Estudio etnobotánico y farmacognóstico de especies vegetales usadas por comunidades pertenecientes a la asociación de productores de plantas medicinales de Chimborazo Jambi Kiwa

Abstract

The aim of this work was to conduct an ethnobotanical and pharmacognostic analysis of plant species used by the communities that belong to the medicinal plants producers’ association of Chimborazo Jambi Kiwa. This was an investigative study since the information was collected through interviews to approximately 20-30 women with millenary knowledge of traditional medicine through two workshops of cultural revitalization and experimental character. Five of the species used were chosen for the pharmacognostic study: borage (Borago officinalis), gale of the wind (Phyllanthus niruri), peppermint (Mentha piperita), taraxacum (Taraxacum offícinale) and pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). First, an ethnobotanical study was carried out in which ancestral knowledge about the use of their plants was rescued, gathering of the plant species mentioned in this study was carried out to later proceed with a taxonomic and micromorphological identification with the collected species and a pharmacognostic study was carried out in which ash, humidity and secondary metabolites parameters were determined. The taxonomic and morphological study allowed the identification of their main plant structures such as xylem, phloem, stomata, epidermis, parenchyma. On the other hand, the moisture and ash values obtained show results outside the general parameters established by the Spanish Royal Pharmacopoeia. For the phytochemical results, there was strong and clear evidence that the analyzed species meet the expectations of the inhabitants. It is concluded that the plant species are mainly used in therapeutics and as dietary use. Quantitative phytochemical studies using chromatographic and spectrophotometric techniques are recommended to allow a better determination of the key chemical constituents of the studied plants.