Estudo etnobotânico e físico-químico da batata-mairá (Casimirella spp. –Icacinaceae)

Abstract

Batata-mairá (Casimirella spp.) is a liana species, endemic from the Amazon rain forest. This amylaceous species produces an underground reserve organ that stands out which could reach up to 200 kg. Different ethnic groups used to, and still extracting, the starch and the flour from this tuberous root. Despite the important historical use of batata-mairá as a source of carbohydrates, little is known about the species, popular and scientifically speaking. The present work proposed an ethnobotanical survey and a physical-chemical characterization of the batata-mairá. The ethnic groups Paumari, Apurinã, Jamamadi and Jarawara were the communities target for this survey. They are located at Lábrea city, on the center border of Purus River in Amazonas State at Northern Brazil. All interviewed expressed the importance of the species for the ancestors’ food habit as well as for medicine, for venomous snake bite, wounds, and diarrhea. All ethnies cited similar starch extraction procedures of batata-mairá. Only the Apurinã informed the existence of cultivation (vegetative propagation) and management. In this case, the liana was kept alive in the management areas, therefore, it could be an incipient domesticated species. They also reported an abundance of batata-mairá in the region. Regarding the physical-chemical study, it was observed that the tuberous root has a considerable concentration of starch, 68.23% on a dry basis. The yield obtained from the starch extraction was up to 15.4%, which has mineral concentrations of calcium, copper, iron, manganese and zinc higher than cassava starch and potato. The toxicity test revealed that from the fifth wash of the starch, the material extracted from the supernatant is non-toxic to Artemia salina. The functional properties of the starch revealed granules that have stability to the thermal and mechanical action, are relatively large with a mean size of 24.48 μm and have a high amylose content (38%). These last two factors contribute, according to the literature, to a low digestibility which indicates healthier carbohydrate sources of batata-mairá.