Plantas medicinales comercializadas en los mercados y ferias libres del cantón Nueva Loja

Abstract

Abstract: The research was conducted in the markets and open-air fairs of the Nueva Loja canton, Sucumbíos province, with the purpose of determining the medicinal species sold and evaluating the consensus on their uses according to the sociocultural characteristics of the informants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 informants, and species, uses, and informant characteristics were recorded. Ethnobotanical and statistical analyses were performed. Forty-nine species belonging to 35 families were identified, with Lamiaceae, Zingiberaceae, Asteraceae, and Asphodelaceae being the most prominent. The most frequently cited species were Aloe vera, Cymbopogon citratus, Zingiber officinale, and Mespilodaphne quixos. The categories with the highest consensus were digestive and endocrine disorders (FIC = 0.82), while informants between 41 and 60 years of age, with primary or secondary education, held the greatest traditional knowledge. This study recorded a high and consistent consensus associated with the sociocultural characteristics of the participants, demonstrating that traditional medicine in Nueva Loja constitutes a culturally sound and current system, whose knowledge must be preserved.