The use of medicinal plants at Sapucaia Village, Municipality of Cruz das Almas, Bahia State, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this work was to find out the popular knowledge about the use of plants for health purposes, to compare this popular knowledge with present knowledge in the field of Pharmacology, and exchange this information with the local community. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with all 75 local families, together with plant sampling, identification, and incorporation into the “Alexandre Leal Costa” Herbarium (ALCB) located at Federal University of Bahia. It has been established that 60% of all family members show some sort of disease. Hypertension is represented by 39.3% of the community, throat problems represented by 13.1%, diabetes by 11.5% and heart diseases by 8.2% this community. Notwithstanding, 62.7% of all affected individuals do not regularly use any kind of conventional medicine due to their low income. On the other hand, local plants are largely used. From the 65 plants mentioned in the interviews, 28 were identified and their use compared with the available literature. The most utilized species were: Lippia alba, Pothomorphe umbellata, Alpinia speciosa, Plantago major and Bidens pilosa. However, 5 other species utilized by the local population, Acalypha ambiodonta, Croton lobatus, Gomphrena desertorum, Bauhinia monandra and Pilea microphylla, do not seem to posses any medicinal property. This fact reinforces the need of investment in the field of phytotherapy research. A comparison is made between the number of the plants used by local communities and the amount of literature available regarding the therapeutic properties of such plants.