Agrobiodiversidade, conhecimentos e práticas tradicionais sobre plantas alimentícias na comunidade quilombola do Jacarequara, Santa Luzia do Pará, Nordeste Paraense

Abstract

The present study analyzes the role of agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge and practices related to food plants and how they influence the promotion of food and nutrition sovereignty and security (SSAN) in the quilombola community of Jacarequara, in Santa Luzia do Pará, Pará. For that, methods were used, with observation techniques, semi-structured interviews, participants, guided tour and free list. The data obtained were tabulated and systematized to proceed with data triangulation, in addition to calculating the citation frequency and the Cognitive Salience Index (ISC) of the food plants inventoried. The results showed that productive practices such as the cultivation of homegardens, the extractivism of açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) and murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru Mart.), fishing and hunting are the food base and a means of income generation. Important traditional knowledge is linked to these practices, where knowledge is built by the constant exchange between the quilombolas, across generations, and has as its core the dynamics of the natural environment that surrounds them. It was observed that seasonality influences the productive dynamics and the agricultural calendar of the community, always considering the relationship between the quilombolas and nature. The botanical inventory cataloged 140 food ethnospecies, with emphasis on the families Euphorbiaceae (27), Arecaceae (12), Musaceae (10) and Rutaceae (9). Among the food plants with the highest ISC, açaí, banana (Musa paradisiaca L.), mandioca/macaxeira (Manihot esculenta Crantz), coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.), acerola (Malpighia glabra L.), bacaba (Oenocarpus bacaba Mart.) and orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbe). Twenty-seven ethnovarieties of M. esculenta were cataloged, demonstrating its fundamental importance for the diet of the quilombolas, being composed of manioc and tapioca flour, beiju, manicueira, tucupi, among other foods. However, the advance of pasture areas on farms around the community and adherence to food habits outside the community imposed by capitalism, marked by the increase in consumption of processed foods mainly by children and young quilombolas, reflects changes and risks to food. These factors lead to a new food reality, which can also interfere with their permanence in the quilombo, income generation, respect for the quilombola way of life and the appreciation of traditional knowledge and practices existing and maintained there.