Local botanical knowledge of native food plants in the semiarid region of Brazil

NUNES, ERNANE N.; GUERRA, NATAN M.; ARÉVALO-MARÍN, EDNA; ALVES, CARLOS ANTÔNIO B.; NASCIMENTO, VIVIANY T. DO; CRUZ, DENISE D. DA; LADIO, ANA H.; SILVA, SILVANDA DE M.; OLIVEIRA, RODRIGO S. DE; LUCENA, REINALDO F. P. DE

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

BMC

Año: 2018 vol. 14

Background: This study aimed to investigate the local botanical knowledge of native food plants in three ruralcommunities, located in the semiarid region of Paraíba State, Brazil, verifying possibilities of differences of knowledgeamong communities and between men and women.Methods: Semi-structured interviews about native plant knowledge and use were conducted with all householders ineach community, totaling 117 informants. The species similarity among the communities of Pau D?Arco, Várzea Alegre,and Barroquinha was compared with Jaccard index, and the use value index (UVgeneral, UVcurrent, UVpotential) was used todetermine the most important species. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the use values amongcommunities and genders. The consensus factor among the informants was calculated according to the usescited, and the Wilcoxon test was used to compare the use values between men and women.Results: We recorded 9 species belonging to 8 genera and 8 families in Várzea Alegre; 10 species, 9 genera,and 9 families in Barroquinha; and 7 species, 7 genera and 7 families in Pau D?Arco. Spondias tuberosa Arruda(Anacardiaceae) in Várzea Alegre, Spondias sp. (Anacardiaceae) in Barroquinha, and Ximenia americana L. (Olacaceae) inPau D?Arco were the most prominent species. Preparation methods are slightly different in the three communities, andthere is low similarity about species use among the communities. Regarding gender, the analysis of use value amongthe communities evidenced significant differences only for UVgeneral among women, specifically between Barroquinhaand Pau D?Arco. For men and women within each community, there is a difference only for UVpotential in Barroquinha.Conclusion: This study showed that the residents of the three rural communities have limited knowledge of nativefood plants found in their communities, but they know where to find them, which parts they may use and how toconsume them. The fact is that men know plants that are more distant from the residences and women know thosethat are next to them.