Estudo exploratório acerca do uso de plantas medicinais em Itaqui - RS

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, 80% of the world's population makes use of medicines derived from medicinal plants. In Brazil, 91.9% of the population made use of some medicinal plants, 46% of which maintains home-grown plants (ABIFISA, 2007). The present work had as objective to identify the different medicinal plants used in the popular culture of the city of Itaqui - RS, as well as to analyze the different forms of use, preparation and application of these plants. In order to catalog the information about the different medicinal plants used by residents of the city of Itaqui, Rio Grande do Sul, a qualitative research was carried out, which consisted of semi-structured interviews with six residents of the city of Itaqui-RS. Several medicinal plants were mentioned, among them the most mentioned were chamomile, macela, fennel, guaco, fennel and mint. Among the forms of preparation are tea, placing in water at room temperature for drinking, in natura consumption, as is the case of ginger, or even in the chimarrão. The predominant way in which the interviewees knew the medicinal plants was through family members, only one interviewee quoted books and magazines. Respondents cited home yard, street vendor, and local commerce as ways to find such medicinal herbs. Comparing the results with the existing literature and with the reports of the interviewees, it is noticed that a medicinal herb can be used for different purposes with varied preparations.