Ethnopharmacological and botanical evaluation of medicinal plants used by Brazilian Amazon Indian community

Abstract

Plants have been widely used to treat many diseases, especially by traditional communities as Indians, that can be considered as an important source of empirical knowledge about the medicinal potential of the Brazilian biodiversity. This study aimed to investigate the use of medicinal plants by a particular Amazon-Indian community named Ikólóéhj (Gavião). The data was obtained based on a semi-structured interview and long-term visits along the indigenous area to harvest the botanical material to subsequent identification and storage in herbarium. In the present work, we identify 23 plant species and three morphospecies, distributed into Ferns / Lycophytes and Angiosperms. In addition, we show that leaves (78%), bark (13%) and roots (9%) were used via maceration (49%), topical use (26%), infusion and bath (13%), and decoction (9%). These plants were used to treat pain, diarrhea, malnutrition, parasites infection, wounds, and snakebites. We also observe that the knowledge about medicinal plants is shared to the older members of the community and this information is transmitted orally to the next generations. Thus, the present study contributes to the regrowth and preservation of knowledge about the use of medicinal plants providing important subsidies for understanding of therapeutic properties of Amazonian plants.

Conhecimento sobre fitoterapia e fatores associados pela população de Pernambuco, Brasil

“…A associação encontrada entre o conhecer a prática e idade mais avançada também torna evidente a ascendência das gerações passadas na população. Assim, tal prática é sinal de reprodução de saberes ao longo de gerações e da identidade individual e coletiva de um grupo [16][17][18] . Autores relataram previamente uma ampla utilização da fitoterapia na região nordeste [3,19] .…”

A Systematic Literature Review of the Potential Therapeutic Effects of Ayahuasca Tea Prepared From the Use of Banisteriopsis Caapi and Psychotria Viridis

“…The use of medicinal plants by indigenous communities as a therapeutic source for the treatment of diseases has been going on for centuries and their knowledge of these natural resources in the maintenance and preservation of human life, are one of the oldest forms of medicinal practice for humanity. Regular knowledge about different species of plants for therapeutic purposes is currently widely studied by modern science in order to develop new forms of natural treatments in order to guarantee a safe and effective use of natural compounds based on their empirical knowledge (Meneguelli et al, 2020).…”