The aims of this study are to analyze the use of phytoterapy and the context of its utilization in a rural areapopulation - MG; to identify the herbs used with more frequency and their forms of use; to compare the results of medicinal herbs with that described in literature. Thirty three people were interviewed in 1997. About the phytoterapy herbs known by them 106 different species were quoted, and 60 of them were effectively used in their routine. The transmission of knowledge related to the use of the herbs occurred basically from grandparents to the children. The phytoterapy was used by the population studied with similar purposes described in the literature aiming the prevention and treatment of diseases.
Phytoterapy; Public health nursing; Plants, medicinal
