Plantas medicinales comercializadas en los mercados y ferias libres del cantón Morona, provincia de Morona Santiago

Abstract

Abstract: This study focuses on the marketing and use of medicinal plants in the markets of the canton of Morona. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 16 vendors, ethnobotanical and statistical analyses were performed. In the canton, 48 species are sold distributed in 28 families, with Lamiaceae being the most prominent. The acquisition of medicinal plants is fresh, the most sold structures are leaves and the entire plant, and they are administered through drinks to treat disorders of the nervous system, which turned out to be the most significant category of use. Curcuma longa L., and Tagetes erecta L., present the highest fidelity values ​​(FL=100),. A consensus of 0.43 to 1.00 is observed, the highest being disorders of the digestive system. _The T test reached values ​​higher than 0.05, complying with the assumption of normality. The research showed that the Morona canton conserves a wide diversity of plants used to treat certain conditions, which demonstrates the tradition in the use of certain species to address specific health problems.