Use and traditional knowledge of Byrsonima crassifolia and B. coccolobifolia (Malpighiaceae) in a Makuxi community of the Roraima savanna, northern Brazil

Abstract

Byrsonima crassifolia and B. coccolobifolia, popularly known as mirixis, muricis, mantecos or nances, are common fruit species in the Amazonian savannas. Their fruits are used in the preparation of juices and other beverages, while the other parts of the plants are used for different purposes in some indigenous communities. The aim of the present ethnobotanical study was to investigate the knowledge and traditional uses of mirixis in the Darora Indigenous Community, of the Makuxi ethnicity, in the São Marcos Indigenous Land, state of Roraima, northern Brazil. The knowledge on these species among the residents was analyzed considering their gender and age. A survey was carried out by means of semi-structured interviews with 60 respondents (36 men and 24 women), between 18 and 84 years of age. Data from the interviewees was compared between genders and two age groups (< 40 and ≥ 40 years of age). Ethnobotanical indices (Informant diversity value; Informant equability value) were calculated, and no significant differences were found in the diversity of uses between genders (U = 283.0000, p > 0.05) and age groups (U = 359.5000, p > 0.05), indicating that the knowledge on the species is evenly distributed among residents. Results show that both species are used for different purposes in the food, fuelwood and medicinal categories in the Darora Community, and this knowledge is widely shared among adult men and women of all ages.

Conhecimento Tradicional E Usos De Copaíba Pela Comunidade Makuxi Darora Na Savana De Roraima

“…Nesta mesma proporção de citações (7,5%), foi indicado o uso como fonte de combustível, sob a forma de lenha e carvão. Na Comunidade Darora, a copaíba é usada como fonte de energia nos fornos para produção da farinha, juntamente com as espécies de mirixis, Byrsonima crassifolia e B. coccolobifolia (Oliveira et al 2017b), que têm seu uso como lenha bastante difundido na utilização doméstica. Para Monteiro et al (2005), as áreas áridas e semi-áridas são caracterizadas por plantas usadas como combustível, uma vez que o gás engarrafado de uso doméstico é caro ou difícil de obter regularmente para cozinhar alimentos.…”

Knowledge, use, and management of magaba (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) by extrativist communities on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil

“…According to Santos & Souza (2016), the division of labor between the genders is present in most groups which practice extractivism, with men being responsible for sea fishing and coconut collecting, while mangaba extractivism, fishing in the proximity of the mangrove and crafts are characterized as female activities. Oliveira et al (2017b) found that knowledge about Byrsonima crassifolia and B. coccolobifolia is equally distributed among gender and age groups in the Darora community. Similarly, knowledge about the uses of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium showed no differences between genders or among age groups in a Brazilian savanna community (Feitosa et al 2014).…”

“…All informants reported that mangaba has high potential for marketing. Considering that the main use attributed to mangaba is food, this species is one of the main sources of subsistence and income for numerous rural communities in the Northeast, and has been observed in studies with other species of socioeconomic importance, such as umbu (Lins Neto et al 2010), pequi (Sousa Júnior et al 2013), and muricis (Oliveira et al 2017b). In studies on the use of flora by families settled in the Agroextractivist Settlement Project (PAE), Oliveira et al (2018) found the predominance of native Brazilian species in the community (65.9 %), with mangabeira among the three species with the highest value of use for the community.…”

Byrsonima crassifolia L. Kunth a bio-resource with potential: Overview and opportunities

“…Regarding the extraction methods of bioactive compounds, in comparing the output of nanche leaf subject to the enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) process vis-à-vis solvent extraction, it was found that the former yields up to 25% higher concentration, and accordingly, EAE could be considered an effective alternative to solvent extraction techniques (De Oliveira et al, 2020). In addition, some of the food technology applications that have been evaluated for nanche extracts are nanoparticle-based coatings formulations for the preservation of quality and safety parameters in plant materials such as tomatoes (Gutiérrez-Molina et al, 2021) and bell pepper (González-Saucedo et al, 2019).…”