Popular knowledge of medicinal plants and afroindigenous culture: cosmovision of elementary school students at a municipal school in the interior of ceará, Brazil

The present research aims, in a general way, to understand, from the reports of elementary school students, the conceptual understanding of medicinal plants through the study of Ethnobotany; specifically, it seeks a cognitive conceptual diagnosis on the already existing popular knowledge of the research subjects in relation to medicinal plants, highlighting the importance of cultural heritage and indigenous and afrodescendant ancestry. Methodologically the study is based on a qualitative approach with a descriptive-exploratory character. The focus of the investigation was the Padre Antônio Crisóstomo do Vale Municipal Elementary School, linked to the public school system of the city of Acarape, Ceará. The strategic techniques for data and information collection were literature review, application of a structured questionnaire, preparation of an illustrative brochure on medicinal plants and a conversation wheel between subjects and participating researchers. The results show that herbal practices are still used and that these alternative means of treatment protect their ancestral essentiality, and the popular knowledge about medicinal plants cited in this text specifically is passed down through the generations through oral tradition. It is concluded that the approach to the students participating in this research revealed the recognition of the importance of conducting ethnobotanical studies in order to rescue the traditional knowledge of local communities and the culture of indigenous peoples and afro-descendants, which are lost with the replacement of generations.