Abstract
ABSTRACT Ethnomedicine focuses on empirical and traditional knowledge of healing practices of different human groups, including the use of plants as medicine. We aimed to determine whether there is consensus regarding the use of plants in traditional medicine of Afro-descendant communities in Brazil, Europe and Africa. Data were obtained through interviews, walks-in-the-woods, participant observations and bibliographic searches. We analyzed similarities among data sets to determine whether there is convergence in the use of traditional medicinal plants among these communities considering that they share influence from African culture and a common spoken language (Portuguese). Similarities among communities were assessed through cluster analysis using presence or absence data for the variables. We recorded 405 medicinal plants, most of which were spontaneously occurring, although some were cultivated. The most represented botanical families were Asteraceae and Lamiaceae. Similarity in medicinal plants among communities was found to be tenuous due to the biogeographical and spatial characteristics of the biomes, and to historical and cultural peculiarities of each locality, resulting in different sets of medicinal plants. This study contributes to understanding the role of the historical legacies of the African diaspora and of European (Portuguese) expansion in the adaptation and maintenance of new elements in local floras.
Highlights
To Mr Antônio Benedito da Silva, known as Antônio Mulato, for the traditional legacy left from the 113 years of his life in Quilombo Mata Cavalo, Mato Grosso, Brazil.Ethnomedicine, known as the study of traditional medicine practiced by ethnic groups, employs interdisciplinary methods of ethnobotany and anthropology to focus on traditional knowledge that is transmitted orally between generations (WHO 2002)
Five Brazilian communities were included in the study: Mata Cavalo de Cima and Mata Cavalo de Baixo are located near 15°46’9”S and 56°21’6”W in the state of Mato Grosso, where they are inserted in the Cerrado biome in the meso-region known as Baixada Cuiabana (IBGE 2010); Aldeia (28°06’23”S 48°40’43”W); Morro do Fortunato (28°01›21»S 48°39’52”W) and Santa Cruz (27°58’24”S 48°41’16”W) are located in the state of Santa Catarina within the Atlantic Forest domain, where forest cover varies from dense rainforest to restinga (Ávila et al 2015)
The results presented here show a tenuous similarity in the species used, there are some shared species in the traditional knowledge about medicinal plants of the communities, which may represent a legacy in Afrodescendant communities, uniting them through a cultural bias over time and space
Summary
To Mr Antônio Benedito da Silva, known as Antônio Mulato (in memoriam), for the traditional legacy left from the 113 years of his life in Quilombo Mata Cavalo, Mato Grosso, Brazil.Ethnomedicine, known as the study of traditional medicine practiced by ethnic groups, employs interdisciplinary methods of ethnobotany and anthropology to focus on traditional knowledge that is transmitted orally between generations (WHO 2002). Quilombos (sometimes referred to as maroon settlements) are traditional groups of Afro-Brazilian descendants who identify themselves as such with their own history, including African ancestry and an identity related to historical resistance to oppression (Ávila et al 2015). Another example is the Afro-Portuguese, who are Portuguese citizens of African ancestry. Another example is in Africa, such as in the countries of Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, where sub-Saharan populations composed of blacks and native societies are referred to as Afrodescendants (M’Bokolo 2007). These traditional peoples share important characteristics, such as living in rural areas near forests where dependence on nature, its cycles, and its products are fundamental to the organization, production and social reproduction of their cultural ways
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