Etnobotânica de plantas medicinais em hortas comunitárias do bairro Renascença II, Teresina, Piauí

Abstract

Ethnobotany is a science that emerges to mediate the various cultural discourses, seeking to understand the relationships between man and nature, with emphasis on their ways of life and customs. Make the connection between traditional and academic knowledge. The plants have been serving as sustenance for man, whether in the production of objects, medicines, or food. The cultivation of medicinal plants in gardens is not recent. It started from the initiative of the horticulturists themselves due to the cultural tradition that the families had. Therefore, popular, and traditional knowledge involving medicinal plants should not be forgotten because it is part of our culture. In view of this, the present work aimed to record the ethnobotanical aspects in the cultivation of plants used for medicinal purposes, as well as the traditional knowledge and therapeutic indications attributed by the cultivators and the elaborate of a digital/manual booklet on the diversity of medicinal plants that occur in Renascença II, in municipality of Teresina, Piauí, aiming to disseminate knowledge of these species in basic education. The work was conducted from semi-structured interviews, with the application of forms. The guided tour technique was used, carried out with the informants, for the collection of botanical material in 2023. Thirty botanical species were mentioned, predominantly herbaceous, distributed in 27 genera and 18 botanical families, Lamiaceae being the most representative in number of species. Women are the holders of knowledge about the uses of medicinal plants, used to treat diseases that cover 13 categories of diseases classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) with frequent use to treat diseases of the respiratory system. Of the plant species, the leaf is significantly the most used part in the preparation of home remedies, associated with the use of tea. The retrieval and construction of this knowledge took place through daily practices and mainly within the family. Confidence in the effectiveness of the plants, the influence of family members and the search for a cure for illnesses are reasons that make them continue with their production and consumption over these long years, living with a true pharmacopoeia. Therefore, the research allowed the construction of a booklet that aggregates the knowledge of small producers and the registration of a small part of an immense diversity that is the plant kingdom (Plantae).