Phytochemical screening of a Warao pharmacopoeia employed to treat gastrointestinal disorders.

A three-year medical-ethnobotanical investigation among the Warao of the Orinoco Delta in eastern Venezuela documented a pharmacopoeia of 100 plant species representing 45 families. Warao phytotherapists manipulate these plants in diverse manners to produce 259 remedies of various complexities to treat 52 classes of diseases/disorders. National health statistics indicate that gastrointestinal disease ranks as a principal cause of morbidity and mortality in this part of the country. Ten plant species, specifically employed by the Indians against these disorders, were subjected to phytochemical screening. Test results are listed together with the ethnoepidemiological protocol that governs the selection and administration of these medicinal plants in Warao society.