BackgroundThis study aimed to record the use, and knowledge that residents from São Francisco community (Paraiba, Brazil) have regarding the Cactaceae.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were carried out with 118 informants; 50 men and 68 women. The cacti cited in this study were organised into use categories and use values were calculated. Differences in the values applied to species and use categories by men and women were compared via a G test (Williams).ResultsThe nine species identified were: Cereus jamacaru DC., Melocactus bahiensis (Brtitton & Rose) Luetzelb., Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck., Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill, Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw., Pilosocereus gounellei (F.A.C. Weber) Byles & Rowley, Pilosocereus pachycladus F. Ritter, Tacinga inamoena (K. Schum) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy, Tacinga palmadora (Britton & Rose) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy. In total, 1,129 use citations were recorded, divided into 11 categories. The use value categories with the highest scores were forage (0.42), food (0.30) and construction (building) (0.25). P. pachycladus showed the greatest use value, versatility and number of plant parts used.ConclusionThe survey showed that the Cactaceae is extremely important for several uses and categories attributed to different species. Apart from contributing to the ethnobotanical knowledge of the Cactaceae, another important focus of this study was to reinforce the necessity for further studies that record the traditional knowledge about this plant family, which has been lost in younger generations.

Snakes are sold in many markets and religious article stores in Brazil. Besides their use as food, snakes are exploited in a variety of ways, such as pets, or for use in traditional medicine and magic/religious rituals (especially in Afro-Brazilian religions). Despite widespread commercialization, there is a general lack of information about this snake trade, which makes it difficult to evaluate its magnitude and its impact on reptile populations. This work documents the commercialization and use of snakes in five cities in Northeastern (Sã o Luís, Teresina, Joã o Pessoa and Campina Grande) and Northern (Belé m) Brazil, through interviews with 119 merchants of biological products in outdoor markets and religious articles stores. The data was gathered through the use of semi-structured questionnaires, complemented by semidirected interviews. The products derived from 11 snake species were being commercialized for medicinal or magical/religious purposes. Boa constrictor, Crotalus durissus and Eunectes murinus were the species most commonly sold. The economic importance of snakes as sources of medicines and religious products demonstrates the need for the development of sustainable use programs for these species.

The influence of religiosity on health

No abstract

This paper documents zootherapeutic practices in Northeast Brazil. It is primarily based on field surveys carried out in fishing villages located in the States of Maranha˜o and Paraı´ba, where dwellers provided information on snake species used as medicine, body parts used to prepare the remedies, and the illnesses to which the remedies were prescribed. The species used as medicinal drug and their respective families were: Crotalus durissus (rattlesnake), Bothrops leucurus ('lance head', a venomous snake), and Lachesis muta (bushmaster) of the family Crotalidae; and Boa constrictor (boa constrictor), Epicrates cenchria ('salamanta'), and Eunectes murinus (anaconda) of the family (Boidae). These zootherapeutical resources were used for the cure of 14 illnesses. The most commonly cited species were Crotalus durissus (n=26) e Boa constrictor (n=6), Apparently, the medicinal use of snakes does not pose a threat for their population in the studied sites.

This study assessed the intracultural knowledge of the use of medicinal plants in an urban-rural community in an Atlantic forest fragment in northeastern Brazil. We examined the importance of native and exotic species and the effects of gender and age on that knowledge. We also compared data obtained from different groups of informants (local experts and general community). We conducted 194 interviews between June 2007 and January 2008, using the freelist technique and semistructured forms to collect ethnobotanical data. Information obtained from the community was compared with that from six local experts who participated in a survey in 2003. From a total of 209 ethnospecies, exotic and herbaceous plants presented higher richness. With respect to the number of citations, women and older informants were shown to know a higher number of medicinal plants. Comparing knowledge of local experts with that of the general community, we noted that experts know a similar wealth of plant families and therapeutic indications, but the community knows a greater species richness. These results indicate that local experts may provide useful information for studies that search for a quick diagnosis of the knowledge of a given community.

Background. Phrynops geoffroanus is a small turtle that inhabits lakes, rivers, and streams throughout South America. The body fat of this animal is used as a folk medicine in Brazil for treating illnesses such as sore throats, ear aches, mumps, rheumatism, and arthritis. The present study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of oil extracted from Phrynops geoffroanus (OPG), determined its chemical composition, and discussed the implications of its use in traditional medicine. The OPG was obtained from the ventral region of this turtle using hexane as a solvent. The antimicrobial activity of OPG was tested against standard and multiresistance strains of bacteria and fungi and its composition was determined indirectly by analyzing the methyl esters of the component fatty acids. The OPG presented a clinically relevant antifungal activity against Candida krusei ATCC 6258 (MIC 128 µg/mL). When the OPG was associated with the antibacterial and antifungal drugs, was observed a synergistic effect when associated the OPG with the gentamicin against the strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa 22. Our results indicated that OPG has clinically relevant antifungal activity against C. krusei, and demonstrated synergetic antibacterial activity in combination with commercial antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Overhunting typically increases during and after armed conflicts, and may lead to regional-scale defaunation. The mitigation of hunting impacts is complex because, among other reasons, several intrinsic and extrinsic motivations underpin the elevated deployment of hunting practices. Here we present the first study focusing on these motivations in a post-war zone. Following persistently heavy hunting pressure during the 27-year Angolan civil war, the offtake of small to medium-bodied species has increased recently as a result of large mammal depletion. However, prey choice associated with different motivations varied in terms of species trophic level and body size. While most residents hunted large-bodied species to maximize revenues from wildlife trade, many low-trophic level smaller species were harvested to meet local subsistence demands because they were more palatable and could be captured using artisanal traps near hunters’ households. Mainly low-trophic level species were killed in retaliation for crop-raiding or livestock depredation. Considering all game species sampled in this study, 96% were captured to attend two or more motivations. In addition, hunting associated with different motivations was partitioned in terms of age and gender, with prey acquisition for the wildlife trade primarily carried out by adult men, while hunting to meet local subsistence needs and inhibit human-wildlife conflicts were carried out by adult men and women, children and even the elderly. In natural savannah areas lacking fish as a source of protein, a higher number of species was selected to supply both the meat trade and subsistence, while more species in forest areas were targeted for trade in animal body parts and conflict retaliation. Finally, local commerce in bushmeat and other body parts accrued higher domestic revenues compared to any alternative sources of direct and indirect income. However, these financial benefits were at best modest, largely unsustainable in terms of prey population collapses, and generated high long-term costs for the local to regional scale economy and native biodiversity.