The aim of this research is to make a survey of the socio-environmental characteristics and the ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used in a traditional community in the Brazilian Northeast, Alagoas. The study was made based on visits with the application of a questionnaire with questions related to the socio-economic element and on the diversity of plants used in herbal medicine. The research was made from March/2019 to February/2020, where families and interviewed plant exhibitors were interviewed for botanical identification. The studied community, which were 24 interviewees, was compiled by residents of the Quilombola community from Pau D’arco in Arapiraca city - Alagoas. Residents interviewed, 15 (62.5%) attended between 56 to 80 years, 11 interviewees about 46% were born in the community and 13 (54%) had a fundamentally incomplete nature. At the end, there were mentioned 30 plant species used for phytotherapeutic purposes, from which presents bigger usage as plants against arterial hypertension (Salvia rosmarinus Schleid), diabetes Mellitos (Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth), pain and inflammation (Alternanthera tenella Colla), present the biggest number of species in the community. The species cited are related to numerous medicinal uses, among which there will be predominant associations associated with cardiovascular and inflammatory processes. The tea is the main way of preparing plants. It is perceived that medicinal plants are only widely used by this Quilombola community of and growth of the crops in the backyard are considered a tradition.

Quilombola communities are present in many Brazilian states living in precarious health conditions. This is due to geographic isolation, limitations to the access of the area in which they live in, and the lack of quality in the service when it is needed to be provided. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the quality of life of women from a quilombola community in northeastern Brazil. It is an observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study. 160 adult women were first interviewed through a form to collect a profile and then it was applied the WHOQOL Quality of Life questionnaire – bref. It was observed that the women were on average 40.7 years old (±17.25), married, self-declared black, who did not finish elementary school, housewife, had no income, with their own masonry house, with up to 6 rooms, supplied by a box of community treated water. Quality of Life had median scores in the domains: physical (3.18), psychological (3.4), social relationships (3.45) and environment (2.59). With this research, it was possible to characterize the quilombola community of Santa Luzia do Norte-AL regarding the difficulties of access to health and income generation, issues that affect their health condition. The problems described in this study can contribute to health actions being planned and carried out in order to improve socioeconomic and health conditions in this community, considering the social, political and environmental context, valuing their traditional knowledge and practices.

This study aimed to assess diagnosis of Unique Health System (SUS) users profile with regard to herbal medicine. This is a cross-sectional study with observational data collection conducted in the city of Marechal Deodoro, through a semi-structured questionnaire with questions related to socioeconomic data, use, and knowledge of medicinal plants and herbal medicines and satisfaction with the use of medicinal herbs (MH) and interactions of phytotherapeutic drugs (PD). Among the topics, 86.89% of users used herbal medicines often, especially lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.). It was also observed that the plants are generally used as a sedative (21.74%) and as tea (87.84%). 82.32% of respondents claim to have acquired the knowledge of herbal medicine through a family member and 85.36% make use of medicinal plants without having received any information on the use of MH and PD. 61% of the plants described that coincided with the form of use and therapeutic properties found in the literature. With regard to satisfaction by treatment with MH and PD, it was found that 56.67% are satisfied. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to this aspect of usage, in order to avoid possible drug interactions or adverse reactions resulting from the incorrect use.

The objective of this work was to perform the phytochemical characterization, to determine total phenols, antioxidant (AAO%) and antimicrobial potential of the ethanolic extracts of carambola. The phytochemical study was carried out through a qualitative analysis of the chemical constituents and quantitative determination of the phenol content By the Folin-Ciocalteu test. Qualitative and quantitative antioxidant tests were performed using the DPPH method (2,2 diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazila) and iron reduction (FRAP). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by microdilution in 96-well plates. The presence of pyrogallic tannins, steroids and saponins has been identified. The highest total phenol content, quantified in the samples, was found in the stem bark (0.0866 mgEAG/g) and in the fruit (0.0734 mgEAG/g). In the antioxidant evaluation, the extracts of the green fruit bagasse (AAO% 71.9%,) and stem bark at 50 μg/mL (AAO% 94%) with CE50 23.7 μg/mL. Leaf extracts, stem bark, ripe fruit bagasse and green fruit bagasse presented MICs of 100 μg/mL against multiresistant pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Mangroves are tropical and subtropical flooded forests that generally develop in estuarine areas over unstable sediments protected from the action of waves in the intertidal zone with an environment characterized by a great diversity of fauna and flora. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the levels of heavy metals that are absorbed by mangrove oysters, in estuarine systems in the Alagoas coast by determining the concentrations of Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd and Cr. Two areas, which consisted of both a collection during the rainy season and the dry season, were selected for sampling of mangrove oysters. In each collection, seven samples were collected, at seven different points, where each sample contained four oysters. In the laboratory the oysters were dried at 105°C for 72 hours and then macerated. It was then digested with 10 ml of a solution comprising a combination of 4:1 nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, initially in 1h at 40°C, followed by 3 hours at 140°C. In General, the medians followed the order Zn > Fe > Mn > Cu > Cr > Cd in MMELC and Zn > Cu > Fe > Mn > Cr > Cd in Meirim River. It is concluded that the Crassostrea rhizophorae oysters from the studied environments presented concentrations of all the metals proposed in the research and demonstrates its accumulating and bioindicator character.

Croton argyrophylloides Muell. Arg., from the Euphorbiaceae family, popularly known as marmeleiro prateado or sacatinga, is a plant from the Caatinga biome commonly found in Brazil’s northeastern region. The present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the species. The phytochemical study was performed through qualitative analysis of chemical constituents and quantitative determination of the total phenol content through the Folin-Ciocalteu test. The qualitative and quantitative antioxidant tests were performed using the DPPH method (2.2 diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazil) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by microdilution in 96-well plates. The ethanolic extract of the leaves of C. argyrophylloides manifested antioxidant action in the quantitative DPPH test with a significant bioactivity of 84.70 AAO% in 500 µg/mL, with an EC50 of 236.79. The content of total phenolic compounds was 946.06 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of sample, and total flavonoids was 58.11 mg of quercetin equivalents/g of sample, the result obtained for FRAP was 15294.44 µM Trolox/g of sample and ABTS was 718 μM Trolox of sample. The prospecting of the chemical constituents of the leaves of C. argyrophylloides revealed the presence of the main compounds that manifests the antioxidant activity and it was proven by the DPPH method that there is antioxidant activity in the analyzed sample, in addition to demonstrating a significant content of phenolic compounds and total flavonoid content in the species, which corroborates the antioxidant activity of the plant sample. The leaf extracts presented growth inhibition halos of 10 and 12 mm upon Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923.