ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to review the background of the use of medicinal plants in Paraguay, their conservation and trading conditions, the advance in research efforts and their future perspectives. Several researchers have published lists of medicinal plants that include their popular and scientific names, and also their descriptions, applications, preparation mode and habitat, all backed by herbarium reference material. These names are usually related to some location, village or native community, as observed in the ethnobotanical works published by Pastor Arenas and Ricardo Moreno Azorero. Different authors have published books on medicinal plants and related issues. Between 1982 and 1985, the United Nations Development Program supported the training of human resources and provided basic equipment required to start chemical studies on medicinal plants from Paraguay. Morphoanatomy studies on herbal drugs make a relevant contribution to the right identification of plant material for trading purposes, regularly available in popular markets of Paraguay.
