Medicinal plants and folk uses in Trás-os-Montes (Portugal). An overview of phy...

• Author(s): Carvalho, Ana Maria ; Barros, Lillian ; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.
• Date: 2010
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/3687
• Origin: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
• Subject(s): Portuguese ethnobotany; Etnobotânica portuguesa; MAP; TEK; Phytochemicals; Bioactive properties
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Ethnobotanical surveys conducted in north-eastern Portugal reported plant knowledge and uses of several wild species in folk medicine based on field studies using ethnographic methodologies. Taking advantage of a multidisciplinary team, besides botanical inventories and sociocultural and anthropological studies, we set out applied phytochemical research on locally used medicinal plants (more frequently cited, i.e. frequency of citation > 50%) that have special cultural significance. Experimental phytochemical research points to pharmacological effects that confirm the importance of the empirical use of these species and their contribution to a good health condition.