RESUMO
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the local botanical knowledge of native food plants in three rural communities, located in the semiarid region of Paraíba State, Brazil, verifying possibilities of differences of knowledge among communities and between men and women. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews about native plant knowledge and use were conducted with all householders in each community, totaling 117 informants. The species similarity among the communities of Pau D'Arco, Várzea Alegre, and Barroquinha was compared with Jaccard index, and the use value index (UVgeneral, UVcurrent, UVpotential) was used to determine the most important species. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the use values among communities and genders. The consensus factor among the informants was calculated according to the uses cited, and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare the use values between men and women. RESULTS: We recorded 9 species belonging to 8 genera and 8 families in Várzea Alegre; 10 species, 9 genera, and 9 families in Barroquinha; and 7 species, 7 genera and 7 families in Pau D'Arco. Spondias tuberosa Arruda (Anacardiaceae) in Várzea Alegre, Spondias sp. (Anacardiaceae) in Barroquinha, and Ximenia americana L. (Olacaceae) in Pau D'Arco were the most prominent species. Preparation methods are slightly different in the three communities, and there is low similarity about species use among the communities. Regarding gender, the analysis of use value among the communities evidenced significant differences only for UVgeneral among women, specifically between Barroquinha and Pau D'Arco. For men and women within each community, there is a difference only for UVpotential in Barroquinha. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the residents of the three rural communities have limited knowledge of native food plants found in their communities, but they know where to find them, which parts they may use and how to consume them. The fact is that men know plants that are more distant from the residences and women know those that are next to them.
Assuntos
Etnobotânica , Conhecimento , Plantas Comestíveis , Brasil , Feminino , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
This work is based in the investigation about the persistence of the use of medicinal plants in the communities inhabiting the wetlands within IberaÌ Natural Reserve. From the participant observation and semi-structured interviews, together with the collection of reference plants, the use of 90 medicinal plants to treat 171 ailments, distributed in 12 body systems was recorded. In addition, the informant consensus factor was also calculated and a correspondence analysis was made. It was concluded that the use and knowledge associated to medicinal plants remains active, depending mostly of the native species. For this reason, the maintenance and access to the native flora by ancestral communities is suggested, to conserve the biological and cultural diversity of the IberaÌ Natural Reserve.
El presente trabajo se basoÌ en la indagacioÌn acerca de la persistencia del uso de las plantas medicinales por parte de comunidades que habitan los humedales circunscritos dentro de la Reserva Natural IberaÌ. A partir de la observacioÌn participante y de entrevistas semi- estructuradas, junto a la colecta de los vegetales testigo, se registroÌ el uso de 90 plantas medicinales para tratar 171 afecciones, distribuidas en 12 sistemas corporales. AdemaÌs, se calculoÌ el indice de uso del consenso de informantes y se realizoÌ un anaÌlisis de correspondencias. Se concluyoÌ que el uso y los saberes vinculados a las plantas medicinales se mantienen activos, dependiendo en mayor medida de las especies nativas. Por este motivo, se sugiere mantener el acceso hacia la flora nativa por parte de las comunidades ancestrales con el fin de conservar la diversidad bioloÌgica y cultural presentes en la Reserva Natural IberaÌ.