Use and knowledge of Cactaceae in Northeastern Brazil

Camilla Marques De Lucena,Gabriela Maciel Costa,Thamires Kelly Nunes Carvalho,Rômulo Romeu Da Nóbrega Alves,Carlos Antônio Belarmino Alves,Reinaldo Farias Paiva De Lucena,Daniel Duarte Pereira,Zelma Glebya Maciel Quirino,Gyslaynne Gomes Da Silva Costa,João Everthon Da Silva Ribeiro,Ernane Nogueira Nunes

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-9-62

Camilla Marques De Lucena, Gabriela Maciel Costa + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-9-62

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Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to record the use, and knowledge that residents from São Francisco community (Paraiba, Brazil) have regarding the Cactaceae.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were carried out with 118 informants; 50 men and 68 women. The cacti cited in this study were organised into use categories and use values were calculated. Differences in the values applied to species and use categories by men and women were compared via a G test (Williams).ResultsThe nine species identified were: Cereus jamacaru DC., Melocactus bahiensis (Brtitton & Rose) Luetzelb., Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck., Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill, Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw., Pilosocereus gounellei (F.A.C. Weber) Byles & Rowley, Pilosocereus pachycladus F. Ritter, Tacinga inamoena (K. Schum) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy, Tacinga palmadora (Britton & Rose) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy. In total, 1,129 use citations were recorded, divided into 11 categories. The use value categories with the highest scores were forage (0.42), food (0.30) and construction (building) (0.25). P. pachycladus showed the greatest use value, versatility and number of plant parts used.ConclusionThe survey showed that the Cactaceae is extremely important for several uses and categories attributed to different species. Apart from contributing to the ethnobotanical knowledge of the Cactaceae, another important focus of this study was to reinforce the necessity for further studies that record the traditional knowledge about this plant family, which has been lost in younger generations.

Highlights

This study aimed to record the use, and knowledge that residents from São Francisco community (Paraiba, Brazil) have regarding the Cactaceae
A more detailed analysis is necessary in this context, because the category food is relevant in Cabaceiras as the use of cacti for food plays an important role in the cultural mentality of people from semiarid areas, even if using cacti for food is becoming less important, due to the fact that the local population is undergoing a social economic change as a result of governmental assistance, e.g., scholarships and family grants [35], suggesting an improvement in family income
The population from the São Francisco community demonstrated that the Cactaceae is extremely important due the diverse uses and categories attributed to different species

Summary

Introduction

This study aimed to record the use, and knowledge that residents from São Francisco community (Paraiba, Brazil) have regarding the Cactaceae. The region hosts a large number of endemic vegetable species, especially among the Cactaceae family. Due to this endemic feature and the high degree of environmental degradation due to anthropogenic activities, the Environment Administration Government has recognized the Caatinga as an area that requires conservationist actions [1]. The prominence of cacti in the Caatinga is due to their morphological and physiological adaptations to low rainfall, a limiting factor for living in a semi-arid region Among these adaptations are the juicy stem, which stores water during the drought season, short stature, and leaves that have evolved into spines, which avoid water loss by evaporation [3]. These have a central part, with a radial structure which forms from three to many angles [5,6,7]

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