Papers by Ernani Machado Freitas Lins Mfl Neto
Gaia Scientia, Dec 29, 2014
The aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão) is a species of high regional value, with medicinal ... more The aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão) is a species of high regional value, with medicinal proprieties and wood-like characteristics that make it very useful. With this in mind, the aim of this work was to evaluate the state of knowledge and the uses of M. urundeuva in two communities located close to a fragment of caatinga in the municipality of Caruaru-PE. The studies were completed in about 20 ha of caatinga where 50 semi-permanent parcels were established for analyzing local availability and measuring both the structural parameters (DSL and height) and harvesting of these plant populations. Harvesting was measured by classifying the percent of extracted bark. In parallel, ethnobotanical data collection techniques were used in the communities adjacent to caatinga (Riachão and Ameixas). The two communities had multiple uses for M. urundeuva, including medicinal uses (53.2% of the citations in Riachão, 64.9% in Ameixas) and construction (31.5% in Riachão, 29.7% in Ameixas). The 27 sampled plants had an average height of 6.70 m and an average diameter of 11.80 cm. Forty-nine aroeira were found whole, from which 65.3% had no signs of harvesting. Of the other 34.7%, the great majority (58.8%) had up to 10% of the bark extracted. Thus, it can be concluded that M. urundeuva is a species with a variety of uses that does not suffer much impact from bark harvesting in the region.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Studies of domestication enables a better understanding of human cultures, landscape changes acco... more Studies of domestication enables a better understanding of human cultures, landscape changes according to peoples' purposes, and evolutionary consequences of human actions on biodiversity. This review aimed at discussing concepts, hypotheses, and current trends in studies of domestication of plants, using examples of cases studied in regions of Mesoamerica and Brazil. We analyzed trends of ethnobiological studies contributing to document processes of domestication and to establish criteria for biodiversity conservation based on traditional ecological knowledge. Based on reviewing our own and other authors' studies we analyzed management patterns and evolutionary trends associated to domestication occurring at plant populations and landscape levels. Particularly, we systematized information documenting: ethnobotanical aspects about plant management and artificial selection mechanisms, morphological consequences of plant management, population genetics of wild and managed plan...
Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, 2014
Due to the current predatory exploitation and consequent extinction of native medicinal plants ar... more Due to the current predatory exploitation and consequent extinction of native medicinal plants around the world, strategies have been proposed aiming at the sustainable use of these resources. Accordingly, this study aims at verifying the differences in tannin compounds content in the bark of eleven species with high use value (UV) and also relating the amounts of tannins with their therapeutic indications. To quantify the total phenolic content in the samples the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent was used, and for total tannins chemical casein precipitation was applied. The amount of tannins ranged intra-specifically and the greater variation was found for Anadenanthera colubrina (angico) that displayed between 157.57 and 107.39 mg/g. The lowest variation occurred in Lafoensia replicata (mangabeira) with values ranging between 76.55 and 68.96 mg/g. There were significant differences between several of the eleven species and according to the simple regression analysis, the quantities of tannins found failed to justify their UV. Thus, it was not possible to establish whether the amount of total tannins influenced to a greater or lesser degree in the accumulation of knowledge. Moreover, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between the amount of total tannins and local botanical knowledge expressed by the UV.
Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia, 2006
Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. and Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan RESUMO: "Os ef... more Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. and Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan RESUMO: "Os efeitos da sazonalidade climática na Caatinga sobre os teores de taninos em Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. e Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan". Examinou-se a infl uência da sazonalidade climática sobre as concentrações de taninos em duas espécies da Caatinga: Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. e Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan. Empregou-se o método Folin-Ciocalteau para quantifi car os fenóis totais e o método de precipitação da caseína para taninos. De maneira geral, existe uma forte relação entre os teores de taninos e a pluviosidade, apesar das espécies parecerem adotar diferentes estratégias de produção de compostos tânicos em resposta aos períodos de seca e chuva na caatinga.
Revista Árvore, 2005
RESUMO -O teor de taninos em três espécies medicinais do semi-árido do Nordeste do Brasil foi det... more RESUMO -O teor de taninos em três espécies medicinais do semi-árido do Nordeste do Brasil foi determinado. A partir de amostras das cascas do caule e folhas de 10 indivíduos de Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenam, Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. e Caesalpinia pyramidalis Tul., os teores de fenóis totais e taninos foram determinados em extratos metanólicos 80% pelo método de Folin-Ciocalteau, seguido do método da precipitação de proteínas. Adicionalmente, testou-se a hipótese de que a concentração de taninos está diretamente relacionada com a altura e diâmetro das plantas. As espécies estudadas apresentaram expressivos teores de extrativos tânicos, e os resultados não ratificaram a hipótese testada.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2007
The caatinga (semi-arid vegetation) is a Brazilian biome with a significant but poorly studied bi... more The caatinga (semi-arid vegetation) is a Brazilian biome with a significant but poorly studied biodiversity closely associated with a diverse cultural heritage. The present work focused on analyzing published information available concerning medicinal plants used by traditional communities. We sought to contribute to future phytochemical and pharmacological investigations by documenting the therapeutic uses of native caatinga plants within the aims of modern ethnopharmacological research. Twenty-one published works cited a total of 389 plant species used by indigenous and rural communities in northeastern Brazil for medicinal purposes. The relative importance index (RI) of each species in these inventories was calculated, and information concerning the plant's local status (spontaneous or cultivated), distribution, and habit was recorded. Of the 275 spontaneous (non-cultivated) species cited, 15.3% were endemic to the caatinga. A statistical relationship was verified between the relative importance of the species and their endemic status (p < 0.05). Herbaceous plants were more numerous (169) than trees (90) or shrubs and sub-shrubs (130) at a statistically significant level (p < 0.05). A survey of published information on the phytochemical and pharmacological status of the plants demonstrating the highest RI supported the veracity of their attributed folk uses.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2006
The present work seeks to quantify the knowledge of two rural communities in the semi-arid region... more The present work seeks to quantify the knowledge of two rural communities in the semi-arid region of the state of Pernambuco (northeastern Brazil) concerning two species of native medicinal plants: "aroeira do sertão", Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. (Anacardiaceae) and "angico", Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan (Mimosaceae). Semi-structured interviews were carried out, combined with a checklist/inventory method, which yielded different indexes for quantifying knowledge and use of these species. In addition, the reliability of local knowledge was tested using analytical techniques to determine actual tannin concentrations. Although both communities possess knowledge concerning these two species, one of them stood out in terms of the diversity of information presented (P < 0.05), a difference that may be related to its lower degree of modernization. In general, older people had a greater variety of information about these plants, although both men and women demonstrated similar knowledge. Of the 101 people interviewed in Riachão, 85% stated that they knew of uses for both species studied; in Ameixas, of the 55 interviewees, 63% responded that they knew of uses for Myracrodruon urundeuva, and 45% knew of uses for Anadenanthera colubrina. A total of 97 different uses were reported by all informants for the two species studied. Of these, 62 were mentioned in only a single community, confirming our hypothesis of differences in knowledge between them. Informants from both communities knew of a great variety of uses for these plants as well as a number of different collection techniques. We expected that knowledge about the two species would differ in relation to both gender and age, but this was only true for one of the communities. Greater concentrations of tannins were expected to be found consistently in the tree bark, but experimental data demonstrated that tannin concentrations can vary among plant parts during the year.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2014
Studies of domestication enables a better understanding of human cultures, landscape changes acco... more Studies of domestication enables a better understanding of human cultures, landscape changes according to peoples' purposes, and evolutionary consequences of human actions on biodiversity. This review aimed at discussing concepts, hypotheses, and current trends in studies of domestication of plants, using examples of cases studied in regions of Mesoamerica and Brazil. We analyzed trends of ethnobiological studies contributing to document processes of domestication and to establish criteria for biodiversity conservation based on traditional ecological knowledge.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2013
Background: Studies aimed at investigating the influence of habitat change on species phenology. ... more Background: Studies aimed at investigating the influence of habitat change on species phenology. Studies that investigate people's perceptions of the phenology of certain species still area few; yet this approach is important for effective decision-making for conservation. The aim of this study was to investigate the phenology of Spondias tuberosa Arruda (Anacardiaceae), a native species of economic and ecological importance in northeastern Brazil, in five landscape units (LUs) (Mountain, Mountain Base, Pasture, Cultivated Areas and Homegardens) of a Caatinga region in Altinho, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. These data could then be compared with local people's perceptions of the species' phenophases. Method: Collection of phenological data was carried out monthly from February 2007 to January 2009 and included activity, intensity and synchronization of reproductive and vegetative phenophases. Ethnobotanical data were gathered using a collaborative approach to access local people's knowledge about the species' phenological schedule. Results: There were no significant differences in the intensity of phenophases among LUs, and there was a correspondence between people's perception of phenophases and the phenological data collected. The data show that the different management practices for LUs did not influence the phenology of the species. Conclusion: The main conclusion of this study is the use of traditional knowledge as interesting tool for rapid phenological diagnosis. However further studies need to be developed to test this tool in other environments and cultural contexts.
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 2013
ABSTRACT Plant domestication is an evolutionary process whose artificial selection and management... more ABSTRACT Plant domestication is an evolutionary process whose artificial selection and management change the landscape, modeling plants to satisfy the human needs, affecting the phenotype component(s) of the species under manipulation. This study aimed at examining and comparing two rural communities: Malhada de Areia e Carão, municipally of Altinho, Pernambuco regarding the knowledge, perception of morphological variations (size fruit, flavor fruit, shape fruit, yield pulp and fruit color), morphological characteristics of preference at the time of collection; evaluation on the inter- and intrapopulation morphological differences of species and assessment of diversity, variability and local genetic structure of Spondias tuberosa populations under different management regimes based on the ISSR analysis. The results pointed to the maintenance of local genetic and morphological diversity, being it strongly related to the management practices of the species, especially the S. tuberosa tolerance in open areas for farming and pasture. Thus, it is emphasized the importance of this study in Brazil by being the first time that aspects related to management and perceived diversity, morphology and genetics of a highlighted perennial species from the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil are evaluated from the perspective of domestication studies on its incipient status. Moreover, it provides interesting data that will contribute to the conservation strategies and breeding programs.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2007
In spite of heavy harvesting pressure on some of the most popular medicinal plant species, there ... more In spite of heavy harvesting pressure on some of the most popular medicinal plant species, there are very few published studies concerning their conservation the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. In light of this fact, the present work sought to evaluate the local conservation and the harvesting sustainability of medicinal plants in an region of caatinga vegetation employing a fusion of biological and cultural approaches. Ethnobotanical methodologies and techniques were employed in the community of "Riachão de "Malhada de Pedra"" (municipality of Caruaru, state of Pernambuco, Brazil) in order to document local knowledge concerning medicinal plants and to examine the availability of those plants in a caatinga vegetation fragment located near that community. A total of 21 medicinal plant species were identified in the area and classified according to ecological factors and local uses. Two plants (Ziziphus joazeiro and Myracrodruon urundeuva) stood out has having high priority for conservation efforts. Sixteen species were identified as having populations adequate for harvesting through a system of pre-determined quotas, while four species were deemed sufficiently abundant to be harvested without risk of causing significant impact on their sustainability.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2011
Due to the current exploitation and consequent extinction of native medicinal plants around the w... more Due to the current exploitation and consequent extinction of native medicinal plants around the world, new strategies have been proposed to address the sustainable use of this resource. Accordingly, the goal of this study is to assess the speed of bark regeneration of Myracro-
Economic Botany, 2010
Traditional Knowledge and Management of Umbu (Spondias tuberosa, Anacardiaceae): An Endemic Speci... more Traditional Knowledge and Management of Umbu (Spondias tuberosa, Anacardiaceae): An Endemic Species from the Semi-Arid Region of Northeastern Brazil. Spondias tuberosa, or umbu, is an arboreal species that is important both as an alternative economic and subsistence resource for rural communities in the semi-arid, northeastern regions of Brazil. The aim of this work was to study the knowledge, uses, local gathering practices, and management systems of S. tuberosa that are part of the traditions of the communities in this region. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in two stages in a rural community in the state of Pernambuco. In the first stage, all of the dwellings were visited and both the men and the women who were responsible for their house were interviewed. In the second stage, people who were identified as having a direct relationship with the resource were questioned more thoroughly about the species. Knowledge of S. tuberosa is equally distributed in the community; there are no significant differences in knowledge between men and women, or across age groups. The food category is the most important for both human and animal nourishment. The main forms of local management are tolerance and gathering of fruit. Fruit gathering is directly affected by, in order of importance, taste (sweet-sour), size, and quantity of fruit pulp. The usefulness of S. tuberosa contributes considerably to the tolerance of this species in both managed areas and as part of the native vegetation.
Environmental …, Jan 1, 2011
Environmental Monitoring …
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Papers by Ernani Machado Freitas Lins Mfl Neto