Abstract

This study highlights the role of poisonous plants in nature and their importance for indigenous cultures. Recognizing potentially harmful species and distinguishing them from useful ones are survival mechanisms transmitted orally from generation to generation in almost every culture. Vermifuges, antibiotics, extracts used for fishing and hunting, crop protectants and insecticides are just some examples of the variety of uses assigned to toxic plants. However, most of this valuable indigenous knowledge is rapidly disappearing, and many useful plants are becoming extinct due to environmental changes, pollution and human deforestation. The study describes how research on this topic will provide valuable insights into the array of toxic plants in the region of Cajamarca (northern Peru). The methodology includes: 8-months of interaction with the communities, participant observation, semi-formal interviews and voucher specimen collection. Phytochemical database and literature searches to clarify the chemical nature (if reported) of each plant's biological activity have been performed.  During my first field trip, I interviewed 71 individuals and collected 87 different species with medicinal and toxic properties.  Of these, 10 have no reports in the literature concerning their phytochemistry or mode of action.  Last fall I worked on a second phase of my research, collecting the samples of 20 plants that have been identified to have pesticide potential. Methanol extracts were prepared to be used for bioactivity screening, by means of a specific bioassay for pesticides: the yellow fever mosquito larvae lethality test. This procedure will verify the effectiveness claimed by the informants, and it will provide statistical data to identify the species more promising as pesticides.

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