This study aims to investigate the diversity of native medicinal plants in a caatinga area, verifying the versatility of species and concordance of use among the informants, in the Angico de Cima community, in the city of Aurora, Ceará, Brazil. Ethnobotanical data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with key informants, adopting the snowball technique. The Relative Importance (RI) and Consensus Factor among Informants (ICF) were analyzed to indicate the most versatile species with the highest agreement of use, respectively. Within the 35 registered native species, eight presented great versatility, with a RI> 1, standing out Ziziphus joazeiro Mart. (1.86) and Heliotropium indicum (L.) Lehm (1.67). The 60 therapeutic indications were grouped into 13 body systems categories, of which Genitourinary System Disorder and Nervous, had the highest agreement of use with ICF from 0.8, each. Some species, such as Heliotropium indicum, have a high RI, are scarcely indicated for therapeutic activities in caatinga and require studies that prove their medicinal properties.
Much of the Brazilian semiarid region faces a considerable process of degradation of natural resources, and ethnobotanical studies have collaborated with important information about the use and traditional knowledge, serving as a tool to design conservation strategies of native plant species. Thus, this study aimed to determine medicinal species meriting conservation priorities in a "Caatinga" area in the northeastern of Brazilian territory. The ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key subjects selected through the "snowball" technique. The availability and species conservation priority was verified by relative density, risk of collection, local use and use of diversity in the forest fragment sampled. It was recorded 42 native medicinal plants and conservation priority score was calculated for seven species, including Mimosa tenuiflora, Hymenaea courbaril, Ximenia americana and Amburana cearensis need immediate conservation and attention, since their collection does not occur in a sustainable way. In order to ensure the perpetuation of the species and the sustainability of traditional therapeutic practice there needs to be a development of conservation practices of caatinga remaining to better conserve the species of the biome.
This study aimed to conduct an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal species in an área of cerrado vegetation in the chapada do Araripe, Ceara, as well as evaluating and selecting species with potential for bioprospecting, based on the relative importance of the species and the consensus among the informants. The ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a free list, and by using the technique "snowball". It was analyzed the relative importance of the mentioned plants as well as species that stood out on the bodily systems, based on the factor:consensus among the informants. It was recorded a total of 38 species distributed into 35 genera and 25 families. Of the total eight species (21%) presented great versatility (IR≥1) regarding to its use. The therapeutic indications were grouped into 14 categories of bodily systems. Disorder of respiratory and genitourinary systems, injuries, poisoning and other consequences of external causes and diseases of the blood, organs and connective tissue, obtained a greater consensus among the informants. Ximenia americana, Himathantus drasticus, Stryphnodndron rotundifolium, Hancornia speciosa and Cecropia pachysthachya were the species subject to further study, based on versatility, and consensus of the use among the informants.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.