Medicinal Plants Used By The Local Inhabitants of the Jataí Ecological Station, Luiz Antônio, São Paulo, Brazil: An Ethnobotanical Study

Abstract

This study was made to verify the local knowledge and use of medicinal plants by the inhabitants of Jataí Ecological station. These data were completed in two different periods: the first in 1987 and the second from 1994 to 1995. The data were obtained through free interviews, questionnaires, and by field visits with local inhabitants knowing the plants and their locations. The medicinally important plants were catalogued, identified, and stored in the herbarium of the Department of Botany, Federal University of São Carlos. During the second study period, local participation was higher with a resulting increase in the richness of medicinal plant data. The total number of different medicinal plants species collected was 120, distributed in 53 families belonging to cerrado and cerradão. These plants were indicated for 50 different therapeutic uses. The majority of these plants, 47, are recognized or cultivated in backyards by local inhabitants. The most common parts of the plant used in medicinal preparations are leaves, fruit, and roots. Some plants, for example Mint (Mentha piperita), are indicated in the cure of different diseases (10), whereas some diseases, such as flu, can be cured using a mixture of many different plants (16). This community was using these medicinal plants as an important therapeutic activity during both of the studied periods. Scientific studies are necessary to confirm the therapeutic proprieties of the majority these medicinal plants.