Rituais e curas: o uso de plantas por rezadores do Cariri cearense - Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

Ethnobotanical studies with local experts have been reported in various parts of the world. In Brazil, one of the groups of local experts is the healers, who have great knowledge about the respect of medicinal plants, simple use or in species with other species, to cure or treat diseases. The objective was to identify which are the species of medicinal plants, of isolated and associated use, used by the healers of the Geopark Araripe. To collect the data, interviews were conducted using structured forms with local experts. Data analysis was performed using the Relative Importance (RI), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Main Use Agreement (MUA) and Index of Taxon Usefulness in Mixtures (ITUM). Still, they were executed in the Gephi software to visualize the connections between the botanical families and the species of medicinal plants used in mixtures. 30 reviewers were interviewed about the use of medicinal plants to treat and cure illnesses. In total, 89 species of medicinal plants belonging to 47 botanical families were cited. As species, they were divided into two groups according to their use: isolated (66 spp.) or associated (52 spp.). Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Lamiaceae were the most representative botanical families for isolated use in comparison. A single-use species that showed greater versatility for Rosmarinus officinallis L. (RI = 2.0) and a mixture was for M28 (RI = 2.0), composed of Secondatia floribunda A. DC. and Poincianella pyramidalis (Tul.) L.P. Queiroz. The body digestive system (ICF = 0.59) was what stood out among the species with medicinal plants of simple use, where those mentioned were more of Egletes viscosa (L.) Less and Lippia alba (Mill) N.E. Britton & Ex P. Wilson. Among the systems used with medicinal or psychological plant substances (ICF = 0.5) used the highest value. The cMUA was calculated for the species of isolated use, where the most prominent were Mentha spicata L. and L. alba. The ITUM calculated for 52 medicinal species in infections, ranging from 0.17 to 1.00. The set of results presented in the general analysis suggests a trend of association between some species and between families, where the most prominent were Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Crassulaceae, and Myrtaceae. Like species that are used for medicinal purposes in isolation, they can also be used in mixtures to treat the same disease or another type of disease within the same body system. However, pharmacological tests are needed that understand the potential for interaction between species.