Práticas etnoveterinárias no Município de Oriximiná, Baixo Amazonas, Pará

Abstract

Ethnoveterinary medicine is the science responsible for the study of ideas, practices, methods and knowledge used in the treatment of diseases in animals. This practice has been passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. However, the current context, marked by rapid cultural changes, has led to the loss of much of this information, making it necessary to document this knowledge. In this context, this study aimed to conduct an ethnoveterinary survey in urban and rural areas of the municipality of Oriximiná, in the Lower Amazon region. For this purpose, six rural communities and six neighborhoods of the city were visited. The visits were carried out in homes with the supervision of Community Health Agents (CHAs). Semi-structured questionnaires were applied in the interviews, which addressed issues related to the use of plants or other natural products for treating diseases in animals. The use value (VU) of the cited species, Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) were calculated and a statistical test (T) was performed with a significance level of P < 0.05 to assess whether there were significant differences in the number of plants cited between the genera and by the interviewees in rural and urban areas. The results showed that of the 89 people who were aware of the use of natural products to treat diseases in humans and were interviewed in the municipality of Oriximiná, 57 (64%) of them also used these products to treat diseases in animals. Fifty species of plants used to treat diseases were cited in 11 different categories of use. The leaves and seeds were the most commonly used parts in medicinal preparations and the most common forms of use were tea and juice. Among the species mentioned, four of them stood out with the highest use values (VU), pião branco (Jatropha curcas L.) VU (0.38), copaiba (Copaifera duckei Dwyer) VU (0.32), urucum (Bixa orellana L.) V (0.29) and andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.) VU (0.23). Regarding the informant consensus factor (ICF), four categories of use stood out: ICF poisoning (1), ICF dermatological disorders (0.83), ICF parasitosis (0.72) and ICF respiratory disorders (0.61). In addition to the use of medicinal plants, there were also reports of the use of products of animal origin, with the anaconda being the most cited animal species (43%) and lard as the most used byproduct. This work contributed to the cataloging of information regarding the use of ethnoveterinary practices by the population of Oriximiná, in addition to organizing an inventory of plant species and other natural products with therapeutic potential.