Learning to turn medicinal plants in safe herbal remedies

Abstract

Over the years, due to the body ageing, the appearance of various pathologies is very common, in which the role of medicinal plants (MPs) and herbal remedies is very relevant, especially for large amount of elderly people. However, their indiscriminate use may cause severe damage to health, especially for more susceptible groups, such as elderly people. Therefore, this work purpose was to aware a group of elderly people from Paulínia/SP on the risks associated to the indiscriminate and inadequate use of MPs, through lectures, visits to research laboratories and practical classes on herbal medicines handling, in which syrup formulations, anti-inflammatory creams, healing and repellent lotions were manufactured, as well as demonstrative practices to obtain extracts, dyes and essential oil (EO) extraction, and some quality control techniques. The group learned about the complexity and challenge of study with MPs, highlighting important concepts regarding acquisition, preservation, extraction and quality control, in addition to guidance on the conscious use of herbal medicines and MPs. EOs applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, home care and food fields were also exemplified through practical classes. Therefore, this project enabled the insertion of the group of elderly people on the multidisciplinary context of medicinal plants and the mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences between students involved and the group of elderly people.