<b>Folk medicine in Mandaguaçu municipality, Paraná State: an ethnobotanical approach</b> - doi: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v34i4.9306

<p class="aTitulodoArtigo">Herein, we present results from an ethnobotanical study (from February to August 2009) aiming the improvement and rationalization of medical practices, based on popular use of plants. We applied semi-structured interviews to 220 families from the urban area...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Edmar Antônio Correa, Patrícia de Nazaré Cardoso Furlanetto, Gisele Caroline Novakowski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Estadual de Maringá 2012-09-01
Series:Acta Scientiarum: Biological Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciBiolSci/article/view/9306
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Summary:<p class="aTitulodoArtigo">Herein, we present results from an ethnobotanical study (from February to August 2009) aiming the improvement and rationalization of medical practices, based on popular use of plants. We applied semi-structured interviews to 220 families from the urban area of Mandaguaçu municipality, Paraná State. During the interviews we recorded the following information about the used plants: common name; plant part used; method of preparation; collection site; therapeutic indication, and known adverse effects. Additionally, we compared the data obtained in the interviews with the literature in order to identify contradiction in use and application. Among the interviewees, 90% use medicinal plants, obtained especially from the backyards. We recorded 44 ethnobotanical citations, comprising 47 species (22 families). The species most frequently mentioned in the interviews were, respectively, <em>Cymbopogon citrates</em> (DC) Stapf. (Lemon grass), <em>Mentha</em> sp. (Mint), <em>Plectranthus barbatus</em> Andrews (False Boldo) and <em>Plectranthus ornatus</em> Codd (Dog bane). The applications most cited were: the treatment of diseases from the digestive tract (122 citations), respiratory (67 citations) and nervous system (40 citations). In general, the population knows the correct method for preparing the medicinal plants. However, they report that do not know any adverse effect caused by these plants. This scenario is worrying because some species are recognized in the literature as potentially toxic or responsible for adverse effects.</p> <p class="apalavrachave"> </p><br />
ISSN:1679-9283
1807-863X