Estudio etnobotánico y farmacognóstico de especies vegetales en la Isla de Muisne (Esmeraldas).

Abstract

The objective of the research was to carry out to the etnobotanical and pharmacognostic study of plant species on Muisne Island in the pronvince of Esmeraldas. The study was carried out in the San Luis de Gonzaga Educational Unit, two people who werw healers of the community were interviewed, and two cultural revitalization workshops werw carrried out obtaining important ancestral information about the Chirarán (Ocimum micrantum) plants, Cuttlefish (Cyperus odoratus), White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), and Goat Herb (Eupatorium odoratum), Lily (Crinum amabile), the same ones that according to bibliography possess impotant medicinal properties. Field locations and the global positioning system (GPS) established the specific location of the species studied. Taxonomic identification and micro morphological study were carried out though transverse and longitudinal sections of leaves and stems and then be placed under a microscope. Fort he pharmacognostic study, the plant species were dried, crushed and ash content, moisture and phytochemical screening were determined. As a result of the ethnobotanical study, it was posible to rescue ancestral knowledge and to revitalize the community, the taxonomic and morphological study managed to créate a database that allowed to identify its main plant structures. The results of ash content and humidity for the species O.micranthum, C. odoratus, L. racemosa, and E. odoratum, are within the parameters stipulated by the regulations of the Royal Spanish Pharmacopeia execpt the species C. amabile which excedes 14 % of the moisture content, and in the phytochemical screening major components of each plant species were identified. It was concluded that the pharmacognostic analysis was able to determine the quality control of each plant and in the same way determined important secondary metabolites. It is recommended to continue carrying out studies to generate information of the vegetal species of our environment seeking to rescue the values and traditional knowledge of each communituy.