ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN A QUILOMBOLA COMMUNITY: EMPHASIS ON CHRONIC DISEASES^*

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Medicinal plants play an important role in chronic diseases.

2. Nurses should know the plants most used by quilombolas.

3. Boldo is widely used, and there is already positive evidence.

4. Plants can have an impact on quilombolas’ quality of life.

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To understand the ethnopharmacological knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat chronic diseases in a quilombola community in the Brazilian Amazon.

Method:

A crosssectional, descriptive study using a semi-structured questionnaire in a quilombola community in Macapá, Amapá (Brazil), from March to June 2022. The analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics.

Results:

In the quilombola community, women are the main holders of knowledge about medicinal plants, usually acquired from their parents/grandparents. Among the various plants mentioned, boldo was the most frequently mentioned (13.78%) for treating liver diseases, followed by mastruz (6.89%) for inflammatory issues.

Conclusion:

The study’s results made it possible to understand the ethnopharmacological knowledge of phytotherapy in treating chronic non-communicable diseases and how it can act in an alternative and positive way in the clinical manifestations or complications caused by these diseases.

DESCRIPTORS:
Medicinal Plants; Ethnopharmacology; Chronic Disease; Phytotherapy; Quilombolas.