The greatest diversity of plants on the planet is in the Amazon region, home to an
expressive variety of food plants. Those little known and used as food are called
unconventional food plants (PANC); some of them have rich nutritional value and others,
besides being foods have therapeutic properties. The objective of this study was to conduct
a survey of nonconventional and medicinal food plants marketed in free trade fairs in
Belém, the origin of production and present the food and therapeutic potential of the
species studied. The sample consists of 30 sales outlets surveyed in 10 fairs / public
markets and the data analyzed in a quantitative and qualitative way are presented in
descriptive statistics. In the research the occurrence of 34 species of PANC, distributed in
24 botanical families, being Fabaceae and Lamiaceae the most representative; the greatest
species diversity was observed at the Ver-o-Peso freefair. The parts of the plants most
used as food were leaves and fruits, usually consumed as a drink, sweet or salty; for
medicinal use, the majority is for the treatment of digestive problems. Ver-o-Peso vendors
are the main suppliers of PANC to the fairs and markets of Belém. The capital of Pará
brings together a significant number of unconventional and medicinal plants that can be
used in culinary preparations, contributing to a healthy regional diet.
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