Etnobotânica de plantas medicinais em comunidades quilombola e de assentamento rural e traços funcionais de Qualea grandiflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) em Piracanjuba, GO

Abstract

The sociocultural diversity present in the Cerrado, culminates in valuable traditional knowledge, especially those inherent to the diverse uses of the Cerrado flora. These knowledge about the uses of plants are valued by ethnobotanical science and subsidize robust and consistent arguments for the conservation of the Cerrado in the process of economic development. The present study aimed to survey the medicinal plants of popular use by the women of the Piracanjuba Quilombola Association, GO - Ana Laura, by the Boa Esperança Rural Settlement, and functional features of Qualea grandiflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) in Piracanjuba, GO. For the quilombola community Ana Laura, five participants were selected as the "owners of knowledge" in relation to knowledge about medicinal plants. The methodology used was based on semi-structured interviews. Among the mentioned plants were collected and inserted in the José Ângelo Rizzo Herbarium (JAR), of the State University of Goiás (UEG), Campus Quirinópolis. There were 91 species of medicinal plants distributed in 41 families, with Fabaceae (eleven species) and Lamiaceae (eight species) being the richest in species. The species cited were mainly used to treat airway problems, followed by diseases related to the digestive and cardiovascular systems and dermatological problems. The most used vegetal part was the leaf and can be justified by a greater availability of leaves than another part of the plant during all year. The most used form of preparation was tea. Among the medicinal species cited, most are native. The species with the highest number of informants were Croton antisyphiliticus, Dysphania ambrosioides, Ricinus communis and Copaifera langsdorffii. Those with the maximum value of agreement of use were Stryphnodendron adstringens, Dysphania ambrosioides, Dilodendron bipinnatum, Croton antisyphiliticus, Punica granatum and Curcuma longa. These species are widely used by Brazilian Popular Medicine, especially in the cerrado of Goiás. The methodology used was the same one used in the Quilombo of Piracanjuba Ana Laura, having been selected 12 people who had knowledge about the medicinal plants. There were 176 species of medicinal plants distributed in 72 families and 155 genera. Fabaceae (16 species), Asteraceae (15 species) and Lamiaceae (13 species) were the families with the highest species richness. The species cited were mainly used to treat airway problems and diseases related to the gastrointestinal system. The most used vegetal part was to the leaves, being able to be justified, because they contain much of the active principles of the plants, besides the greater availability of this vegetal part throughout the year. The most used form of preparation was tea. Among the medicinal species mentioned, the majority is native, and the species Lychnophora ericoides (arnica-do-cerrado) is in near-threat status. The species with the highest number of informants were Dilodendron bipinnatum Radlk., Morus sp., Pterodon emarginatus, Qualea grandiflora., Cochlospermum regium. Those with the maximum value of agreement of use were Dilodendron bipinnatum Radlk., Morus sp., Pterodon emarginatus and Qualea grandiflora. With this, it is possible to see a great use and knowledge of the medicinal species by the studied community, besides the need for future studies to verify the biological activity of these plant species, besides the socio-environmental peculiarities observed in this settlement. Whereas Qualea grandiflora Mart. is an abundant species in Piracanjuba, a large occurrence in the studied settlement and has a valuable medicinal use, this work also had as objective to evaluate the functional traits of this species in semideciduous and pasture seasonal forest. Data collection was performed in August 2018 in semideciduous seasonal forest (FES), and pasture area, for analysis and comparison purposes. Environmental, tree architecture and foliar morphometry data were collected, consisting of seven individuals in the FES and five in the pasture, totaling twelve individuals. For statistical analysis, the Shapiro-Wilk test was used to test the normality of the data. For the comparison of the means of the functional traits between the two environments (FES and pasture) the Student t test was used. The semidecidual seasonal forest had an average cover value of 85% and in the pasture was 0%. Qualea grandiflora individuals had lower mean values in pasture for leaf length and leaf width when compared to FES. There was no significant difference for the petiole length in the two evaluated environments and for none of the functional features related to the tree architecture. Qualea grandiflora individuals develop better in FES probably as a response to less stressful environmental conditions for the species. It is recommended, for sustainable exploitation by the local community, that tree matrices be chosen within the FES area.