Medicinal plants and their uses in Barra do Jucu community, Vila Velha Municipality, Espírito Santo State, Brazil

Abstract

Barra do Jucu is a community from Vila Velha Municipality, Espírito Santo State, Brazil, located in a restinga area and inhabited by "caiçaras", whose income is mainly from fishing. The aim of this study was to recover and systematize popular information about the medicinal plants used in this locality. In total, 86 species belonging to 41 families were cited, of which Lamiaceae, Asteraceae and Solanaceae had the largest number of species. The mentioned species are related to 59 medicinal uses, mainly to diseases associated with the digestive system. The number of citations per informant for each taxon, as well as the number of uses was quantified, indicating the most used species in this area, including Plectranthus barbatus Andrews, the most cited one, and Anacardium occidentale L., the most used one. The results demonstrated that the population has wide knowledge about the plants and their healing properties.