Abstract

LARA REIMERS, E.A. et al. Study of medicinal plants in the municipality of Pachuca of Soto Hidalgo, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2023, n.55, pp.197-211.  Epub May 26, 2023. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.55.13.

In Mexico, the use of medicinal plants has been an ancestral practice for the treatment of health, ranging from the cure of a common complaint to cancer. Mexico has a great diversity of medicinal plants used by its people throughout the country to treat different ailments. The present work aimed to evaluate the importance and use of medicinal plants in 13 rural communities in the municipality of Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo. A total of 97 ethnobotanical surveys were applied to locals; The data collection considered socioeconomic and health aspects, and information on the main plant uses. The informants aged between 50 and 54 years cited a higher number of medicinal plants. A total of 90 species, 82 genera, and 45 families were registered. Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rutaceae were the best-represented families. Likewise, in the ethnomedicinal indexes with which the cultural importance of the species was estimated, the taxa Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All. and Ruta chalepensis L. presented the highest values and uses for diseases of the digestive and respiratory systems. These species are the ones with the greatest medicinal use and are mentioned in 90% of the interviewed population.

Keywords : Asteraceae; Lamiaceae; Rudaceae; Medicinal Plants; Cultural Importance; Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All.

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