Aspectos etnobotânicos e socioeconômicos de Arecaceae no município de Barcarena, Pará

Abstract

The Arecaceae (Palmae) have a wide geographic distribution, with its greatest occurrence in the tropics. It is one of the oldest and most used plant groups, especially by indigenous and caboclo communities, who find in palms one of the main suppliers of raw material for food, clothing, construction, medicine, and handicrafts. Although palms arouse interest for their elegant size and use, currently this interest is focused on the areas of biotechnology and chemistry of natural products. The present work is a contribution to the knowledge and use of palm species in the municipality of Barcarena. It comprises ethnobotanical and socioeconomic data collection, obtained through open interviews with community members and bibliographic survey including a brief morphological description, as well as several uses of the palm species recorded in the areas of the municipality. The species recorded were: açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.), bacaba (Oenacarpus bacaba Mart.), bacaba-de-Ieque tOenacarpus distichus Mart.), bacabi (Oenacarpus minor Mart.), buriti (Mauritia flexuosa Mart.), bussu (Manicaria saccifera Gaertn), coconut (Cocus nucifera L.), inajá (Maximiliana maripa (Corr. Serr.) Drude), jacitara (Desmoncus orthacanthos Mart.), jupati (Raphia taedigera Mart.), marajá (Bactris maraja Mart.), mucajá (Acrocomia acu/eata (lacq.) Lodd. ex Mart), paxiúba (Socratea exorrhiza Mart.) pupunha (Bactris gasipaes Kurith.) and tucumã (Astrocaryum tucuma Mart.). The palm flora of Barcarena is very diverse, its forests are home to a considerable number of native species, occurring spontaneously and cultivated. The palm trees in the region are widely used with the predominant use of the fruits for food, the fibers for handicraft and the stipe for construction in general.