title: Ethno-medicinal study of plants used for treatment of human ailments, with residents of the surrounding region of forest fragments of Paraná, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aims to document the traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants in the neighborhood of the protected area "Parque Estadual da Cabeça do Cachorro", a fragment of seasonal semideciduous forests. This vegetation is intensely fragmented and disturbed; despite its importance there are few records of the traditional knowledge of medicinal species.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four residents in the neighborhood of the protected area "Parque Estadual da Cabeça do Cachorro" were interviewed. The residents were questioned about preparation techniques, recommended doses, ways of administration and healing properties of various parts of the plants and were invited to walk through the park to collect in situ some species of plants. The recognized medicinal species were identified and traditional knowledge was systematized. Quantitative indices (Informant Consensus Factor - FIC and Use Value - UV) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  115 species of medicinal plants belonging to 54 botanical families were cited. Asteraceae (n=14), Fabaceae (n=11), Myrtaceae (n=6), Bignoniaceae, Solanaceae and Verbenaceae (n=5) were the most species-rich. The highest use values were calculated for Achyrocline satureioides, Aristolochia triangularis and Bauhinia forficata (0.63). Moreover, the informants consensus about usages of medicinal plants ranges from 0.024 to 0.663, which shows high level of agreements among the informants for gastro-intestinal and respiratory system diseases. Furthermore, for the first time, new traditional medicinal uses of Asteraceae (Chromolaena pedunculosa Hook. & Arn.), Commelinaceae (Tradescantia fluminensis Vell.) and Polypodiaceae (Microgramma vacciniifolia Langsd. & Fisch.) species were reported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Present study revealed that the residents of the surrounding region of forest fragments of Paraná are rich in ethno-medicinal knowledge and rely on plant-based remedies for common health problems. As in many parts of Brazil knowledge of the past is combined with new knowledge that has recently been incorporated emphasizing the cultural changes that this area is experiencing. Despite the use of different species of plants are crucial to their way of life, there is concern that these rich popular knowledge may disappear in the future as a result of a possible modernization of this area.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Saúde e Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná - PUC-PR, Toledo, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mônica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bolson
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sonia Marisa
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hefler
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sonia Regina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Hefler
authors.affiliation: Escola de Saúde e Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná - PUC-PR, Toledo, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elisiane Inês
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Dall'Oglio Chaves
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados - UFGD, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Arquimedes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasparotto Junior
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Médicas e da Saúde, Universidade Paranaense - UNIPAR, Toledo, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: euclideslc@unipar.br.
authors.forename: Euclides Lara
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Cardozo Junior
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D065928:Forests; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
keywords: Biodiversity conservation; Ethnobotany; Parque Estadual da Cabeça do Cachorro; Seasonal semideciduous forest; Traditional knowledge