Medicinal plants in candombl茅 as element of cultural resistance and health care

Revista Cubana de Plantas Medicinales

Esmeraldo Paz, Camila³  Alencar de Menezes, Irwin Rose¹  Bezerra Felipe, Cícero Francisco²  Santiago Lemos, Izabel Cristina¹  Kerntopf, Marta Regina¹  Brito Monteiro, Álefe¹  Pimentel Fernandes, George¹  de Araújo Delmondes, Gyllyandeson¹  Melo Coutinho, Henrique Douglas¹ 

[1] Universidade Regional do Cariri, Brasil;Universidade Federal de Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brasil;Secretaría Municipal de Saúde de Assaré

关键词: traditional medicine;    medicinal plants;    religion;    science;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：药理学

来源: Editorial Ciencias Medicas

【 摘 要 】

Introduction: folk medicine denotes a steady relation with religious beliefs. In Brazil, few studies evaluate the degree of utilization of plants as medications and its insertion in the religious sphere. Objectives: to characterize the use of medicinal plants by the members of Candomblé, identifying plants used more frequently and diseases treated by referred plants. Methods: we interviewed 25 leaders of Candomblé. The research is the type descriptive and exploratory, by qualitative approach. As instrument of data collection was used the semi-structured interview. Data was analyzed based on the thematic approach of speeches. Results: with respect to plants known were mentioned 29. Among the plants mentioned we can highlight: Alpinia speciosa Schum (84 %); Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (68 %); Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) (60 %); Coleus barbatus Benth (56 %); Ruta graveolensLinn (48 %); Rosmarinus officinalis Linn (40 %); Cymbopogon citratus (D.C.) Stapf (32 %); Phyllanthus amarus Schum. e Thorn (28 %); Momordica charantia Linn (20 %) e Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert (12 %). It was noted that the interviewees use medicinal plants at promoting of health, prevention and treatment of many diseases and disorders, such as headaches, colds, gastric problems, renal problems and intestinal problems, hypertension, inflammation generally and vertigo. Conclusions: the use of medicinal plants by leaders of Candomblé means a renewal of millenary traditions and an expression of cultural resistance, still representing a significant health intervention linked to the beliefs and to the empirical knowledge of the representatives of that religion, although this represents a distancing from what is considered conventional in health care.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC