• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Pessoal
    • Webmail
    • Área de Docentes
    • Área de Não-Docentes
  • Estudantes
    • Webmail
    • Moodle
    • NetP@
    • Biblioteca
    • Escola Doutoral
    • Serviços Académicos
    • Trabalhar no IHMT

IHMT

Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical

  • O Instituto
    • Missão
    • História
    • Mensagem do Diretor
    • Órgãos de governo
    • Docentes e investigadores
    • Unidades de Ensino e de Investigação
  • Ensino
    • Doutoramentos
    • Mestrados
    • Cursos de Especialização
    • Formação transversal
    • Cursos de Curta Duração
    • Ensino à Distância
    • Apoio ao Desenvolvimento
    • Serviços académicos
  • Investigação
    • Centro GHTM
    • Unidade de Clínica Tropical
    • Unidade de Microbiologia Médica
    • Unidade de Parasitologia Médica
    • Unidade de Saúde Pública Global
    • Serviço de Interesse Comum
    • Biobanco
    • Centro Colaborador da OMS
    • Publicações
  • Serviços e gestão
    • Biblioteca
    • Sistema de Qualidade
    • Estatutos e regulamentos
    • Relatórios
    • Contratos públicos
    • Recursos humanos
      • Concursos e bolsas
      • Mobilidade
  • Doenças Tropicais
    • Consulta do Viajante
    • Glossário
    • Museu
    • Vídeos
    • MosquitoWeb
  • Comunidade
    • Cooperação e Desenvolvimento
    • Formação
    • Parcerias
  • Contactos
  • Português
  • English
Home / Publicações / Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity and knowledge transfer

Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity and knowledge transfer

  • Autores: Luís Catarino, Maria M. Romeiras, Philip J. Havik
  • Ano de Publicação: 2016
  • Journal: Journal of Ethnopharmacology
  • Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874116300757

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The rich flora of Guinea-Bissau, and the widespread use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases, constitutes an important local healthcare resource with significant potential for research and development of phytomedicines. The goal of this study is to prepare a comprehensive documentation of Guinea-Bissau’s medicinal plants, including their distribution, local vernacular names and their therapeutic and other applications, based upon local notions of disease and illness.

 

Materials and methods

Ethnobotanical data was collected by means of field research in Guinea-Bissau, study of herbarium specimens, and a comprehensive review of published works. Relevant data were included from open interviews conducted with healers and from observations in the field during the last two decades.

 

Results

A total of 218 medicinal plants were documented, belonging to 63 families, of which 195 are native. Over half of these species are found in all regions of the country. The medicinal plants are used to treat 18 major diseases categories; the greatest number of species are used to treat intestinal disorders (67 species). More than thirty ethnic groups were identified within the Guinea-Bissau population; 40% of the medicinal plants have been recorded in the country’s principal ethnic languages (i.e. Fula and Balanta).

 

Conclusions

This multi-disciplinary, country-wide study identifies a great diversity of plants used by indigenous communities as medicinal, which constitute an important common reservoir of botanical species and therapeutic knowledge. The regional overlap of many indigenous species, the consensual nature of disease groups based upon local perceptions of health conditions, and the relevance of local vernacular including Guinean Creole are key factors specific to the country which enhance the potential for the circulation and transmission of ethno-botanical and therapeutic knowledge.

Medicinal plants of Guinea-Bissau: Therapeutic applications, ethnic diversity and knowledge transfer

  • Autores: Luís Catarino, Maria M. Romeiras, Philip J. Havik
  • Ano de Publicação: 2016
  • Journal: Journal of Ethnopharmacology
  • Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874116300757

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The rich flora of Guinea-Bissau, and the widespread use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases, constitutes an important local healthcare resource with significant potential for research and development of phytomedicines. The goal of this study is to prepare a comprehensive documentation of Guinea-Bissau’s medicinal plants, including their distribution, local vernacular names and their therapeutic and other applications, based upon local notions of disease and illness.

 

Materials and methods

Ethnobotanical data was collected by means of field research in Guinea-Bissau, study of herbarium specimens, and a comprehensive review of published works. Relevant data were included from open interviews conducted with healers and from observations in the field during the last two decades.

 

Results

A total of 218 medicinal plants were documented, belonging to 63 families, of which 195 are native. Over half of these species are found in all regions of the country. The medicinal plants are used to treat 18 major diseases categories; the greatest number of species are used to treat intestinal disorders (67 species). More than thirty ethnic groups were identified within the Guinea-Bissau population; 40% of the medicinal plants have been recorded in the country’s principal ethnic languages (i.e. Fula and Balanta).

 

Conclusions

This multi-disciplinary, country-wide study identifies a great diversity of plants used by indigenous communities as medicinal, which constitute an important common reservoir of botanical species and therapeutic knowledge. The regional overlap of many indigenous species, the consensual nature of disease groups based upon local perceptions of health conditions, and the relevance of local vernacular including Guinean Creole are key factors specific to the country which enhance the potential for the circulation and transmission of ethno-botanical and therapeutic knowledge.

Footer

INSTITUTO DE HIGIENE E
MEDICINA TROPICAL
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA
Rua da Junqueira, 100 1349-008 Lisboa
T +351 213652600
F +351 213 632 105
geral@ihmt.unl.pt

Consulta do Viajante e Medicina Tropical
T +351 213652630/90
medicina.viagens@ihmt.unl.pt

Ensino
Investigação
Medicina Tropical
Cooperação

Siga-nos

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Receber a “newsletter”

© Copyright 2022 IHMT-UNL Todos os Direitos Reservados.
  • Universidade Nova de Lisboa
  • Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

    Project UID/Multi/04413/2013