The aim of this study was to investigate the use of medicinal plants by healers in Juazeiro do Norte, Northeast Brazil, as well as to understand their role in prayer/healing practices. 30 residents from 20 neighborhoods, 18 urban neighborhoods and 2 randomly selected rural locations, were interviewed using a sample method known as "snowball", with two pilot interviews being initially conducted, where for greater method reliability and for the analysis of the importance attributed to the plants by the respondents, a calculation to determine their Relative Importance (RI) index was used. The results indicate the use of 60 species distributed across 34 families. The most representative families were: Fabaceae (7), Lamiaceae (6) and Asteraceae (5), where 10 species (eight exotic and two native) obtained a Relative Importance (RI>1): Ruta graveolens L. (1.47), Vernonia condensata Baker (1.47), Piper aduncun L. (1.44), Mentha spicata L. (1.33), Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão (1.3), Psidium guajava L. (1.19), Hymenaea stignocarpa Mart. ex. Hayne (1.15), Lippia alba (Mil.) (1.11), Leonotis nepetaefolia (L.) R. Br. (1.08) and Cymbopogon citratus (D.C.) Stapf (1.01). The aforementioned species are acquired from backyards (50%), open markets (33.3%) or from surrounding scrubs (16.6%). Indications included usage for 11 body systems, with 36 species (60%) being indicated for the treatment of the digestive system and 15 (25%) for the treatment of diseases of the female reproductive system. Nine species (15%) were indicated for ritualistic purposes (prayer/healing). With this, the importance of the Healer figure in several municipal districts was observed, a tradition that remains alive, despite the need for greater transmission and assimilation to upcoming generations.

中文翻译：

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在巴西东北部塞阿拉州的Juazeiro do Norte的治疗师使用的药用和神秘植物的民族知识

这项研究的目的是调查巴西东北部Juazeiro do Norte的治疗师对药用植物的使用，并了解它们在祈祷/治疗实践中的作用。使用称为“雪球”的样本方法对来自20个社区，18个城市社区和2个随机选择的农村地区的30位居民进行了采访，最初进行了两次试点访谈，以提高方法的可靠性并分析归因于此的重要性被调查者对这些植物进行了计算，以确定它们的相对重要性（RI）指数。结果表明使用了60个物种，分布在34个科中。最有代表性的科是：豆科（7），唇形科（6）和菊科（5），其中10种（8种外来物种和2种本土物种）获得了相对重要性（RI> 1）：芸香L.（1.47），斑鸠菊condensata贝克（1.47），荜aduncun L.（1.44） ，留兰香大号。（1.33），Myracrodruon urundeuvaAllemão（1.3），Psidium guajava L.（1.19），Hymenaea stignocarpa Mart。前任。海恩（1.15），白头翁（密西西比州）（1.11），荆芥（L.）（1.08）和Cymbopogon citratus（DC）斯塔夫（1.01）。上述物种是从后院（50％），露天市场（33.3％）或周围的灌木丛（16.6％）获得的。适应症包括用于11种身体系统的用途，其中36种（60％）用于治疗消化系统，15种（25％）用于治疗女性生殖系统的疾病。有9种（15％）出于礼仪目的（祷告/治愈）而使用。这样，就可以观察到治愈者人物在几个市政区的重要性，尽管需要向下一代传承和吸收更多信息，但这一传统仍然存在。