Survey of data on medicinal plants of popular use in the county of São João do Polesine, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

Abstract

The diversity of knowledge of each region promotes the existence of a variety of phyto-therapeutic products, many of them different from those regularly described in literature. Pharmaceutical techniques reported in literature were compared with regional domestic preparations from São João do Polesine, RS, Brazil. Questionnaires were applied, and interviews with inhabitants carried out in 85 urban homes. This resulted in a large array of phyto-therapeutic preparation forms, such as infusion, decoction, maceration, balms, and medical syrups, among others. It was also observed that a specimen could be used in more than one form, as well as in association with other products, such as milk, naphthalene, ammonia salts, and colorless iodine. The adoption of some special recipes was also observed. The conclusion was that communities create their own pharmaceutical forms, apparently directed by and to different indications, suggesting the convenience of more ethno-pharmacological studies.