Medicinal plants profile used by the 3rd District population of Maceió-AL

Abstract

Herein the use of medicinal plants by the population of the 3rd Sanitary District of Maceió-AL city is reported. Transversal description was conducted from February 2013 to January 2014, with a sample of 116 individuals of both Gender Genders aged over 18 years. The ethnobotanical information interviews ethnobotanical information were obtained through semi -structured questionnaire featuring the use of medicinal plants and social and economical data. Descriptive statistics was applied for quantitative variables as mean and standard deviation and proportions for qualitative variables in the frequency table format. The results showed that 85.34% of the interviewees used plants for medicinal purposes. As the majority of these were (73.28%) females in the age group between 30-60 years of old. Among a total of 45 identified plant species, the highest use frequency were for Boldus Peumus (bilberry), Melissa officinalis (lemon balm), and Mentha piperita (mint). The most widely used plant foliage part was (53.53%) prepared as an infusion (55.5%). The use of medicinal plants in Maceió cityis widespread, highlighting the importance of ethnobotanical knowledge for the study of medicinal plants.Keywords: medicinal plants, ethnobotanical, herbal medicine. Perfil de plantas medicinais utilizadas pela população do 3º DistritoSanitário de Maceió-AL ResumoO presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar o perfil de utilização de plantas medicinais dos indivíduos residentes no 3º Distrito Sanitário do município de Maceió, Alagoas. Trata-se de um estudo observacional, descritivo de caráter transversal que foi realizado no período de fevereiro de 2013 a janeiro de 2014, com amostra de 116 indivíduos, maiores de 18 anos de ambos os gêneros. As informações etnobotânicas foram obtidas através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas realizadas por meio de questionário semiestruturado para traçar o perfil de utilização de plantas medicinais e dados socioeconômicos e demográficos dos entrevistados. A estatística descritiva foi aplicada para as variáveis quantitativas na forma de média e desvio padrão e proporções para variáveis qualitativas no formato de tabelas de frequência. Os resultados evidenciaram que 85,34% dos entrevistados utilizavam plantas para finalidades medicinais. Sendo a maioria destes, (73,28%) do Gênero feminino estando na faixa etária de 30 a 60 anos de idade. De um total de 45 espécies vegetais identificadas, as de maior frequência de utilização foram o Peumus boldus (boldo), a Melissa officinalis (erva-cidreira) e a Menta piperita (hortelã). A parte mais utilizada das plantas foi às folhas (53,53%) sendo ainda esta preparada sob forma de infusão (55,5%). A utilização de plantas medicinais no município de Maceió, Alagoas é bastante difundida, reforçando a importância de estudos etnobotânicos a fim de trabalhar com o resgate do conhecimento popular aliado a literatura científica.Palavras-chave: plantas medicinais, etnobotância, fitoterapia.

The Use of Medicinal Plants in Maceió, Northeastern Brazil: An Ethnobotanical Survey

“…All of the observations that were made in this study were in line with those of other populations in the Brazilian Northeast, as well as in other Brazilian regions, revealing a characteristic of the Brazilian culture of the use of medicinal plants [6,18]. It should also be mentioned that, the present study was performed with only patients assisted under a Basic Healthcare Unit from Brazilian public health system (SUS), although other authors have analyzed the profile of use of medicinal plants in Maceió city [19]. The analysis of this population is particularly important for the proper care to the type of individual that seeks the public health system.…”

“…Lamiaceae (16.6%) and Asteraceae (8.3%) were the families with the largest number of species used, which were followed by the families Myrtaceae (6.2%), Fabaceae (6.2%), Annonaceae (4.1%), Laureaceae (4.1%), Rutaceae (4.1%), Zingiberaceae (4.1%), and 22 other families (2% each). Other studies have reported the importance of the Lamiaceae and Asteraceae families, which have been the most represented plants in investigations of medicinal plants in the world [16,19,21].…”

Quilombola ethnobotany: a case study in a community of slave descendants from the center of the Cerrado biome

“…Brazilian Quilombola communities (Afro-descendants) are remnants of quilombo communities, groups of slaves formed by freed or fugitive slaves, who constituted a movement to resist slavery. Quilombola communities maintain traditions ethnically based on African culture and despite the intense occupation of the Cerrado, which has been accelerated by agribusiness and livestock, these communities still remain in the remnant vegetation (Almeida, 2016) and engage in their cultural practices, including phytotherapeutics, which have spread rapidly due to their low cost and easy access by the population to native and naturalized flora (Griz et al, 2017).…”

Situational diagnosis of the popular use of medicinal plants in pediatrics

“…All 54 plants for pediatric use quoted in this community are among the main medicinal herbs of popular (Motta et al, 2016;Griz et al, 2017;Lima et al, 2017;Melro et al, 2020).…”