Ethnoveterinary medicines used in horses in Trinidad and Tobago

RESUMO

Plants used as ethnoveterinary remedies for horses in Trinidad are also used in Caribbean folk medicine. Interviews with racehorse owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys and grooms determined that seventeen medicinal plants are used in equine ethnoveterinary medicine in Trinidad. Psidium guajava (L.) and Musa (L.) species are used for diarrhoea. Aloe vera (L.) Burm. F, Nopalea cochinellifera (L.), and Ricinus communis (L.) are used for tendon problems. Panicum maximum (Jacq.) and Cordia curassavica (Jacq) Roem and Schult are utilised for grooming. Ricinus communis (L.) and Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers. are employed as poultices for hoof abscesses and sore joints. Curcuma longa (L.) is used for swellings. Chenopodium ambrosiodes (L.) is used as an anthelmintic. Mucuna pruriens (L.) is utilised as an irritant to enhance performance. Curcuma longa (L.) and Aloe vera are employed for retained placenta. Momordica charantia (L.) is used as a tonic, for skin rashes and for improved digestion. Aloe vera is used for digestive problems and Cecropia peltata (L.), to treat bleeders. Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) and Pimenta racemosa (Mill.) J.W. Moore are used to increase perspiration (diaphoretics/sudorifics) and hence cool horses. Cecropia peltata (L.) is used for respiratory problems. Nasturtium officinale (R BR) is used to increase blood counts. Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth. and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl. are used as high protein feeds