Medicinal plants sold at traditional markets in southern Ecuador

Resumen

In the Loja province, people continue to consume medicinal plant species sold at local markets to treat somatic and/or psychosomatic health ailments because sociocultural customs are strongly expressed in ancestral practices of wellbeing. When the largest values of FL (60.5 %-100 %) and FIC (0.81-0.92) indexes are combined, they demonstrated agreement among 196 market vendors in the use of seven medicinal plant species that were most sold for the 12 medical categories. This study stresses how important public policies are for the trade and quality of medicinal plant resources, particularly for local people practicing auto-medication. Reasons for the maintenance of traditional markets in southern Ecuador include lower cost of medicinal plants, confidence in traditional medicine, and/or sociocultural environment. In Ecuador, the sustainable management of wild medicinal plants diversity, particularly the most sold, is crucial for its conservation in nature.