MEDICINAL ANIMALS USED BY TWO QUILOMBOLAS COMMUNITIES OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST, UBATUBA, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological studies have been carried out in Brazil. The present study aimed to record the ways of using animals for medicinal purposes by Quilombolas in the Serra do Mar State Park - Nu?cleo Picinguaba, Ubatuba, Sa?o Paulo, Brazil. During 122 days, between May 2016 and January 2018, 16 residents with knowledge of medicinal animals were selected, seven from Quilombo do Cambury (QC) and nine from Quilombo da Fazenda (QF), based on informal interviews and using “snowball” methodology. Then, unstructured interviews were applied and techniques of participant observation and field diary were used. Data analysis took place in both the qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Forty eight recipes were recorded from 30 medicinal animals: mammals, insects, birds, Squamata reptiles, turtles, amphibians and fishes, arachnids and mollusks. Among them, 16 could be identified at the species level. The 48 recipes involve 23 therapeutic uses grouped into seven categories of medicinal use: Inflammatory Processes Respiratory System, Nervous System Central, Accidents with animals, Ocular System, Gastrointestinal System and Others. The animal part most used as medicine was lard (24 recipes). Higher data on animal numbers, recipes and therapeutic uses recorded in QF medicine compared to QC were observed. The development of this study contributed to the advancement of ethnopharmacological research on animals in the Atlantic Forest, since so far few studies in this area of knowledge have been developed in the southeastern region of Brazil.