Avaliação dos dados de cultivo de plantas medicinais com base no acervo científico do professor Francisco José de Abreu Matos

Abstract

The Francisco José de Abreu Matos Medicinal Plants Garden is one of the most important germplasm banks in Brazil. It comprises a genetic and documentary collection of plant species widely used in traditional regional medicine, houses exotic and native species available to produce herbal medicines and for research, teaching and extension, also contributing to primary health care. The use of medicinal plants as a basis for pharmacological studies is one of the objectives of the Living Pharmacies Program, which aims to combine ethnobotanical knowledge with the safety of scientific basis, paying attention to the rational and sustainable use of medicinal flora. The present work is a documentary-based study and seeks to analyze the plant cultivation and development sheets that make up the collection of the creator of the Living Pharmacies Program, Professor Francisco José de Abreu Matos. The study was initially carried out with the handling, treatment, and packaging of the files for subsequent analysis and interpretation of the data. The files were sorted, explored, and digitally recorded in accordance with the handling rules required for rare documents. The records contain data on 54 species distributed in 28 botanical families that are a constituent part of the garden. The records date back to the 1980s and notify cultivation care and information on the development of the species, essential data to monitor interactions with the environment, observing the plant's adaptability and proper cultivation. Therefore, the records deal not only with agronomic and biological records, but also with scientific importance and relevance to the history of the implementation of the Medicinal Plants Garden.