A study of medicinal plant species and their ethnomedicinal values in Caparo Barinas, Venezuela

The objective of this study is to create a database of medicinal plant species used in the treatment of the diseases that most commonly strikes the population in Canton-Limoncito, Andrés Eloy Blanco, south-western state of Barinas, in the western plains of Venezuela. Informal direct interviews were conducted randomly to 45 families, plant specimens in situ were collected, followed by subsequent identification, literature review, and digital camera photographic records. The best represented families are: Plantaginaceae, Labiatae, Asphodelaceae, Piperaceae, Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae, Fabaceae, Sterculiaceae, Costaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Moraceae, Leguminosae, Adoxaceae, Annonaceae, Anacardiaceae, Solanaceae, Myrtaceae, Tiliaceae, Araceae. And the main therapeutic uses are: anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiseptic, analgesic, anticonvulsant, parasite, antirheumatic, influenza, astringent, diuretic, detoxifying, digestive, hepatic, laxative and sedative. The 95% of the people in the community use medicinal plants as primary treatment, the remaining 5% of the population are selecting conventional medicine from the nearest town. From this survey, it can be concluded that, majority of the population depends on medicinal plants from the environment to get better life conditions.