Plantas medicinales comercializadas en los mercados y ferias libres del cantón Piñas

Abstract

Abstract: In our country, the use of medicinal plants is a common ancestral practice, due to the uses and benefits it provides us, its existence in markets and free fairs helps the commercialization of the sector. The research was carried out in the Piñas canton, Oro province. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 26 merchants from rural and urban parishes, who marketed 25 species belonging to 18 families with 11 uses and 15 medical categories. The species are mainly used for disorders of the muscular and respiratory system, which are applied externally and orally, mostly prepared as an infusion. The families with the highest number of species are Lamiaceae, Plantaginaceae and Rutaceae; the species with the highest level of fidelity are Plantajo major L., Mentha arvensis L. and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. FIC values vary between 0.8 and 1, suggesting that there is a consensus among traders, as well as in the number of species used for the treatment of a particular ailment within the Piñas community.