Ethnobotanical study of antimalarial plants in the middle region of the Negro River, Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The middle Rio Negro region is an interesting place to seek novel antimalarial compounds because of the traditional knowledge of the Amazon population in conjunction with the high biodiversity of the region. The objective of this work was to study the use of antimalarial plants in Barcelos, state of Amazonas, Brazil. Fifty-two local specialists from eight different communities were interviewed over one year. The identified plants were collected with the assistance of local specialists, classified to species level and deposited in herbarium. In total, 55 antimalarial plants were identified in use in the region, of which 16 had not been previously reported in other published studies. Many factors could be involved with the use of antimalarial plants by the Barcelos population, such as the accessibility of these medicinal plants, efficiency and safety of using these plants, the accessibility to drugs or other medical treatments, plant bitterness, and the gender of the interviewees. Our results indicate that the population of Barcelos possesses an extensive knowledge on the use of a diverse array of antimalarial plants, and may contribute to the development of novel antimalarial compounds. KEYWORDS: malaria, ethnobotany, Amazonia, medicinal plants, traditional knowledge Etnobotânica de plantas antimaláricas no médio Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil RESUMOO conhecimento tradicional da população amazônica, associado à grande biodiversidade da região, faz do médio Rio Negro um lugar propício para a pesquisa de novos remédios antimaláricos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o uso de plantas antimaláricas no município de Barcelos, Amazonas, Brasil. Ao longo de um ano foram entrevistados 52 especialistas de oito comunidades de Barcelos. As plantas indicadas foram coletadas com o auxilio dos especialistas, identificadas e depositadas em herbário. Foram mencionadas 55 plantas antimaláricas, das quais 16 nunca foram citadas em outros trabalhos previamente publicados. Muitos fatores podem estar associados ao uso destas plantas antimaláricas, tais quais o acesso a estas plantas, sua eficiência e segurança, o acesso a outros tratamentos médicos, o amargor das plantas e o gênero das pessoas entrevistadas. Nossos resultados indicam que a população de Barcelos é detentora de um rico conhecimento sobre o uso de plantas medicinais antimaláricas e pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento de novas drogas antimaláricas. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: malária, etnobotânica, Amazônia, plantas medicinais, conhecimento tradicional

Saracura-Mirá, a Proposed Brazilian Amazonian Adaptogen from Ampelozizyphus amazonicus

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Antihypertensive Activity of the Alkaloid Aspidocarpine in Normotensive Wistar Rats

“…The genus Aspidosperma (Apocynaceae) is composed of approximately 50 species, all restricted to the tropical and subtropical regions of America, where they are popularly known as “peroba” and “guatambu” [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Many of this species are used in folk medicine for the treatment of malaria [ 8 ], fever [ 9 ], inflammation, diabetes, high blood pressure [ 10 ], and cardiovascular diseases [ 11 ]. In addition, studies carried out with extracts from several species of Aspidosperma showed important antihypertensive effects [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Amazonian Forest Peoples' Perceptions of Malaria on the Upper Rio Negro, Brazil, are Shaped by Both Local and Scientific Knowledge

“…Research by Garnelo and Wright (2001) describes the myths of the origin of malaria among Indigenous Baniwa people (Aruak linguistic family). Further work in Amazonia has explored the perceptions, knowledge, and therapeutic strategies to treat malaria between traditional river-dwellers (non-Indigenous) and Indigenous populations (Athias 1998; Botsaris 2007; Frausin et al 2015; Oliveira et al 2015; Tomchinsky et al 2017; Trivellato 2015), as well as on the Yanomami and Luso-Brazilian populations (Milliken 1997; Milliken and Albert 1996, 1997; Milliken et al 1999).…”