ESTUDO ETNOFARMACOLÓGICO DE PLANTAS MEDICINAIS UTILIZADAS EM INSTITUIÇÃO DE SAÚDE HOLÍSTICA NA CIDADE DE PETROLINA-PE

Phytotherapy has been used for centuries and to this day has great importance in many communities. Although this practice is a widely used alternative to health care, with known benefits of numerous plant species, the inappropriate use of medicinal plants can generate serious problems for the health. Therefore, studies are needed to analyze the use of medicinal plants by society. This article seeks to conduct an ethno-pharmacological study of medicinal plants used in a reference holistic health institution of the city of Petrolina, state of Pernambuco, Brazil. All plants grown at the institution were collected with fertile parts to identify the species. To collect data on the plants used by the patients of this institution, a randomized analysis was performed on 140 charts. Among the indicated plants, only those collected and taxonomically identified were considered in this study. The ten most indicated plants were compared with data in the literature. The indications for use of these plants corroborate with previous studies. However, the studies only evaluate a plant during preparations for its use alone, disregarding possible interactions that occur when several plants are used in association, a common practice in this institution. Popular knowledge important to direct the discovery of plants with pharmacological properties, considering that many indications referred by popular knowledge are proven by scientific studies.