Ethnobotany of Bajiru (Chrysobalanus Icaco L.) In a Coastal Vegetation of Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Background: Chrysobalanus icaco L. (Chrysobalanaceae) is a native but not endemic shrub species from Brazil. It is known as: abajirú, ajuru, bajirú, guajurú. There are ancient reports of edible fruits and leaves used in traditional medicine, mainly by the artisanal fishing communities of the Brazilian coast. It occurs especially in the coastal sand plains, situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the rainforest. However, in the last two decades this vegetation has been suffering strong anthropic pressures, which has led to the suppression of vegetation cover. This fact has impacted both the maintenance of plants and cultural diversity associated with it. Our study aimed to investigate current ethnobotanical knowledge about bajiru, an important species for the treatment of diabetes and recognized in the artisanal fishing communities of Southeastern Brazil to support conservation actions and sustainable management plan.Methods: This study was conducted with the artisanal fishermen community, near the Restinga de Massambaba, Brazilian costal vegetation and was supported by the signature and consent of all the fishermen involved. The collection of ethnobotanical information was performed using snowball technique, seeking artisanal fishermen who hold local knowledge, conversations and informal interviews based on rapport, semi-structured interviews and free listing. The Anthropac 4.0 software was used to calculate the highest citation frequency and highest salience among the repertoire of useful species indicated in the free listing. Complementary techniques were used: free walking with local experts for information triangulation and to collect botanical material. We used the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Fidelity level (FL). Results: Interviews were conducted with 42 artisanal fishermens and bajiru was a preferred and useful species of current relevance (indicated by 32 of 42 fishermen). Its leaves are still used for diabetes treatments and with representative value of the informants' consensus in the studied sample (IFC = 0.78) and the level of fidelity of this use information (FL = 1).Conclusions: In our discussion we highlight the importance of bajiru as a potential for future studies for diabetes. Should the use of bajiru increase comercially greater plans for the conservation and possible cultivation of this specie will be needed.