucena¹, Cattleya do Monte Pessoa Felix¹, Rainer W Bussmann⁴, Narel Y Paniagua-Zambrana⁴, Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena⁵

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Program in Development and Environment (PRODEMA), Ethnobiology and Environmental Sciences Laboratory, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba State, Brazil.
² Federal University of Paraíba, Master's Degree in Agronomy, Areia, Paraíba State, Brazil.
³ Rural Federal University of the Semiarid, Doctoral Student, Plant Science, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
⁴ Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
⁵ Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Institute of Biosciences, Ethnobotany Laboratory, Research Group on Multidisciplinary and Socioecological Studies, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants is an important source of therapeutic resources in rural communities and the wide versatility of some species may attract interest for prospecting studies. The aim of this study was to record and analyze local knowledge and the use of medicinal plants in the rural community of Malícia, municipality of Araçagi, Paraíba State, Northeastern Brazil, applying quantitative methods to calculate the Relative Importance (RI) and the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 46 heads of households. The interviews addressed questions about the used parts of the plants, therapeutic indications, and form of use. Therapeutic indications were classified into categories of body systems. The Relative Importance Index (RI) was calculated to verify the species versatility, and the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) was calculated to verify the consensus of use among informants regarding the body systems. A total of 111 plant species were recorded, inside 101 genera and 47 families. Fabaceae (16 spp.), Lamiaceae, and Myrtaceae (each one with 7 spp.) were the most representative families. Mentha arvensis, Aloe vera, and Myracrodruon urundeuva had the highest RI. A high consensus of use was observed among the informants for neoplasms, nervous system diseases, and infectious and parasitic diseases. Leaves were the part most cited for medicinal use. Regarding the method of preparation, the decoction and the oral administration route stood out. Neoplasms and respiratory system diseases had the highest ICF values. The results indicate a diversified knowledge of the local pharmacopeia and the need for in-depth studies to corroborate the effectiveness of medicinal plants and to understand the dynamics of local knowledge.