BackgroundMedicinal plants are used by 80% of people from developing countries to fulfill their primary health needs, occupying a key position on plant research and medicine. Taking into account that, besides their pharmaceutical importance, these plants contribute greatly to ecosystems' stability, a continuous documentation and preservation of traditional knowledge is a priority. The objective of this study was to organize a database of medicinal plants including their applications and associated procedures in Canhane village, district of Massingir, province of Gaza, Mozambique.MethodsIn order to gather information about indigenous medicinal plants and to maximize the collection of local knowledge, eleven informants were selected taking into account the dimension of the site and the fact that the vegetation presents a great homogeneity. The data were collected through intensive structured and semi-structured interviews performed during field research. Taxonomical identification of plant species was based on field observations and herbarium collections.ResultsA total of 53 plant species have been reported, which were used to treat 50 different human health problems. More than half of the species were used for stomach and intestine related disturbances (including major diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery). Additionally, four species with therapeutic applications were reported for the first time, whose potential can further be exploited. The great majority of the identified species was also associated with beliefs and myths and/or used as food. In general, the community was conscientious and motivated about conservational issues and has adopted measures for the rational use of medicinal plants.ConclusionsThe ethnomedicinal use of plant species was documented in the Canhane village. The local community had a rich ethnobotanical knowledge and adopted sound management conservation practices. The data compiled in this study show the social importance of the surveyed plants being a contribution to the documentation of PGR at the national and regional level.

The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

A análise multivariada da composição química dos óleos essenciais de treze espécies de Hypenia indicou a presença de dois grupos de óleos em relação às seções botânicas das amostras. O primeiro grupo (grupo I) incluiu as três espécies da seção Densiflorae em adição a H. subrosea e H. aristulata, o qual foi caracterizado pelo maior percentual de a-muurolol (5,85 ± 3,08%). No grupo II, com oito espécies da seção Laxiflorae, os principais constituintes discriminantes foram o (E)-cariofileno (7,09 ± 4,88%), germacreno D (18,1 ± 11,4%) e o biciclogermacreno (6,65 ± 1,19%). Todos os óleos essenciais apresentaram predominantemente sesquiterpenos, tais como espatulenol (4,5-31,6%), óxido de cariofileno (2,2-14,4%) e selin-11-en-4a-ol (0-34,8%). Os agrupamentos foram idênticos quando utilizada a análise multivariada baseada nos esqueletos carbônicos dos constituintes químicos ou de 18 caracteres morfológicos das folhas das espécies.Multivariate analysis of essential oil compositions of thirteen Hypenia species revealed the presence of two taxonomic clusters. Cluster I included three species belonging to section Densiflorae in addition to H. subrosea and H. aristulata, and showed the highest percentages of a-muurolol (5.85 ± 3.08%). In Cluster II, which contained eight species belonging to section Laxiflorae, the major discriminant constituents were (E)-caryophyllene (7.09 ± 4.88%), germacrene D (18.1 ± 11.4%), and bicyclogermacrene (6.65 ± 1.19%). All essential oils showed a predominance of sesquiterpenes, such as spathulenol (4.5-31.6%), caryophyllene oxide (2.2-14.4%) and selin-11-en-4a-ol (0-34.8%). Furthermore, identical clusters were revealed by multivariate analysis of chemical constituents based on carbon skeletons, as well as on 18 morphological leaf characters of the species studied. Hypenia contains 27 recognized species on the basis of lax or dense inflorescences including sections Densiflorae Benth. and Laxiflorae Benth. Keywords2,3 Hypenia species are usually found in oligotrophic and sandy soils with high levels of aluminum, and are distributed over some regions of Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay and southern Brazil. In Brazil, they are more common in Cerrado regions where a greater diversity and endemism may be found. Hypenia species are aromatic and are frequently reported in Brazilian Cerrado for their ethnobotanical use, such as the infusion or decoction Since all of them are morphologically and anatomically similar, it is important to find alternative methods of interspecific chemical identification in order to complement analyses of floral traits.Therefore, this research investigates the chemical constituents of essential oils of thirteen unknown species of Brazilian Hypenia, thus contributing to future taxonomic studies of the genus. We analyzed disability data, as well as species considered rare in Brazil. 6 In light of the possible chemotaxonomic significance of the oils, results from the chemical analysis were compared with leaf anatomy and taxonomy. For this purpose, essential oils from individuals ...

No abstract

No abstract