Ethnobotanical knowledge on non-conventional food and medicinal plants in Rio Cajari Extractivist Reserve, Amazon, Brazil

Abstract

Background: Information on the knowledge, management and ways of using food and medicinal plants by traditional populations, family farmers and Brazilian native population in the Amazon is essential to guarantee the sovereignty of these groups. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diversity, knowledge and ways of using non-conventional food and medicinal plants in traditional communities in a protected area in the Brazilian Amazon. Methods: This study was conducted using semi-structured interviews applied to local respondents. Fifty-six residents were interviewed in 26 communities. The Indices of Use Value (UVI) and relative frequency of species citation (Fr) were evaluated; also, their diversity and equitability using the Shannon- Wiener (H’) Pielou (J’) indices, respectively. The species were listed according to their family, scientific name, popular names, categories of use, propagation environment, growth habit, medicinal indications, domestication status, production cycle, and herbarium registration. Results: A total of 269 species of both non-conventional food and medicinal plants were identified, distributed in 84 botanical families, 198 genera, in addition to 13 unidentified species. The Arecaceae and Lamiaceae families had the highest species richness (11 and 7, respectively). Eryngium foetidum L. (Apiaceae) and Ipomoea batatas L. (Convolvulaceae) presented the highest relative citation frequencies (19.7 and 19.3, respectively) and the highest index of use value of the species (0.94 and 0.92, respectively). The Shannon-Wiener (H’) and Pielou (J’) diversity indices were considered high (5.02 and 0.9, respectively). Conclusions: It was observed that the studied species are consumed daily by the population of this protected area. In the environment in which these families are found, of geographical isolation and distance from urban centers, these species become the only food and medicinal resources, therefore, being fundamental to the sovereignty of these families.