Popular recognition and food uses of the Brazilian berry known as “camarinha” – Gaylussacia brasiliensis (Spreng.) Meisn.

Abstract

Brazil, holder of the greatest plant biodiversity in the world, presents several species with food and nutritional potential that are still underused. Among them is Gaylussacia brasiliensis, a shrub known as "camarinha" or "Brazilian blueberry", which provides small purplish fruits. In this context, the work aimed to evaluate the national popular recognition of the fruit, through a questionnaire applied to 603 people (Sampling error = 4.08%; p<0.05) from five Brazilian Regions. The work also analyzed the ethnobiological knowledge about the food use of the plant in the community of the District of Campeche – Florianópolis (SC). The results show that the “camarinha” is an unknown fruit by the Brazilian population, little present even in the daily life of local traditional communities that have used the fruit in the past. The ethnobiological knowledge raised in the case study shows a "forgetfulness" of the fruit and its uses over the generations, as well as the decrease in its area of natural occurrence. However, it is a fruit with great nutritional, gastronomic and commercial potential and can be considered a Brazilian red fruit due to its characteristics.