Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia
Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy
21(3): 382-391, May./Jun. 2011
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of
medicinal plants in a rural community in
the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva,1 Marcelo A. Ramos,1 Natalia Hanazaki,2
Ulysses P. de Albuquerque*,1
Article
Received 13 Oct 2010
Accepted 3 Nov 2010
Available online 1 Apr 2011
Keywords:
Ethnobotany
intracultural variation
traditional botanical knowledge
Caatinga
ISSN 0102-695X
doi: 10.1590/S0102-695X2011005000054
1
Departamento de Biologia, Área de Botânica, Laboratório de Etnobotânica Aplicada,
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Brazil,
2
Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Laboratório de Etnobotânica e Ecologia
Humana,Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Abstract: Human beings have accumulated rich experience with natural resources over
time, but such knowledge can be strongly inluenced by several factors, such as age,
sex and occupation. This study focuses on the inluence of these factors on knowledge
of medicinal plants in a rural community in northeastern Brazil. Data were collected
through semi-structured interviews with 102 people, with the number of plants and uses
cited studied for quantitative analysis. Through this research, it was possible to show that
the social variables studied (age, sex and informants occupation) have contributed to the
formation of different patterns of knowledge regarding medicinal resources. The results
indicate that awareness of this dynamic is necessary for the proper implementation of
projects where the goal is the sustainable use of natural resources (because it indicates
the different levels of knowledge within a community), for studies intended to discover
new drugs (because it indicates the peculiarities of certain groups), and for biodiversity
conservation strategies.
Introduction
Throughout history, mankind has always
tried to develop strategies for properly managing and
using natural resources to meet his daily needs. This is
especially true with regard to the use of plant resources
that are so strikingly present in many aspects of peoples’
lives in different cultures in the world (Albuquerque et
al., 2005; Case et al., 2005). Accordingly, experience
gained over years of contact with the environment and
different social groups has now become an element
of great interest, because cultural factors may both
contribute to the diversity and richness of knowledge
of plants through transmission between groups (Bain,
1993; Estomba et al., 2006). In addition, the importance
of social aspects that are most commonly investigated
in the literature are highlighted here. These include age,
gender and occupation, and they exert an important
influence on the knowledge accumulated by an
individual, which affect the individual’s knowledge of
the use plants (Figueiredo et al., 1993; Hanazaki et al.,
2000; Monteiro et al., 2006a; Ayantude et al., 2008).
Quinlan & Quinlan (2007), researching
medicinal plants in the Dominican Republic, found that
people who are involved in business activities and have
less contact with plant resources run the risk of losing
382
this sort of knowledge and losing familiarity with
traditional medical practices. In some social contexts,
the local knowledge may be strongly influenced by
gender, which affects the behavior and occupation of
individuals. Regarding age, Quinlan & Quinlan (2007)
found that older people are less affected by external
influences than younger people and that in many cases;
they are the experts and protectors of local knowledge.
In Brazil, there are few studies that address
the influence of social and economic factors on local
knowledge, especially in the semi-arid region, although
knowledge of plants in this region is very rich.
Albuquerque et al. (2007) recorded a total diversity
of 389 medical species in the “caatinga” (semi-arid
vegetation region). In this context, this study aimed to
contribute information on the use and exploitation of
medicinal plants in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco
(northeast Brazil), and sought to reveal factors that
may disrupt knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural
community. Toward this end, knowledge of medicinal
plants as related to age was tested, with differences
sought based on gender and occupation type.
Materials and methods
Study area
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
The study was conducted in the Carão
community, which is located in the Altinho municipality
of the state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil. The city
of Altinho is located 162 km from the state capital,
Recife (Condepe/Fidem, 2001). The climate is hot
and semi-arid; it is type BSH according to Köppen’s
classification, with an average annual temperature of
23.1 °C (ITEP/Lamepe, 2007) and vegetation formed
by Caatinga (semiarid vegetation).
The Carão community is located in a rural
area 16 km far from downtown Altinho (S8°29 '23"W
and 36°03'34"). Carão has a population of 189 people
living in 61 homes. This community presents interesting
characteristics that contributed to its selection as the
study area; for instance, it is distant from the urban
center, and there is a slope with natural vegetation in
its vicinity from which residents extract plant resources
to supply their needs. Some of the inhabitants perform
subsistence activities in agriculture, including the
cultivation of maize, beans and palms (Opuntia ficusindica (L.) Mill., Cactaceae). Cattle and goats are also
raised.
In this community, there is a small health
center responsible for primary healthcare; patients
with more severe health issues are directed to the
hospital in Altinho. The health center has a doctor who
performs consultations once a month and a nurse who
works weekly, in addition to two healthcare workers
who carry out in-home visits to residents and distribute
some medicines and pharmaceuticals for free. There is
an elementary school in the community, but students
who continue on to middle and high school must
move to Altinho city. The community exhibits poorly
developed commercial infrastructure (only a butcher
shop and bars are present in the community) and has
a public telephone, electricity, and public transport to
facilitate access to the downtown area. There are no
paved streets, nor is there a water distribution or sewer
system (Alencar et al., 2009, 2010; Araújo et al., 2008;
Lins-Neto et al., 2010; Santos et al., 2009).
Data collection
All community members were invited to a
meeting where the research objectives were explained.
Following this meeting, residents were invited to
participate in the study, and if they accepted, they were
asked to sign the Free and Informed Consent Term
(FICT). Only those individuals over eighteen years of
age were included in the study, totaling 112 people,
of which eight individuals gave up and two refused to
participate in the study. The final result was a sample
of 102 interviewed people (67 women and 35 men).
The study was conducted from August 2006
to September 2008. The data collection consisted
of interviews divided into two parts: in the first, a
socioeconomic questionnaire was applied to register
the names of the informants, their age, their profession
and the amount of time they have been employed in this
capacity, their educational background, the number of
people living in their home, their duration of residence
at that location and their place of birth. The second
part of the study began with semi-structured interviews
(Albuquerque et al., 2008), with the following question
asked first: "What are the plants that you know and/
or use for any purpose?" All of the uses of each plant
cited were registered at this juncture, and in the
case of those cited as medical, the informants were
also asked which parts of the plant cited were used,
its indications, the collection site and the manner
of preparing it. Subsequently, we would organize a
guided tour, "supporting and validating the names of
the plants mentioned in the interviews" (Albuquerque
et al., 2008) and adding to the list of plants by means of
visual examination and the collection of plant material
for taxonomic identification purposes. Based on the
interviews, a database was built that selected for the
purposes of this study only the plants that had medical
indications as mentioned by the informants.
The plants cited in the interviews were
collected and subsequently herborized and identified
via comparison with the herbarium material,
consultation with experts and specialist literature.
The material identified was incorporated into the
collection of Herbarium Professor Vasconcelos from
the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in the case
of duplicates, while the plants with only one specimen
were incorporated into that of Herbarium Professor
Geraldo Mariz, Federal University of Pernambuco.
Data Analysis
Tests were performed based on the number of
cited ethnospecies (folk names given to one or several
species) and their therapeutic indications for human
use. All names assigned to a single botanical species
were considered to accommodate the wide variety of
popular names in the region studied. To assess the
relationship between the number of plants mentioned by
each informant and the informants’ age, the Spearman
correlation test was utilized. The nonparametric
Kruskal-Wallis test was used to check for significant
differences in the knowledge of individuals regarding
medicinal plants and the number of citations regarding
medicinal uses. For this purpose, three variables were
taken into account: gender, occupation and age. For
all of these tests, the BioEstat 5.0 (Ayres et al., 2007)
software was used.
The age of the informants in the community
ranged from eighteen to ninety years, and they were
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
383
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
grouped into ten year age groups. An analysis of
variance for age was conducted, with men and women
distributed into age classes. For the analysis of the
women, one female informant belonging to 59-68 year
old age group was excluded from the sample because
of the high number of ethnospecies and therapeutic
indications mentioned by the individual (95 and 86
respectively) compared to the number mentioned by the
other informants (Table 1). As a result of this difference,
her presence in the sample could have inappropriately
influenced the results. The same occurred among the
men, with an informant withdrawn from each of the
39-48 and 69-78 age groups. Comparisons of the males
based on age were only performed for age groups 39-48,
49-58, 59-68 and 69-78 due to the low number of people
in the other sample groups (Table 1). The differences
between men and women for the same variables (the
number of therapeutic indications and plants) were also
analyzed.
In terms of occupation, informants were
grouped into two categories: non-farmers and farmers.
In the non-farmer category, all people not performing
activities related to agriculture were grouped together
(for example, health workers, midwives, traders,
general service assistants, dressmakers, hairdressers,
housemaids, students, teachers and mechanics), while
all those who once participated in or currently participate
in this activity were included in the farmer group.
These variables were selected because agriculture is a
predominant activity in the study area, and people who
work in this arena maintain greater contact with plant
resources in the region as compared to non-farmers.
Additionally, we evaluated knowledge based
on the mention of particular species exclusively in
particular age groups. Toward this end, species that
were mentioned by individuals in all age groups and
those whose mention was unique to any group were
identified among the informants at large and by gender.
The number of botanical species was the variable
chosen for this analysis because a botanical species can
have different local names. The purpose was to check
whether the knowledge of medicinal species is shared
by most of the informants or whether it is restricted to
certain age groups.
Results
Diversity of medicinal plants cited by informants
A total of 220 therapeutic indications were
cited for 231 ethnospecies. Of the ethnospecies cited,
93% were identified; some species did not occur in
the community but were rather acquired in trade or
in adjacent communities. It was possible to identify
212 ethnospecies distributed among 158 taxa (136
identifications on the species level and 22 at the genus
384
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
level).
Age influence on the local knowledge
The number of plants mentioned by each
informant was shown to be related with age; although
this relationship is considered weak (rs=0.39,
p<0.0001), it is still possible to say that the greater the
age, the greater the number of plants known.
In comparing the means of ethnospecies and
uses cited by individuals in the different age groups
(Table 1), significant differences were observed
between informants belonging to the 18-28 age group
and almost all other age classes except for the 29-38
age group and the oldest class of informants (79-90),
indicating that the diversity of ethnospecies and uses
cited among the younger people are on average lower
and similar between the amount cited by the elderly.
This may be the result of limited experience or even
little contact with community members who could have
shared their knowledge of plant resources.
Some age groups were only different in the
number of ethnospecies cited, like the 29-38 group
as compared with the 59-68 group "59-68" (H=5.02,
p<0.025) and the 69-78 group (H=6.38, p=0.115); the
same is also true for the 18-28 group versus the 49-58
group (H=4.43, p=0.035). The informants belonging
to the latter group were more knowledgeable about
medicinal plants and their uses (Table 1), but it should
be noted that this number may have been influenced by
the presence in the sample of an informant who named
95 ethnospecies, 51 more than the average total quoted
by the informants in this group.
When analyzing the age influence and the
gender, we observed different patterns of distribution
of knowledge for men and women (Table 1). On
average, women had uniform knowledge of the citation
of ethnospecies and uses. For women in particular,
there were significant differences between the 18-28
age group and all the other groups except for the last
age group (79-90 years), indicating once again that
among the youngest (18 to 28 years), the amount of
knowledge is distinct and similar only to the quantity
of knowledge presented by elderly people in the
community. The latter possibly presents a reduction in
knowledge due to memory problems and forgetfulness,
which are common to people in higher age groups.
The women who on average reported more plants and
medicinal uses were those aged between 69-78 years
(Table 1). However, the class that most contributed to
the richness of the pool of ethnospecies was the 59-68
group (Figure 1).
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
Figure 1. Distribution of knowledge of medicinal plants
among men and women of different age groups in the Carão
community, Altinho (Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil).
There were no significant differences between
the knowledge of men in different age groups on
ethnospecies and medical uses, showing that knowledge
about medicinal plants of this gender seems to be more
uniform than that among women. Men between 59
and 68 years cited a greater richness of ethnospecies
than those from other classes (Figure 1). However,
curiously, the youngest men (18-28) mentioned more
medicinal plants and noted more uses for them than
did the oldest ones (59-68) (Table 1), although the
information provided by this youngest class came from
only three informants, which is a much lower number
than the number of people in the other groups.
For all of the age groups studied, there were
some plants that were mentioned exclusively by one
group (Table 1), with a total richness of 34 species
in this situation. The groups that mentioned plants
not discussed by other groups were the ranges 39-48,
49-58 and 69-78 years. Informants from the youngest
age group (18-28), as well as those from the oldest
one (79-90), cited a lower abundance of exclusive
species (Table 1), repeating the same pattern recorded
in evaluating the total number of ethnospecies cited
by men and women. However, it should be noted that
there was no significant relationship between the total
diversity of plants mentioned in a class and the diversity
of exclusive species occurring in it (rs=0.6, p>0.1). In
general, the older people, with the exception of very
oldest people, also had greater knowledge concerning
the existence of exclusive plants.
A total of twenty species were mentioned
by all age groups, while eighteen of them were more
frequently cited and are presented in Table 2. For most
of these species, uses are related to the conditions
of undefined pain and disorders in the digestive and
respiratory systems. These types of problems are
probably highlighted because they are the ones that
most commonly affect people in the community.
Influence of gender on local knowledge
Knowledge of the practices and richness of
the ethnospecies cited did not differ between men
and women (H=1.02, p=3.119 and H=1.24, p=2.66,
respectively). Women cited 209 (χ=14.23±9.04)
and men 158 (χ=16.14±9.7) ethnospecies, while
concerning uses, they mentioned 183 (χ=11.6±69) and
123 (χ=12.9±8.2), respectively. Regarding the number
of species mentioned, men cited a total of 102, with
eleven species uniquely mentioned by them, while
women cited 118 species of medicinal plants, with the
mention of 27 species exclusive to women (Table 3).
Concerning the uses of the plants mentioned exclusively
by either by men and women, we can note that they
were not intended to treat gender-specific diseases as
we expected (Table 3).
Table 1. Analysis of variance of the knowledge of medicinal plants by age and gender groups in the Carão community, Altinho
(Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil).
Age
groups
NI
General
average
number of
ethnospecies
General
Average
number of
uses
χ±SD*
χ±SD*
19
9.74±7.31
29-38
11
11.82±5.87
39-48
19
49-58
18-28
a
Average number of cited
uses
NMI
7.58±4.69
a
3
Average number of cited
ethnospecies
NFI
Male
Female
Male
Female
χ±SD*
χ±SD*
χ±SD*
χ±SD*
16
**15±3.6
6.19±3.4
Total
diversity
of cited
species
Number
of
exclusive
species
3
**20.33±12.1
7.75±4.2a
61
b
a
10.64± 3.96
3
8
**9.0±2.0
11.25±4.4
**9.0±1.0
12.87±6.6b
56
3
14.9±8.61bc
12.9 ±9.23b
7
11
7.43±3.4a
13.73±6.3b
10.57±5.7a
15.64±7.2b
77
7
15
16.14±9.98bc
11.6±6.01ab
5
10
11.2±6.7a
11.8±6.0b
13.8±10.8a
17.3±9.9b
89
7
59-68
17
22.0±19.99b
17.41±18.0b
9
7
14.44±7.0a
9.95±3.1b
18.33±8.0a
16.28±5.8b
67
2
69-78
14
21.15±13.62b
16.14±11.13b
4
9
11.0±2.4a
16.44±12.1b
14.25±2.1a
21.67±14.5b
81
8
7
12.72±4.2
10.0±4.97
5
7.0**
9.8±6.0
15.5**
11.6±4.6ab
48
4
79-90
ac
ab
ab
ab
2
ab
NI-Number of informants, NMI-Number of male informants, NFI-Number of female informants
*Equal letters arranged in the same column indicate no signiicant differences from the data using the Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05).
**Sample size was not suficient for statistical analysis.
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
385
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
Table 2. Species of medicinal plants mentioned by all age groups in the Carão community, Altinho (Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil).
Species
Local name
Citations
Therapeutic indications
Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão
aroeira, aroeira-branca
50
Uterine and renal diseases, anti-inlammatory, cancer, healing,
ovarian cysts, itching, grippe, injury, toothache and legs,
expectorant, gastritis, ulcers, grippe, infection, urinary infection,
inlammation, tooth inlammation, inlammation in women,
inlammation in the throat and the uterus, leg swelling, liver
problems, prostate, burns, cough, worms
Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf
capim-santo
40
AVC, calming, colic, congestion, diabetes, diarrhea, stomach pain,
fever, gas, insomnia
Amburana cearensis (Allemão)
A.C. Sm.
cumaru, imburana-açu,
imburana-de-cheiro
39
Uterine disorders, pain, bronchitis, scarring, congestion, grippe,
decongestants, pain, expectorant, dry throat, grippe, infection,
inlammation, indigestion, bad breath, pneumonia, hoarseness,
sinusitis, dizziness, cough
Plectranthus barbatus Andrews
hortelã-de-lajedo, hortelãmiúda
36
Amoebiasis, analgesic, colic, congestion, stomachache,
headache, toothache, empachamento, expectorant, fever, gastritis,
giardiasis, grippe, cough, hemorrhoids, lung problems, dizziness,
tuberculosis
Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br. ex
Britton & P. Wilson
cidreira
36
Sedative, insomnia, swollen belly, bad digestion, colic, diarrhea,
congestion, bellyache and headache, migraine, fever, gas, grippe,
cough, dizziness, worms
pião, pião-bravo
36
Healing, toothache, injury, gastritis, ulcer, warts from snake bite,
insect bite, taking spots on the skin
catingueira, catingueirarasteira
36
Grippe, expectorant, cough, congestion, diarrhea, bloody
feces, gastritis, hepatitis, sexual impotence, urinary infections,
rheumatism
caju, caju-roxo, cajubranco
36
Uterine disorders, ulcers, anti-inlammatory, healing, ovarian
cysts, inlamed tooth, diabetes, grippe, inlammation, throat
inlammation, infection, pain
hortelã-grande
32
Bad digestion, laxative, pain in general, analgesic, congestion,
cough, expectorant, grippe, lung problems, headache and earache
jucá
30
Uterine disorders, kidney disorders, pulmonary disorders,
expectorant, asthma, calming, congestion, diarrhea, bellyache,
worms, injury, gastritis, cough, grippe, bleeding, liver poisoning,
sanative
boiaba, goiaba-branca
28
Itching in the head, congestion, diarrhea, colics, congestion,
bloody feces
mastruz
26
Anti-helminths, congestion, restorative, gastritis, worms,
hemorrhoids, grippe, bronchitis, pneumonia, cough, expectorant
Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f.
babosa, erva-babosa
26
Dandruff, hair loss, injury, scarring, itching, cancer, inlammation,
stomach problems, worms, hemorrhoids, amoebiasis
Ziziphus joazeiro Mart.
juá, juazeiro
25
Dandruff, anti-inlammatory, expectorant, healing, constipation,
bellyache, grippe, cough, tuberculosis, insomnia, worms
Maytenus rigida Mart.
bom-nome
25
Renal and urinary disorders, kidney stones, constipation, injury,
vaginal infections, gastritis, hematoma, infection, renal and
urethral inlammation, liver and kidney problems
angico, angico-de-caroço,
angico-branco, angicode-espinho, angico-liso,
angico-preto
25
Uterine and renal diseases, analgesic, anti-inlammatory, bronchitis,
grippe, cough, expectorant, tuberculosis, wounds, itching, worms
Croton rhamnifolius Willd.
velame, velame-branco,
velame-bravo
22
To make the blood thinner, allergy, anemia, cough, swollen belly,
scarring, itching, wounds, diarrhea, pain in the spine, cracks in the
feet, new blood
Eucalyptus globulus Labill.
eucalipto
20
Pulmonary diseases, asthma, headache, fever, weakness, grippe
Spondias tuberosa Arruda
umbu
20
Uterine disorders, ulcers, cholesterol, congestion, inlamed wounds,
diarrhea, bellyache, empachamento of the belly, inlammation,
inlammation in the throat and tooth
Erythrina velutina Willd.
mulungu
18
Kidney disorders, cramps, urinary incontinence, insomnia,
infection, bladder inlammation, constipation, soothing
Jatropha mollissima (Pohl) Baill.
Caesalpinia pyramidalis Tul.
Anacardium occidentale L.
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.)
Spreng.
Caesalpinia ferrea Mart.
Psidium guajava L.
Chenopodium ambrosioides L.
Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.)
Brenan
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Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
Most of the uses of species cited exclusively by
women had to do with the respiratory (6) and digestive (6)
tracts (Table 3). This may be because the diseases linked
to these systems are more common in families, especially
among children, and thus women should be familiar with a
greater variety of plants used for such purposes. For men,
the indications cited were related to problems with various
bod systems.
Influence of occupation type on local knowledge
Of the 102 informants interviewed, 77 worked
in agriculture, while 25 did not but are instead occupied
with activities. Comparing the number of known
Table 3. Medicinal plants mentioned exclusively by men or women from the Carão community, Altinho, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Species
Local name
Therapeutic indications
Exclusive
citation
Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench
quiabo
Rheumatism, sinusitis
F
Acacia bahiensis Benth.
espinheiro-vermelho,
espinheiro-branco
Colic, grippe
F
Acanthospermum hispidum DC.
mau-vizinho, amarra-vizinho
Inlammation, cough
F
Allium sativum L.
alho
Fainting, grippe, dizziness, cough, tuberculosis
F
Ananas sativus Schult. & Schult. f.
abacaxi
Grippe, cough
F
Arachis hypogaea L.
amendoim
Aphrodisiac
F
Beta vulgaris L.
beterraba
Anemia
F
Bromelia laciniosa Mart. ex Schult. f.
macambira
Injury
M
Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T. Aiton
algodão-seda
Headache, wound
F
Capparis jacobinae Moric. ex Eichler
inço
Toothache, cough
F
Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don
bom-dia, boa-noite
Bleeding, insomnia, malaria
F
Citrus limonia (L.) Osbeck
laranja-cravo
Heartburn, headache, cold, sickness
F
Egletes viscosa (L.) Less.
macela
Heartburn, bad breath
F
Eugenia uvalha Cambess.
ubaia
Bellyache
F
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.
papoula
Toothache
F
Lactuca sativa L.
alface
High blood pressure
M
Lantana camara L.
azedinho, chumbinho
Numbness of the mouth, cough
F
Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit
espinheiro
Cough
F
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.
tomate
Healing, swollen leg
F
Manihot esculenta Crantz
mandioca
Bellyache and aphtha
F
Matricaria chamomilla L.
camomila
Congestion
F
Musa paradisiaca L.
bananeira
Bleeding, burning
F
Opuntia icus-indica (L.) Mill.
palma
Furuncle
F
Passilora edulis Sims
maracujá
Sedative, insomnia
F
Persea americana Mill.
abacate
Kidney disorders, sedative
M
Plumbago scandens L.
louco
Allergies, warts
M
Sapium lanceolatum (Müll. Arg.) Huber
burra-leiteira
Injury
F
Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.
chuchu
High pressure
M
Senna spectabilis (DC.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby
canafístula
Hemorrhoids
F
Sesamum indicum L.
gergelim
Stroke, insomnia
M
Sida cordifolia L.
malva-branca
Weakness
M
Spondias mombin L.
cajá
Uterine inlammation
M
Tabebuia caraiba (Mart.) Bureau
caibeira
Rheumatism
M
Targetes erecta L.
cravo-branco
Shortness of breath
F
Tillandsia usneoides (L.) L.
salambaia-comprida
Diabetes
M
Vernonia condensata Backer
alcachofra
Bad digestion
M
Vitis vinifera L.
uva
Helminthiasis
F
F-Female/M-Male
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
387
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
ethnospecies and therapeutic uses for the “farmer”
and “non-farmer” categories, there were significant
differences (H=8.49, p=0.0036 and H=6.7, p=0.0096
respectively). Perhaps this is an effect of the differences
between the samples. Farmers seemed to be on average
more knowledgeable about ethnospecies and their
therapeutic indications (16.9±12.4 and 13.4±10.8,
respectively) than non-farmers (12±9.6 and 10.6±7.9).
The knowledge of the non-farmers may be
influenced by the interaction of two factors: age and
occupation. Most (19) non-farmers were between 18
and 28 years of age, while most (57) farmers ranged
between 39 and 78 years of age. In this community,
in addition to field observations and reports by some
residents, it was observed that few young people were
interested in working in agriculture. We observed that
all young people (18-28) not working in agriculture
were women and that these individuals were less
knowledgeable about plants and their uses.
Discussion
The influence of age on local knowledge
The relationship between age and the number of
plants cited for medical use was also observed in other
studies (Voeks & Leony, 2004; Almeida et al., 2010;
Parveen et al., 2007). The greater knowledge of older
people, as observed in this study, may be related to the
degree of opportunity that they have had to learn about
medicinal plants and their therapeutic uses; for older people,
it appears, there is more experience and contact with these
resources. Another relevant explanation may be related to
the fact that these people are more susceptible to illness
than young people, which again opens up a space for them
to have closer contact with the world of medicinal plants
in the region where they live. Similar data emerged in the
work of Voeks & Leony (2004), who studied the Lençóis
community located in the state of Bahia in northeastern
Brazil.
The knowledge of some young people may be
related to their lack of interest in plant-based medicines,
mainly because of their lack of credibility; some believe
that allopathic medicine is more eficient than traditional
medicine, as has also been found to be the case in rural
communities in the Churu district in the Thar desert,
India (Parveen et al., 2007). Concerning this issue, some
residents reported that before health workers were present,
there were many healers in the region; it is also said that
after the arrival of doctors, many residents stopped using
medicines made from plants. Matavele & Habib (2000)
found in their work in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique that
younger people prefer to go to health centers to treat health
problems more than older ones do.
Some authors suggest that the lack of knowledge
388
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
amongst young people, which was evident in this study, may
also be inluenced by modernization (Caniago & Siebert,
1998; Quinlan & Quinlan, 2007). In some regions of Debre
Libanos, Ethiopia, it was veriied by Teklehaymanot et al.
(2007) that young people are lock to the urban centers
in search of employment and education and thus that the
traditional knowledge of plants is concentrated in the few
experts in the region. In the community studied, it has been
reported by informants that in recent decades, many young
people have migrated to urban centers in other states in
search of employment. This trend is worrisome because
such actions may affect the transfer of local medical
practices between generations.
When the inluence of age on different gender was
analyzed, it was found that in general, there is informationsharing between the intermediate age groups both for
women and for men; however, for men, this knowledge
is more uniform in all age groups. This may be related to
the fact that men have to work in agriculture very early in
life and then can start the process of learning about plants
in a practical way (through contact with the resource) and
by splitting the work area early between men of different
ages, which facilitates the creation of opportunities to
share experiences.
The low level of knowledge on medicinal plants
among younger women as compared to older women
can be explained by their indifference regarding the
use of this resource and also by their having little need
for such knowledge as a result of their good health; this
age group presents a relatively low number of diseases.
Another explanation is that at this stage, women usually
do not have children yet and thus are not accumulating
knowledge regarding the treatment of diseases common
in children.
Species common to all age groups (Table 2)
present widespread use in areas of caatinga vegetation
(Albuquerque et al., 2007) because most of them are
native and have many diverse uses (Alencar, 2008).
These various therapeutic applications can address
problems with several bodily systems (for example,
disorders of the digestive system and disorders of the
respiratory system) and can be related to more frequent
illnesses.
Even with increased knowledge about the
ethnospecies and their therapeutic uses among older
individuals, this does not imply in loss of knowledge
because it is necessary to consider if the knowledge
is being transmitted in the region. It is important to
be attentive to this question because when knowledge
about use of plants is restricted to a group, the risk
of loss is much greater if transmission is interrupted
(Albuquerque & Andrade, 2002).
Gender influence on local knowledge
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
Similar knowledge was also found among
men and women in some studies, such as Almeida et
al. (2010), Ayantunde et al. (2008) and Figueiredo et
al. (1997). Monteiro et al. (2006b). When evaluating
the distribution of knowledge about the use of "angico"
(Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan, Fabaceae) in
a rural community of the Agreste-Pernambuco, which
is near the region where this study was performed,
they reported that women cited more information
on medicinal uses of this species than did men. As
observed in this study, both genders disorders of the
digestive system useful plants for curing diseases, with
no clear division of knowledge among the genders.
However, this does not mean that knowledge of men
are similar for that of women (Ayantunde et al., 2008);
indeed, it was of course observed that with regard to
the plant repertoire and their uses, there was knowledge
particular to each gender.
Some authors have shown that in most rural
areas of Brazil, women have more specialized knowledge
because they are often looked for to diagnose and treat
certain types of diseases (Voeks & Leony, 2004). Voeks
(2007) notes that women from the Lençóis communityBahia proved more able to identify and name the
plants and report on their therapeutic properties. Such
knowledge is derived from experience caring for the
health of their families, greater contact with agriculture
and the management of gardens; there is a greater
number of perennial species in these anthropogenic
areas (Voeks, 2007). Teklehaymanot et al. (2007),
studying the knowledge and use of medicinal plants in
Ethiopia, reported that men are the most knowledgeable
about plants. With a result similar to that found in the
Dusun medicine, at Brunei Darussalam, there was a
distinction between gender roles in the healing system.
Women specialized in treating spiritual diseases, while
men were experts at curing diseases related to organic
disorders (Voeks & Nyawa, 2001).
Currently in the Carão community, men are the
main users of the slope areas in the region (secondary
vegetation). However, there was a greater flow of
both men and women around sixty years ago because
there was more land under cultivation for subsistence
(Almeida, 2008). Today, women spend most of their
time on domestic activities along with agriculture or in
some cases caring for livestock such as cows and goats.
The occupations of and areas frequented by individuals
can strongly affect the knowledge that they assimilate
from the environment. Voeks (2007), for example,
showed that women in the Lençóis community in Bahia
obtained more medicinal plants from anthropogenic
areas. Similarly, women in Kalimantan, Indonesia are
more familiar with these areas due to the activities
carried out near their residence, and in this way, they
are different from men, who are themselves more
knowledgeable about primary vegetation areas because
of their hunting and resource extraction activities in the
forest (Caniago & Siebert, 1998).
For the Carão community, there is no clear-cut
division of responsibilities. Regardless of gender, most
people work in agriculture, although some divisions exist
in the spaces used, as previously discussed in relation
to visiting hilly areas. Voeks (2007) notes that when
people are exposed to the same repertoire of plants, they
can develop similar levels of understanding. As seen
in the results, men and women seem to socially share
the resources uses in the region, but it is important to
emphasize that the approach in this study was built on
the total number of ethnospecies and uses cited without
checking in a background if there are similarities or
differences in the knowledge.
In a study performed by Hanazaki et al. (2000)
in an Atlantic forest area, the authors found that there
were gender differences in knowledge related to the
medical, food and technology categories. In one of
the communities studied, the researchers found that
women know about more food plants than men because
agriculture is women’s responsibility in that area. Men,
in turn, had greater knowledge about medicinal plants
and manufactured products because they worked more
on acquiring resources from the forest.
Influence of occupation type on local knowledge
Occupation was a determining factor in the
distribution of knowledge. Those who had greater
contact with plant resources seem to be more
knowledgeable about them. Activities that promote
more significant removal of plant resources such
as trade may jeopardize interest in using plants to
cure diseases. However, it can not be disregarded
that knowledge, in addition to be related to one’s
occupation, is also built through other means such
as social interaction (Singhal, 2005). The lack of
contact people have with vegetation may affect the
transmission of knowledge about plants once people
tend to disconnect themselves intellectually and
spiritually from these resources (Voeks & Leony,
2004). These people become more vulnerable to
influences of the Western world and can still leave
some practices connected to their culture, which
in turn were acquired over years of contact with
plant resources (Ohmagari & Berkes, 1997). This
loss of knowledge may be related to commercial
occupancy, which can often lead people to leave the
rural environment or even reduce their contact with
plant resources (Quinlan & Quinlan, 2007). The market
economy may influence this relationship, as shown by
Godoy et al. (2005), who observed that the market’s
influence on the knowledge of indigenous people leads
Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. Braz. J. Pharmacogn. 21(3): May./Jun. 2011
389
Dynamics of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in a rural community
in the Brazilian semi-arid region
Flávia dos Santos Silva et al.
to the erosion of knowledge about both plants and
animals.
It is still necessary to study the inluence of age,
gender and occupation on the knowledge distribution for
medicinal plants. The study of people’s knowledge of
medicinal plants can contribute information about the use
of these plants by local people and also shed light on the
patterns governing people-plant relationships. In addition,
this information is important for projects that promote the
sustainable use of natural resources, as it indicates who has
greater knowledge of certain resources.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Carão
community in face of the receptive welcome, and the
following researchers from the Laboratory of Applied
Ethnobotany (LEA) for support in ethnobotanical data
collection: Ernani Machado de Freitas Lins Neto,
Nélson Leal Alencar, Thiago Sousa Araújo, Joabe
Gomes de Melo, Alyson Luiz de Almeida, Miguel de
Santana Almeida, Luciana Gomes de Sousa, Viviany
Teixeira do Nascimento e Lucilene Lima dos Santos.
To Victoria Lacerda, student of Federal University of
Santa Catarina for field support during her training
in the LEA. The City of Altinho, in the person of the
Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Miguel Andrade Jr.,
for the logistical support. The Health Workers from
Carão Community, Mr. Inaldo and Mr. Alexandre,
for the support. To CNPq for financial support and
research productivity fellowship in offered to U.P.
Albuquerque.
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*Correspondence
Ulysses P. de Albuquerque
Departamento de Biologia, Área de Botânica, Laboratório
de Etnobotânica Aplicada, Universidade Federal Rural de
Pernambuco
Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900
Recife-PE, Brazil
upa@db.ufrpe.br
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