Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to record and analyze the knowledge of medicinal plant use in the community in urban areas of Maceió city, Brazil. Methods: A total of 113 patients from the basic healthcare unit were assessed. Results: Approximately 95% of the interviewed stated that the plants were used for medicinal purposes. The majority of respondents were women (94.7%) who were between 51-60 years of age. Forty-eight plant species belonging to 28 families were cited as useful for medicinal purposes. The main families encountered were Lamiaceae (16.6%), Asteraceae (8.3%), Myrtaceae (6.2%), Fabaceae (6.2%), Annonaceae (4.1%), Laureaceae (4.1%), Rutaceae (4.1%), and Zingiberaceae (4.1%). These plants were used to treat a wide range of disturbances, including gastrointestinal, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases. The majority of the respondents used decoctions of leaves that were cultivated in house (58.4%) to make their herbal preparations. The respondents revealed that medicinal plant preparations were safe and unaware of that are risks associated with their use. Conclusions: Medicinal plants still play an important role in the medical practices of the urban population from Maceió, Brazil. Our results highlight the importance of these plants for local people and indicate the need for further scientific investigations to validate their use as a complementary therapy for disease control.
Highlights
Brazil has great biodiversity, and local people who have direct access to nature and the products of biodiversity have accumulated a wealth of medicinal knowledge of plants
The most important finding was the demonstration, for the first time, that these traditional medicinal plants still play an important role in the medical practices of individuals who live in urban areas of Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil
We interviewed 118 informants living in an urban area of Maceió for ethnomedicinal investigation of the plants that were used for medicinal purposes
Summary
Local people who have direct access to nature and the products of biodiversity have accumulated a wealth of medicinal knowledge of plants. In Northeast Brazil, the Caatinga, and the Tropical Atlantic Rainforest represent the main biome of this region [1] In this region, the use of plants to medicinal ends is a very common practice that plays an important role as a therapeutic alternative [2]. The purpose of this study was to record and analyze the knowledge of medicinal plant use in the community in urban areas of Maceió city, Brazil. The main families encountered were Lamiaceae (16.6%), Asteraceae (8.3%), Myrtaceae (6.2%), Fabaceae (6.2%), Annonaceae (4.1%), Laureaceae (4.1%), Rutaceae (4.1%), and Zingiberaceae (4.1%) These plants were used to treat a wide range of disturbances, including gastrointestinal, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases. Our results highlight the importance of these plants for local people and indicate the need for further scientific investigations to validate their use as a complementary therapy for disease control
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