Medicinal plants used by the Criollos of Northwestern Argentine Chaco. 2004

Gustavo F Scarpa
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion, Casilla de correo 22, B1642HYD, San Isidro, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. gscarpa@darwin.edu.ar

Medicinal remedies of herbal origin employed by Criollos herdsmen of northwestern Chaco were studied through collections of plant specimens and by interviewing 83 local informants from several villages. A total of 619 medicinal uses were recorded for 163 plant species during field work. For each plant species the scientific and vernacular names, the parts of the plant used, specific medicinal uses, modes of preparation and administration and way of obtaining them were listed. Most species are collected in the wild (78%), they account for the seventy nine percent of the total recorded medicinal uses; the rest are obtained through cultivation or bought in markets. Plants are used mainly for diseases of the digestive tract (26.5% of total uses); skin affections (14.6%); respiratory disorders (9.1%); reproductive disorders (8.4%) and affections of the circulatory system (7.7%); and as antipyretics (7.5% of total uses).

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008517 Phytotherapy Use of plants or herbs to treat diseases or to alleviate pain. Herb Therapy,Herbal Therapy
D008519 Medicine, Traditional Systems of medicine based on cultural beliefs and practices handed down from generation to generation. The concept includes mystical and magical rituals (SPIRITUAL THERAPIES); PHYTOTHERAPY; and other treatments which may not be explained by modern medicine. Ethnomedicine,Folk Medicine,Folk Remedies,Home Remedies,Medicine, Folk,Medicine, Indigenous,Medicine, Primitive,Indigenous Medicine,Primitive Medicine,Traditional Medicine,Folk Remedy,Home Remedy,Remedies, Folk,Remedies, Home,Remedy, Folk,Remedy, Home
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001118 Argentina Country located in southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay.
D019448 Ethnobotany The study of plant lore and agricultural customs of a people. In the fields of ETHNOMEDICINE and ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY, the emphasis is on traditional medicine and the existence and medicinal uses of PLANTS and PLANT EXTRACTS and their constituents, both historically and in modern times.
D028321 Plant Preparations Material prepared from plants. Herbal Preparations,Herbal Preparation,Plant Preparation,Preparation, Plant

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