A comparative analysis of five medicinal floras (original) (raw)
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Comparative phylogenetic methods and the cultural evolution of medicinal plant use
Nature Plants
Human life depends on plant biodiversity and the ways in which plants are used are culturally determined. Whilst anthropologists have used phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) to gain an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the evolution of political, religious, social, and material culture, plant use has been almost entirely neglected. Medicinal plants are of special interest because of their role in maintaining people's health across the world. PCMs in particular, and cultural evolutionary theory in general, provide a framework in which to study the diversity of medicinal plant applications cross-culturally, and to infer changes in plant use through time. These methods can be applied to single medicinal plants as well as the entire set of plants used by a culture for medicine, and they account for the non-independence of data when testing for floristic, cultural or other drivers of plant use. With cultural, biological, and linguistic diversity under threat, gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the variation of medicinal plant use through time and space is pressing.
FERREIRA ET AL. Biological and cultural bases of the use of medicinal and food plants (2015)
The ethnobiological literature has usually dealt separately with the use of food and medicinal resources by human populations. There is no doubt that these two types of resources are essential for human survival; they nourish our species and/or prevent or treat illnesses. Some studies show that the use of food plants may impact the maintenance of health in a group or even be used to treat illnesses Pieroni and Price 2006 ;.
Economic Botany, 2010
The Inclusion and Selection of Medicinal Plants in Traditional Pharmacopoeias—Evidence in Support of the Diversification Hypothesis. An ethnobotanical study with phytochemical analyses was undertaken to examine the medicinal plants used by residents of a small rural community in northeastern Brazil. The present work tested two ideas that attempt to explain the inclusion and selection of medicinal plants in a given culture: the diversification hypothesis and the concept of versatility. The study involved 101 people and used semistructured interviews. A total of 61 plants were selected, including 25 exotic and 36 native species. Plants were classified according to their habit and analyzed for their phytochemical components. In addition, the relative importance (RI) of these plants was calculated, and a chemical diversity index (CDI) was created and applied to each of the species. Exotic and native plants were found to have significantly different occurrences of certain classes of compounds; this result supports the diversification hypothesis. It was therefore concluded that exotic plants are included in traditional pharmacopoeias to fill therapeutic vacancies that native plants cannot satisfy.
The evolution of traditional knowledge: environment shapes medicinal plant use in Nepal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014
Traditional knowledge is influenced by ancestry, inter-cultural diffusion and interaction with the natural environment. It is problematic to assess the contributions of these influences independently because closely related ethnic groups may also be geographically close, exposed to similar environments and able to exchange knowledge readily. Medicinal plant use is one of the most important components of traditional knowledge, since plants provide healthcare for up to 80% of the world's population. Here, we assess the significance of ancestry, geographical proximity of cultures and the environment in determining medicinal plant use for 12 ethnic groups in Nepal. Incorporating phylogenetic information to account for plant evolutionary relatedness, we calculate pairwise distances that describe differences in the ethnic groups' medicinal floras and floristic environments. We also determine linguistic relatedness and geographical separation for all pairs of ethnic groups. We show that medicinal uses are most similar when cultures are found in similar floristic environments. The correlation between medicinal flora and floristic environment was positive and strongly significant, in contrast to the effects of shared ancestry and geographical proximity. These findings demonstrate the importance of adaptation to local environments, even at small spatial scale, in shaping traditional knowledge during human cultural evolution.
A Short History of Evolution of Indigenous Plants and Medicine System
The importance of plants is well known to us. Life and its growth cannot be imagined without plants. Food for our survival is produced by plants and they also create a healthy and eco-friendly environment to live (Sazada et al., 2009). The use of various parts of different medicinal plants to cure specific ailments has been common from ancient times in India. The indigenous system of medicine namely Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani have been in existence for many centuries. Apart from India, these systems are also prominent in Korea, China, Singapore, West Asia and many other countries. The knowledge of medicinal plants has been inherited traditionally therefore; the utilization of this knowledge has become important for human existence. In the old times, plants were used as remedies for the diseases. The oldest religious book of the World "Rigveda" provides information about the medicinal use of plant "Soma" as a medicinal agent by the Indo-Aryans, which was written ...
Analyzing factors that influence the folk use and phytonomy of 18 medicinal plants in Navarra
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2007
Background This article analyzes whether the distribution or area of use of 18 medicinal plants is influenced by ecological and cultural factors which might account for their traditional use and/or phytonymy in Navarra. This discussion may be helpful for comparative studies, touching as it does on other ethnopharmacological issues: a) which cultural and ecological factors affect the selection of medicinal plants; b) substitutions of medicinal plants in popular medicine; c) the relation between local nomenclature and uses. To analyze these questions, this paper presents an example of a species used for digestive disorders (tea and camomile: Jasonia glutinosa, J. tuberosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Bidens aurea, Chamaemelum nobile, Santolina chamaecyparissus...), high blood pressure (Rhamnus alaternus, Olea europaea...) or skin diseases (Hylotelephium maximum, H. telephium, Anagallis arvensis, A. foemina). Methods Fieldwork began on January 2004 and continued until December 2006. During that time we interviewed 505 informants in 218 locations in Navarra. Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews, and we subsequently made maps using Arc-View 8.0 program to determine the area of use of each taxon. Each map was then compared with the bioclimatic and linguistic map of Navarra, using the soil and ethnographic data for the region, and with other ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies carried out in Europe. Results The results clearly show that ecological and cultural factors influence the selection of medicinal plants in this region. Climate and substrate are the most important ecological factors that influence the distribution and abundance of plants, which are the biological factors that affect medicinal plant selection. Conclusion The study of edaphological and climatological factors, on the one hand, and culture, on the other, can help us to understand why a plant is replaced by another one for the same purposes, either in the same or in a different area. In many cases, the cultural factor means that the use of a species is more widespread than its ecological distribution. This may also explain the presence of synonyms and polysemies which are useful for discussing ethnopharmacological data.
The present study was carried out in Mandwi area and its outskirts of Tripura district of tribal areas Autonomous district council to document the available ethno-medicinal plants and their traditional application among Mandwi tribes. Methodology: Field explorations were carried out during the months of March-June 2013. The ethno-medicinal survey was conducted particularly with Tripuri tribe in Mandai area, with the help of local medicine men, locally known as bhoidho (Tripuri). Data were collected through structure questionnaires and observations during the field visits. Results: In the present study the local population used a total of 51 plant species belonging to 32 families to cure a variety of diseases. Of the 51 plants, 21 were herbs, followed by trees (17) and shrubs (8). Climbers and ferns had reported 2 species for each one grass species was found. Fabaceae was the dominant family with the highest number of species (6) followed by Asteracae (4 species) and Lamiaceae (5 species). Seven other families had 2 species each and 22 families were represented by a single species. In case single diseases, the highest number of plants (7 species) was used for dysentery, followed by body pain (6 species), cough (6 species) and toothache (6 species). Conclusion: The present study concluded that, the Tripuri tribes of the study area possess rich knowledge on the medicinal plants and their utilization. Thus the present study focuses on the documentation of the traditional knowledge of these valuable plants, which could enhance the potential of these medicinal plants to other communities as well and by understanding the importance, other communities can also be helpful for conservation of these resources for further use.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2012
Background: Medicinal plant traditional knowledge is one of the most widely known traditional ecosystem services, as it provides primary healthcare, contributes to subsistence livelihoods, and for its potential value as a source of novel pharmaceuticals. People living in close contact with their surroundings for many generations are hypothesized to have developed, through trial-and-error, in-depth knowledge of ecosystems, biodiversity, and their management and utility. In the case of medicinal plant knowledge it could lead to an asymptotic climax or a constantly evolving equilibrium of cures with proven efficacy and those under assessment. Methods: An in-depth study of 97 plant species used in traditional medicine by the Brou, Saek and Kry ethnic groups in Lao PDR was made to test similarity in medicinal plant knowledge. Results: Medicinal plants were used in 99 different ways in 510 species-use combinations. Medicinal uses could be generalized into 12 use categories with 747 species-category combinations. Similarity indices show Brou and Saek plant use appears to be most similar (QS BS : 60.0; JI BS : 75.1) followed by Kry and Saek (QS KS : 51.6; JI KS : 53.4), and then Kry and Brou (QS BK : 46.9; JI BK : 44.1). Discussion: Intercultural similarities found are quite low, considering that all three groups share the same geographical and ecological area and have the same dependence on medicinal plants. Intercultural transmission is unimpeded but many treatments are likely to be ineffective. Comparison of the similarities found here with similarities computed from other data show that these results are homologous with other sympatric ethnic groups, and much higher than those for allopatrically living groups. Conclusion: Medicinal plant knowledge does not reach a stable climax, but appears to evolve continually by trial-and-error, as effective cures to many ailments are unavailable.
Ethnobotany Research and Applications
Background: This study was carried out to measure cross-cultural variability of plant use knowledge and to understand the human-nature interface among Monpa, Miji, Aka and Bugun communities of district West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh, India. We compared ethnomedical knowledge, diversity of medicinal plants, use values and informant consensus in the selected ethnic societies. Methods: A total of 94 informants (53 men and 41 women) from 02 villages of each community agreed to participate in this cross-cultural ethnomedicinal study. They were interviewed using a semi structured questionnaire and asked about the medicinal plants used for the management of prevalent ailments, mode of preparation and administration of traditionally prepared medicine. Results: Total 59 plant species from 52 genera and 43 families were recorded for their ethnomedicinal use by the selected communities. Zingiberaceae was the most common family with 3 genera and 5 species having high recommended use across the ethnic communities. Curcuma amada (1.85), Curcuma longa (1.60), Zingiber officinalis (1.48) of this family showed high cross-cultural use value as compared to other medicinal plants. The informant consensus factor for use of medicinal plants for management of cancer was high (0.99) indicating high prevalence of this ailment in this study area, availability and use of similar plants for its management. Conclusions: The high consensus for plants used in management of most of the prevalent ailments indicate good cross-cultural interaction among Monpa, Miji, Aka and Bugun communities of district West Kameng, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The medicinal plants with high use value and consensus need to be conserved and propagated for their sustained availability to the future generations.
Plants
The current study on the traditional use of medicinal plants was carried out from February 2018 to March 2020, in Gokand Valley, District Buner, Pakistan. The goal was to collect, interpret, and evaluate data on the application of medicinal plants. Along with comprehensive notes on individual plants species, we calculated Use Value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use Report (UR), Fidelity Level (FL), Informant Consensus Factor (FCI), as well as Family Importance Value (FIV). During the current study, a total of 109 species belonging to 64 families were reported to be used in the treatment of various ailments. It included three families (four species) of Pteridophytes, 58 families (99 species) of angiosperm, one family (three species) of Gymnosperms, and two families (three species) of fungi. The article highlights the significance of domestic consumption of plant resources to treat human ailments. The UV varied from 0.2 (Acorus calamus L.) to 0.89 (Acacia modesta Wall.). The RFC ranged from 0.059 (Acorus calamus L. and Convolvulus arvensis L.) to 0.285 (Acacia modesta Wall.). The species with 100% FL were Acacia modesta Wall. and the fungus Morchella esculenta Fr., while the FCI was documented from 0 to 0.45 for gastro-intestinal disorders. The conservation ranks of the medicinal plant species revealed that 28 plant species were vulnerable, followed by rare (25 spp.), infrequent (17 spp.), dominant (16 spp.), and 10 species endangered. The traditional use of plants needs conservation strategies and further investigation for better utilization of natural resources.