Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal species utilized in the Coqueiros Community, Brazil

Abstract

This paper explores the medicinal plants used by Coqueiros Community, Brazil, for the treatment of various ailments. We apply the structured interview and the participant observation, and the local knowledge was analyzed using quantitative measures applied to the general sampling to contribute to selection of promising species for biotechnological development. This community cited 105 species from 53 plant families. The most representative families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Anacardiaceae, Myrtaceae, Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Lamiaceae and Rutaceae. Among the species mentioned in this survey, 66,7% of them occur in the Cerrado as native vegetation. The species considered the most important by interviewees are those with action for the largest number of health problems. Thus, the statistical indexes used here, such as Relative Impotance (RI), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), contributed to identify these species. To conclude, from this research we have known the potential of the Brazilian vegetation for the development of biotechnology.