Traditional knowledge in medicinal plants and intermedicality in urban environments: a case study in a popular community in southern Brazil

Abstract

Background: Ethnobotanical studies have demonstrated the ability of different social groups to maintain and diversify plant knowledge in urban environments. This study characterizes the traditional knowledge about medicinal plants in a popular community in Porto Alegre metropolitan city, Brazil.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 28 people, four of whom were healers. Data were collected regarding the uses, ways of obtaining the plants, the origin of the interviewees and their knowledge. The mentioned species value of relative importance was calculated. Relationships between traditional and scientific medical knowledge (intermedicality) were characterized and discussed.Results: The study identified a total of 237 plant species, most of them native to Brazil. The family with the highest number of representatives was Asteraceae (38), followed by Lamiaceae (17). Native and ritualistic species showed high values of relative importance. The main form of learning found was vertical, with mothers and grandmothers being the main ones responsible for teaching. Traditional knowledge is influenced by scientific medical care practices and the most significant use of herbs refers to the digestive system, followed by the respiratory system. The collection is the leading way of obtaining the plants.Conclusions: The high number of species used, and the substantial knowledge repertoire, reflect the local sociocultural and environmental diversity and the vital role of women and healers in producing and transmitting this knowledge. Deepening ethnobotanical studies with healers and women is a way of enhancing traditional medicines in urban environments.

Rural Botanical Knowledge in Urbanity: Restructurings and Resignifications in the Peripheries of a Patagonian City in Argentina

“…Hurrell and Pochettino (2014) discuss the peripheries of Buenos Aires city in terms of immigration patterns and the roles that certain human groups have played in the circulation of medicinal plants, while questioning stagnant notions about traditional botanical knowledge associated to rurality, and nontraditional knowledge associated to urbanity. This nondichotomous perspective is key to understand the dynamics of medicines among migrant communities in contexts of intermedicality (Casagrande, Ritter, and Kubo 2023).…”

“…These products are now sold in herbal shops in the city, increasing urban biocultural diversity. Similarly, the botanical knowledge of internal migrants meets the conditions to be reinvented, adapting to meet emerging demands and establish new sociocultural connections (Casagrande, Ritter, and Kubo 2023).…”

Diversity of medicinal flora and traditional knowledge of Muzaffargarh District Punjab Province, Pakistan

“…There is a growing interest in exploring herbal remedies from plants and animals as a potential source of life-saving medicines. Medical ethnobotany in the modern world has provided excellent data on folk medicine and medicinal plants of different rural and urban regions (Casagrande et al 2023). In various developed countries, with the growing demand for plant-based medicines, ethnobotany has provided a place to investigate plants with medicinal properties (Süntar 2020).…”

Assessing the safety and use of medicinal herbs during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study in São Paulo, Brazil

“…Similar concerns have emerged in Brazil, where certain herbs commonly used by Brazilian women have been identified as potentially harmful during pregnancy ( Moreira et al, 2014 ; Araújo et al, 2016 ). For example, Brazilian women frequently consume Peumus boldus Mol., Foeniculum vulgare Mill., and Cymbopogon citratus Stapf., despite the teratogenic and abortifacient properties of these herbs ( Araújo et al, 2016 ; Casagrande et al, 2023 ; Souza et al, 2023 ). Many women persist in using these contraindicated herbs, inadvertently endangering themselves and their babies due to simple ignorance ( da Matta et al, 2021 ).…”