Medical ethnobotany of the Peña Blanca hamlet – Tacabamba, province of Chota, Cajamarca; Etnobotánica médica del caserío Peña Blanca – Tacabamba, provincia de Chota, Cajamarca.

Abstract

Ethnobotany compiles past and present knowledge generated by human societies. The hamlet of Peña Blanca, district of Tacabamba (Chota), does not have ethnobotanical studies. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the medicinal ethnobotanical uses in this hamlet. Semi structured surveys were applied to 82 people, including men and women. Sixty-three medicinal species belonging to 30 families were identified, being Asteraceae (11 spp.) is the most representative family. Ethnobotanical knowledge is transmitted from parents to children (99%) and from grandparents to grandchildren (1%). Twenty-seven species are used to treat digestive diseases. Fresh leaves are generally used to treat different conditions (44.44%), the primary preparation method is cooking (84.13%), followed by consumption as drink (71.43%), the administration of 59 species is recommended once a day (93.65%). On the other hand, the species with the highest use value were eucalyptus, willow and cypress. Finally, the species studied present alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, triterpenes and phenolic compounds.