Reconhecimento e uso de plantas medicinais pelos idosos do Município de Marmeleiro - Paraná

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants is based on family tradition and became a common practice in popular medicine. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the level of recognition and use of medicinal plants used by 35 elderly in the city Marmeleiro - Paraná. The results of the interviews showed that all elderly knew, from twenty medicinal plants presented, aloe vera, chamomile, lemon balm, camomile, mallow, marjoram, nutmeg, paw-of-cow and sage. Besides that, 94% of them used medicinal plants, 71.4% of these frequently, influenced mainly by the family (parents and grandparents) (94.2%). Medicinal plants consumed daily by the elderly were the lemon balm (48.6%), mallow (34.3%), shatterstone (34.1%), sage (25.7%), chamomile (22.9 %), guaco (20%), gorse and camomile (14.3%), paw-of-cow and rosemary (8.6%) and aloe vera (2.9%), prepared as tea (decoction) or infusion. We should note that the form to obtain the plants was mainly from their own gardens (88.6%). We conclude that the information about medicinal plants should be available to the public, especially the elderly, emphasizing the methods of cultivation and harvesting, with techniques still unknown to them, and the best way to use each medicinal species, encouraging their use, but with no damage to health.