(Friends of the Earth) - A report in O Estado de São Paulo comes to how forest destruction also takes away some less calculable assets. The advance of the chainsaw into the forest in the Amazon not only knocks down trees. With plants, you lose the knowledge of them, especially those with medicinal properties. The finding is from researchers at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), who compared two studies, one done in 1984 and another in 2001 on the use of medicinal plants, especially those used against malaria, by the south of Pará population .
According to Maria delle Grazie Lins Brandão, of the Faculty of Pharmacy at UFMG, one of the authors of the two studies, deforestation Brazil loses a wealth of which no one knows for sure the size. "In addition to material wealth, our work has shown that we are losing the culture itself, that is, knowledge about medicinal plants," he says. "For us it was amazing and horrible to see that in such a short time, the population of that Amazon region, especially São Félix do Xingu (PA), knows no more medicinal plants of the region."
Maria delle Grazie account that her intention and colleagues was to collect more data and samples of the plants that were active against malaria in 1984, to resume the research. "But there was nothing," he says. "When the plants disappear, we can no longer use them, and traditional knowledge falls by the wayside. The later generations do not learn about its properties."
This can be seen in the area studied by researchers miners. Most herbal medicines sold there is now imported from other regions.
It is the case of arnica (Lychnophora sp.), Used as anti-inflammatory and healing, collected in Goiás. Also out in the case of Mines, arriving sarsaparilla (Herreria sp.), Used in the treatment of skin, golden brown (Waltheria sp. ), a diuretic, and congonha (Rudgea viburnoides), diuretic and antihypertensive.
Threats - Deforestation and extraction are so intense that some species already at risk of extinction. The most striking case is that of Jaborandi (Pilocarpus sp) which is obtained pilocarpine, used against glaucoma. In a way, it is repeated in the Amazon what happened in other states. "The disorderly progress and the destruction of forests has led to the disappearance of many medicinal plants," says Maria delle Grazie.
To make matters worse, many of which remain are researched in other countries. "There is growing interest in native medicinal plants in Brazil, especially from companies in other countries, processing and use," wrote Maria delle Grazie and colleagues in an article published in the July issue of Science Today magazine, the SBPC .
They cite the alpha-bisabolol compound and rutin. The first is an anti-inflammatory, obtained from the lamp oil (Eremanthus erytropappus) and used in cosmetics. The second, the beans from the favela (Dimorphandra sp.), Strengthens blood vessels. Both are extracted and purified by Brazilian companies, but exported. "Both are more exploited abroad," he says. "The routine is among the top 10 pharmaceutical chemicals exported by Brazil, according to the Brazilian Association of Pharma Chemicals Industry (Abiquif)."
Anyway, these two products at least that value added before export. It is the case of most substances exported raw.
(Da Silveira Evanildo)
SOURCE: http://www.gta.org.br/noticias_exibir.php?cod_cel=609
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