Biological resources used by the families of Chirijos, in natural and traditional medicine

Abstract

Forests are home to plant and animal species that provide resources to rural communities around the world. The work aims to contribute to the knowledge about the biological resources used by the families of the Chirijos parish, considering the use of plants and animals for medicinal purposes. thus, the micro-location of the most used species to treat the main health problems, with emphasis on chronic diseases, was also considered. A semi-structured interview with 10 questions was applied. The results show that the plants relieve diseases of cultural syndromes by 10,66 % with 24 species, the most mentioned being Aloe vera L., Matricaria chamomilla L., Valeriana microphylla HBK., Cymbopogon citratus (D.C). Staff. and Plantago major L. The most widespread use was for food and beverages (17,42 %), and the leaves are used for infusion. 85 % of the inhabitants travel 6 to 10 km to collect medicinal plants used for consumption, and 90 % throughout the year. The micro-location of the medicinal species determined that the families of the rural parish use plants or parts to treat chronic diseases, inflammations of the urinary tract, and kidneys, conjunctivitis and treat immune diseases such as diabetes and cancer.