Quilombola Ethnomedicine: The Role of Age, Gender, and Culture Change

Abstract

Non-indigenous communities are particularly insightful in terms of understanding the process of healing plant acquisition and loss. This study explores the traditional medicinal plant knowledge and use of a long-isolated, Africandescended community in the Atlantic rainforests of northeastern Brazil. We investigated the primary plant species used and their therapeutic applications. We hypothesized that women and the oldest members of the community would be the most knowledgeable about medicinal plants. We carried out semi-structured interviews and walk-inthe-woods plant collecting techniques with 74 informants. We identified 133 ethnospecies of plants used to treat a wide variety of illnesses. The most commonly used plant parts were leaves; the most common form of preparation was as infusion. As anticipated, medicinal plant knowledge generally increased with age. However, there was no significant gender difference in plant knowledge. We attribute this to the increasingly similar livelihood roles and geographical spaces occupied by men and women in the community. There was, however, a trend for women to be more knowledgeable about the healing properties of herbaceous and cultivated plants. Increasing contact with the outside world has resulted in a confluence of traditional, often African-derived healing therapies, with the novel healing plant knowledge and allopathic medicine of outsiders.

Espécies vegetais utilizadas em comunidades Quilombolas: uma revisão integrativa

“…Essa preferência pode ser justificada pela concentração dos princípios ativos necessários para o tratamento, facilidade de acesso, disponibilidade ao longo do ano e tradição nas comunidades quilombolas (Oliveira et al, 2022;Santana, Voeks, Funch, 2022).…”

Short Communication: Utilization of wild plants in medicinal foods for maternal postpartum recovery among the Kasepuhan in rural West Java, Indonesia

“…In certain regions, females are closer to the identification and medicinal uses of local flora than males (Tuler and da Silva 2014;Acosta-Naranjo et al 2021;Teixidor-Toneu et al 2021). In other regions, there are no significant gender differences in plant knowledge (de Santana et al 2022). A study in a Caribbean horticultural village reported that males acquired a stronger grasp of tree-related knowledge, while females excelled in learning about medicinal plants (Quinlan et al 2016).…”

Gender Influence on Local Botanical Knowledge about Medicinal Plants: A Study in Northeast Brazil

“…Both men and women can demonstrate the same knowledge within a medical system, depending on the sociocultural context in which the community is located. Santana et al (2022) noticed this trend, where men living in Salamina show a level of medicinal plant knowledge equivalent to women regarding self-care practices. Kidane et al (2018) and Lautenschläger et al (2018) also found that gender did not have a significant impact on the traditional use of medicinal plants in their study communities.…”

“…For instance, Matejić et al (2020) observed distinct preferences in the use of medicinal plants between men and women in Svrljig and Tiok for treating different diseases in each group; the study by Díaz-Reviriego et al (2016) showed that only women reported species that can be used in reproductive health, such as fertility, contraception, among others, as well as childhood illnesses. In Salamina, Santana et al (2022) found that women have a more diversified repertoire of medicinal plants, especially for spiritual protection, indicating that health preservation encompasses both the physical and spiritual aspects. In turn, Alqethami et al (2020) observed that women exhibit a higher frequency of citations of uses and species related to reproductive diseases.…”