Traditional healers and laypeople: a qualitative and quantitative approach to local knowledge on medicinal plants in Muda (Mozambique)

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Through this study, relevant information was gathered on the knowledge about medicinal remedies in some rural communities of Muda (central Mozambique). The use of 198 different medicinal plants has been recorded and a significant number of medicinal species and uses new for Africa and particularly for Mozambique has been detected. Our investigation appears to be the first comparing knowledge about medicinal plants between laypeople and traditional healers and also between the two kinds of healers (curandeiros and profetas).

Materials and methods

Ethnobotanical data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 67 informants: 9 curandeiros (traditional healers believed to be guided by spirits), 12 profetas (independent Pentecostal churches “prophets” healing both souls and bodies) and 46 untrained lay villagers. Data were entered in a data base and processed, also by means of suitable quantitative indexes.

Results

A total of 546 citations were recorded for 198 different ethnospecies (i.e. basic ethno-taxonomical units). The species with the highest cultural value (estimated with Cultural Importance index) resulted to be Ximenia caffra (CI = 0.224), Zanha golungensis (CI = 0.194) Vernonia colorata (CI = 0.149) and Ozoroa reticulata and Holarrhena pubescens (both with CI = 0.134). Eight out of the 162 identified plants mentioned by the informants were not previously recorded as medicinal plants in Africa: Cissus bathyrhakodes, Clematis viridiflora, Combretum goetzei, Dioscorea cochleari-apiculata, Grewia pachycalyx, Indigofera antunesiana, Ipomoea consimilis, Tricliceras longipedunculatum. More than half of the species reported by our informants and already known as medicinal in Africa resulted to be newly documented for Mozambique. Comparing the mean number of species known by each informant group, statistically significant differences were observed both between curandeiros and laypeople and between profetas and laypeople. No significant differences emerged instead between curandeiros and profetas. Yet, even laypeople proved to hold quite a good knowledge about medicinal remedies; women in particular use several different plants to heal common diseases of the whole family, mostly for children and female health problems.

Conclusions

The high number of plants and uses recorded demonstrates that in the study area ethnobotanical knowledge is still quite rich and alive. The finding of many medicinal plants and uses new for Mozambique or even Africa shows the importance of recording this knowledge before it vanishes, also as a basis for further investigations on possible pharmacological properties of local plants.The lack of health infrastructures in Muda results in the need for lay villagers of acquiring and developing a rather high degree of knowledge about plants remedies; in a different interaction between healers and lay villagers, compared to urban areas; ultimately, in a different distribution and wider spread of traditional knowledge on medicinal plants.     

海南黎族民间药用植物命名与分类初步研究

海南黎族根据药用植物的形态特征、功效、生长环境和生活型等进行民间命名和分类。通过分析植物的当地名,发现药用植物传统知识在润方言和杞方言保存较好,哈方言和美孚方言次之。而且,哈方言对药用植物的命名有一些来源于汉语,表明其受汉文化影响明显。黎族民间药用植物的命名和分类是黎族文化多样性和当地生物多样性的紧密结合,因此黎族传统植物文化的保护与当地自然环境的保护应一同进行。     

Medicinal plants used by traditional medicine practitioners in the treatment of tuberculosis and related ailments in Uganda

Aim of the study

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most difficult ailments to control in the world today. The emergence of drug resistant strains has made previously effective and affordable remedies less effective. This has made the search for new medicines from local traditional medicines urgent. The specific objectives of this study were to (1) identify plant species used in the treatment of TB, their methods of preparation and administration, (2) document TB recognition, and (3) document medicine processing and packaging practices by traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs).

Methods

We interviewed 32 TMPs from the districts of Kamuli, Kisoro and Nakapiripirit using a guided questionnaire.

Results

We documented 88 plant species used to treat TB. Seven of these, Eucalyptus spp., Warburgia salutaris (G. Bertol.) Chiov., Ocimum suave Willd., Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl., Momordica foetida Schum., Persea americana Mill. and Acacia hockii De Wild. were mentioned by three or more TMPs. Medicines were prepared mostly as mixtures or infrequently as mono-preparations in dosage forms of decoctions and infusions. They were administered orally in variable doses over varying periods of time. The TMPs did not know how to preserve the medicines and packaged them in used water bottles. Almost all TMPs mentioned the most important signs by which TB is recognised. They also knew that TB was a contagious disease spread through poor hygiene and crowding.

Conclusions

Local knowledge and practices of treating TB exist in the districts surveyed. This knowledge may be imperfect and TMPs appear to be still experimenting with which species to use to treat TB. There is need to screen among the species mentioned to determine those which are efficacious and safe. The technology of processing, packaging and preserving traditional medicines for the treatment of TB is very basic and needs improving. The TMPs appear to be playing a significant role in primary health care delivery and this lends further justification for the ongoing Uganda government efforts to integrate the allopathic and traditional medicine systems.     

Ethnoveterinary knowledge in Navarra (Iberian Peninsula)

Aim of the study

To collect, analyze and evaluate the ethnoveterinary knowledge about medicinal plants in a northern Iberian region (Navarra, 10,421 km², 620,377 inhabitants).

Methodology

Field work was conducted between 2003 and 2007, using semi-structured questionnaire and participant observation as well as transects walks in wild herbal plant collection areas. We performed semi-structured interviews with 667 informants (mean age 72; 55.47% women, 44.53% men) in 265 locations, identified the plant reported and analyzed the results, comparing them with those from other territories.

Results

Out of 287 species reported to be used in the health field (human and veterinary medicine), 36 are linked to veterinary medicine. 69.4% of these species are new or rarely reported in veterinarian uses. The most frequently used plants were Malva sylvestris, Juglans regia and Verbena officinalis. All different plant parts were used; aerial part was exploited more frequently than other plant parts. Most remedies listed used a single ingredient, typically soaked in water. The route of administration was primarily oral followed by topical applications. These remedies are mostly for cows, calves, sheep, pigs and horses, but cover almost all domestic animal species. The main ailments treated are digestive troubles, wounds and dermatological problems, and respiratory affections.

Conclusions

The folk knowledge about medicinal plant use is still alive in the studied region, and a number of scarcely reported plant uses has been detected, some of them with promising phytotherapeutical applications.     

Antimalarial herbal remedies of Msambweni,Kenya

Malaria is a serious cause of mortality globally. The disease is of regional concern in Africa and of national interest in Kenya due to its high morbidity and mortality as a result of development of resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum to many existing drugs such as chloroquine. Alternative medicine using herbal remedies are commonly used to treat malaria in Kenya. However, plants used in some rural areas in Kenya are not documented. Many antimalarial drugs have been derived from plants. This study was conducted to document medicinal plants that are traditionally used by the Msambweni community of Kenyan South Coast to treat malaria, where the disease is endemic. Herbalists were interviewed by administration of semistructured questionnaires in order to obtain information on medicinal plants traditionally used for the treatment of malaria. Focused group discussions held with the herbalists supplemented the interview and questionnaire survey. Twenty-seven species of plants in 24 genera distributed in 20 families were reported to be used in this region for the treatment of malaria. Labiatae, Rutaceae and Liliaceae families had each eleven percent of the plant species reported and represented the species that are most commonly used. Thirteen plant species, namely; Aloe deserti Berger (Liliaceae), Launea cornuta (Oliv and Hiern) C. Jeffrey (Compositae), Ocimum bacilicum L. (Labiatae), Teclea simplicifolia (Eng) Verdoon (Rutaceae), Gerranthus lobatus (Cogn.) Jeffrey (Cucurbitaceae), Grewia hexaminta Burret. (Tiliaceae), Canthium glaucum Hiern. (Rubiaceae), Amaranthus hybridus L. (Amaranthaceae), Combretum padoides Engl and Diels. (Combretaceae), Senecio syringitolius O. Hoffman. (Compositae), Ocimum suave Willd (Labiatae), Aloe macrosiphon Bak. (Liliaceae) and Laudolphia buchananii (Hall.f) Stapf. (Apocynaceae) are documented from this region for the first time for the treatment of malaria. These results become a basis for selection of plants for further pharmacological, toxicological and phytochemical studies in developing new plant based antimalarial drugs.     

The importance of botellas and other plant mixtures in Dominican traditional medicine

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Plant mixtures are understudied in ethnobotanical research.

Aim of the study

To investigate the importance of plant mixtures (remedies consisting of at least two plants) in Dominican traditional medicine.

Materials and methods

A Spanish language questionnaire was administered to 174 Dominicans living in New York City (NYC) and 145 Dominicans living in the Dominican Republic (DR), including lay persons (who self-medicate with plants) and specialists (traditional healers). Plants were identified through specimens purchased in NYC botánica shops and Latino grocery shops, and from voucher collections.

Results

The percentage of mixtures as compared to single plants in plant use reports varied between 32 and 41%, depending on the geographic location (NYC or DR) and participant status (lay person or specialist). Respiratory conditions, reproductive health and genitourinary conditions were the main categories for which Dominicans use plant mixtures. Lay persons reported significantly more mixtures prepared as teas, mainly used in NYC to treat respiratory conditions. Specialists mentioned significantly more botellas (bottled herbal mixtures), used most frequently in the DR to treat reproductive health and genitourinary conditions. Cluster analysis demonstrated that different plant species are used to treat respiratory conditions as compared to reproductive health and genitourinary conditions. Interview participants believed that combining plants in mixtures increases their potency and versatility as medicines.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrates the importance and complexity of plant mixtures in Dominican traditional medicine and the variation in its practices influenced by migration from the DR to NYC, shedding new light on the foundations of a particular ethnomedical system.     

Ethnopharmacological notes about ancient uses of medicinal plants in Trás-os-Montes (northern of Portugal)

Aim of the study

In order to preserve the ancestral knowledge, an ethnopharmacological study has been carried out in two councils belonging to Trás-os-Montes region a small area located in the northern of Portugal. In that area, medicinal plants, most of the species wild, are still in use among farmers, shepherds and other people who live far from villages and built-up areas.

Materials and methods

Among the 46 people that were interviewed (mean age of 66 years old), 88 species belonging to 42 families of vascular plants were identified for treatment of various human ailments. An ethnopharmacological report is made consisting of species names, vernacular names, popular uses of the plants and their pharmacological properties.

Results and conclusion

The most dominant family is Lamiaceae (18%) and the most frequently part of the plant used for the treatment of diseases are leaves (37.9%). The largest number of taxa is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders (73.9%).     

Medicinal plants in the Mediterranean area: synthesis of the results of the project Rubia

AIM OF STUDY: Within the scope of the European project RUBIA (ICA3-2002-10023), research has been performed on the traditional use and handling of plant species in several Mediterranean countries, Albania, Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, and Spain. This paper synthesises the chief results related to the medicinal utilization of those plants. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The information has been gathered by means of semi-structured interviews (1256) and techniques of participant observation with 803 informants. In each of the participating countries the study areas were selected by means of uniform criteria defined at the beginning of the study. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A total of 985 species have been catalogued, of which 406 have medicinal use. This work constitutes the first comparative study performed with ethnobotanical data gathered by a coordinated methodology in the Mediterranean area. An exhaustive list is provided for the species catalogued, indicating the regions where each plant was mentioned. ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: This information underlines the ethnobotanical richness of the region and the need to broaden this study to other areas of the Mediterranean. Furthermore, this constitutes a base for future phytochemical and pharmacological studies which could lead to new therapeutic products.     

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by Hakka in Guangdong, China

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to collect information on the use of medicinal plants by the Hakka living in Guangdong. AIM OF THE STUDY: This investigation was to document valuable knowledge represented by Hakka herbal medicine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information was obtained from semi-structured interviews, personal conversations with practitioners, direct observations, and by reviewing studies of Hakka and Cantonese reported in the literature. RESULTS: Our data covered 94 species belonging to 77 genera in 40 families. We found that most species used for medical purposes were for hepatitis (14 species) and skin diseases (12 species). These disorders are prevalent and are primarily treated with medicinal plants. For treatment, the plants were mainly used as teas (Luica, Bugingca and Lopêdca), medicinal baths and soups. The Hakka and non-Hakka people living in Guangdong use different medicinal plants and, in some cases, use the same medicinal plants differently. CONCLUSIONS: The fast disappearance of traditional culture and natural resources due to urbanization and industrialization suggests that unrecorded information may be lost forever. Thus, there is an urgent need both to record this valuable Hakka medicinal knowledge and to encourage its transfer to the next generation.