ISBN: 978-80-7509-157-4 | ISBN online: 978-80-7509-881-8 | DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8
A Reader in Ethnobotany and Phytotherapy vol: VII
- Miroslav Horák (Ed.)
This book is a result of long-term cooperation among specialists from various scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, psychology, philology, botany and ecology. All of them are interested in studying the relationship that exists between people and plants, focusing primarily on how plants are used, managed and perceived in different cultures and societies. The content of this book is divided into seven chapters, starting with the introduction and description of the methodological framework. Each chapter contains original contributions from authors who have done research in a particular region in Europe, America, Africa or Asia.
Keywords: ethnobotany, phytotherapy
6. edition, Published: 2014, online: 2022, publisher: Mendel University in Brno
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Contents
Introduction
M. Horák
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0011
This book is a result of long-term cooperation among specialists from various scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, psychology, philology, botany and ecology. All of them are interested in studying the relationship that exists between people and plants, focusing primarily on how plants are used, managed and perceived in different cultures and societies. The content of this book is divided into seven chapters, starting with the introduction and description of the methodological framework. Each chapter contains original contributions from authors who have done research in a particular region in Europe, America, Africa or Asia. The book is finished by an overview of authors' profiles focused on future plans in research and fieldwork.
Methods of Ethnobotanical Research
M. Horák
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0016
Plant identification in ethnobotany includes methods which the field of investigation borrowed from various disciplines such as botany, anthropology, linguistics, ecology, genetics and economics. Field-work, participant observation, random screening, questionnaire, interview, taxonomic collecting (sampling by botanical family) are the most typical, although the range of methods can be wider.
Introduction to Medicinal Plants of Europe
G. Rúžíčková
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0019
Cultivation of MAPs is a “healthy” alternative to traditional production-intensive agriculture, as well as a means of environmental protection and restoration of landscape. An important option is the use of MAPs for plant protection or as a stimulant of plant growth and development. This is an opportunity for MAPs, considering the EMA (European Medicines Agency) documents, like adopting internal guidelines of the association of growers to provide improved qualitative factors. Development of MAPs depends on the provisioning policy, the availability and development of mechanization (especially harvesting machinery) and on the selection of proper varieties, as well as on the respect for the natural habitats of wild plant species which have to be collected sustainably. Promotion, advertising and education also contribute a lot in this sector. The main risk for the development of MAPs is the importation of lower quality drugs.
Medicinal Plants of Central Europe
G. Růžičková, B. Kocourková
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0023
Medicinal plants cultivated and collected from wild nature in Central Europe play an important role in human life, and they are a regular part of people's everyday activity. Medicinal plants reach the market from three sources in Central Europe – from natural habitats (wild collected species), from cultivation, and from imported species. This text discusses the advantages and the problems of the cultivation and the wild collection of medicinal plants, as well as the current state and conditions of production of raw materials in the main Central European countries. The chapter includes detailed information about important European species – caraway (Carum carvi L.), chamomile (Matricaria recutita [L.] Rausch.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), and milk thistle (Silybum marianum [L.] Gaertn).
Medicinal Qualities of Garlic
E. Sapáková
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0042
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) has been used for its medical properties for thousands of years. However, investigations of its medical substances are relatively new. It has a broad spectrum of actions such as antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiprotozoal. It also has positive effects on the cardiovascular and immune systems. This review aims to address the historical use of garlic and its sulfur chemistry, and to provide a brief summary of its botanical properties.
Traditional Indigenous Medicine of the Peruvian Amazon and its Potential for Psychological Treatment and Personal Growth
V. Kavenská
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0048
This contribution explains the context and basic principles of traditional medicine of the Amazon. In particular, it focuses on the hallucinogenic vine ayahuasca, traditionally used by indigenous communities in the Amazon as a tool for healing, establishing contact with spiritual life, and for many other purposes. In the last decades, there is rapidly growing interest in ayahuasca observed among people from other cultures (Europe and the US in particular), who come to the Amazon to undergo the ayahuasca ritual. This contribution demonstrates ayahuasca's psychotherapeutic potential, and shows the possibilities of ayahuasca in structured therapeutic community for drug addicts (Takiwasi). There are potential benefits and risks for individuals undertaking ayahuasca expeditions on their own (“shamanic tourism”). The motivation of these individuals is mentioned in the text.
Medicinal Plants in the Tropical Andean Region. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and Coca (Erythroxylum sp.), millenary treasures for medicinal treatment
L. Granda, M. G. Rosero, A. Rosero
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0058
The traditional knowledge about plants used in ethnomedicine was generated from millenary praxis and transmitted orally between generations. In this review, we summarize the information reported in ethnobotanical studies of the tropical Andes region to recognize the importance of plants in medicinal treatments and their role in the Andean worldview. The broad traditional knowledge in Andean communities is the ancestral, collective and integral knowledge that allows the use and bioprospecting of biodiversity. The Andean region represents a highly diverse area in terms of culture and plant species; subsequently, the use of medicinal plants differs enormously among and within countries. Andean communities found in plants the treatment of some health and spiritual disorders. Interestingly, some plants showed potential properties that could be deeply investigated, e.g. cancer prevention or treatment. Two millenary and sacred Andean plant species are described in detail due to their potential in medicinal treatments, Chenopodium quinoa Willd. and Erythroxylum sp. The Andes region has a great wealth of knowledge concerning biological and cultural diversity that should be explored, used and conserved.
Red and Black. Medicinal Properties of Two Major Amazonian Colorants in Peruvian Folk Medicine
L. Škrabáková
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0068
Red and black represent not only revolution and obscurantism in Stendhal's famous novel, but also the two colors that characterize the appearance of Amazonian indigenous people during festivals, war campaigns, and everyday life. The juice of unripe fruits from the Genipa americana tree provides a dark blue to black color and the seeds of the Bixa orellana shrub provide a orange color to red color. Field research and published data collected by other researchers in the Peruvian Amazon demonstrate that these two plants are very popular and used in medicine, both widely grown in mestizo and native rain forest villages. Achiote is mainly applied as a tonic for the digestive tract, a pain reliever for headaches, fever, liver disease, malaria, skin disorders and conjunctivitis. Huito is mainly used to treat skin problems, respiratory diseases, anemia and inflammatory diseases of female genital organs.
Ethnobotany of the Shipibo-Konibo
J. Tournon, F. Enocaise, S. Caúper Pinedo, C. Cumapa, C. Etene Etene, G. Panduro Pisco, ...
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0078
This chapter is on the ethnobotany of the Shipibo-Konibo (SK) native group of the Ucayali Valley, Peruvian Amazon. It is divided in two parts. The first part presents the Ucayali Valley natural setting, several important concepts of the SK on their vegetal world. Jacques Tournon is the author of this first part. The human and the natural settings are presented. Important SK concepts about the plant world are explained. The second part is based on ethnobotanical qualitative and quantitative investigations in two Shipibo-Konibo communities of the Ucayali. It presents the results of botanical and ethnobotanical inventories of four hectare plots representative of different forest ecosystems present in the SK community lands. This part is the result of a team work from 1991 to 1996, with J. Tournon, Francisco Enocaise, Rafael Urquia Odicio, Rita Riva Ruiz, and six students of the Universidad Nacional del Ucayali in Pucallpa: Samuel Caúper Pinedo, Catalino Cumapa, Carlos Etene Etene, Grober Panduro Pisco, José Sanchez Choy, Marcos Tenazoa Vela.
Use of Medicinal Plants by Colombian Indigenous Communities Case Study: Pastos Indigenous Community and the Páramo Vegetation in La Ortiga – Resguardo del Gran Cumbal (Nariño)
M. G. Rosero, L. E. Forero Pinto, A. Rosero
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0108
For ages, medicinal plants have played an essential role in the treatment of physical and spiritual diseases of Pastos indigenous people; the experience of their use and management by traditional communities is based on the empirical assessment, which comes from the accumulated experiences of their ancestors. However, this knowledge is impoverished by the appropriation of foreign technologies and the progressive loss of cultural roots. This study is based on the application of behavioral-verbal techniques on the indigenous community located in páramo “La Ortiga”. A dialogue with the “taitas” and healers was established through research-action-participation, allowing the observation of their socio-cultural practices and the identification of 98 species used by the natives as traditional medicine. 78 of these species are administered exclusively for medical purposes, 4 for magical-ritual purposes and 16 are used in both ways. The species were recognized in four types of agroecosystems: orchard, farm (chagra), ruderal and páramo, in an altitudinal range between 3,200 to 4,000 mamsl, with four categories of management: wild, tolerated, stimulated and cultivated. We determined the use of 94 plants with potential to treat digestive, liver, kidney, urinary, respiratory, muscular, eye, and nervous system diseases identified; there are both internal and external therapies used depending on the illness to be treated. Moreover, we found that the magic-ritual species are used to prevent and alleviate spiritual-cultural diseases such as “espanto”, “malviento” and “malora”. They also serve in sacrifices and in protection against evil spirits. The main characteristic of these species is their aroma, which emanates during the entire phenological cycle. In addition, we created a local herbarium of identified species, giving their scientific and local names, information on parts used, forms of use and admixtures (substances of vegetable or animal origin). This herbarium currently serves of the resguardo's health service providers who use traditional medicine.
Ethnoecology as a Tool for the Memory Construction, Integrity of Knowledge and Local Sustainable Development in the Vaupés Department (Colombia), Northeast of the Colombian Amazon
G. D. Beltrán Zapata, N. A. Castro Pineda
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0126
Medicinal plants have played an important role in the management and treatment of disease since the beginning of human existence. In this sense, indigenous cultures have acquired a broad knowledge of traditional medicine by their constant interaction with the environment, healing diseases over thousands of years. The Vaupés department is very diverse, biologically and culturally; approximately 85% of the population is indigenous. Unfortunately, throughout history, different processes have led to an acculturation of indigenous communities in this area, resulting in the loss of knowledge and of the original practices of traditional medicine, including ancient transfer models. Currently, traditional healers in the Vaupés (and Colombia in general) see the need to transmit their knowledge to future generations, to strengthen the transfer systems, to rejuvenate their identity, as well as to integrate them into models of local sustainable development. We would like to contribute to this process of memory recovery and knowledge revival.
A Short Essay on Ethnobotany in Mexico and Central America
M. Halbich
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0133
This paper deals with a brief historical sketch of ethnobotany and the use of some medicinal plants in Mexico, and in a broader sense, in so-called Mesoamerica and some areas of Central America (especially Guatemala and Belize). Particular attention is paid to the fact that ethnobotany is not only part of ethnoscience, but also of ecological anthropology and political economy, and it is also associated with multispecies ethnography, in which plants and other organisms (e.g. mushrooms) become equal subjects of anthropological research, like animals in human animal studies. The paper focuses primarily on Mexico, where ethnobotanical research has its roots in early colonial times. It outlines some aspects of similarly-focused researchers in Guatemala and Belize, which is primarily bound with different Mayan groups. In conclusion, it concentrates on a particular perspective that ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological research offers in this area.
Sacred Journey into the Presence of God. Ritual Use of Sacred Mushrooms among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico
F. Minero Ortega
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0142
This chapter attempts to demonstrate why some Mazatecs of Oaxaca in southern Mexico practice nightly healing rituals during which they eat Psilocybe mushrooms to experience a “sacred journey”. It aims to explain the ritual process and the aspects of ensuring its effectiveness. In addition, the chapter describes how, by means of the “sacred journey”, the Mazatecs gain the knowledge necessary to resolve their health-disease or spiritual conflicts.
Sacred Plants of Native North America
M. Horák
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0151
In this chapter, the use of some plants for spiritual and ceremonial purposes by the Native North Americans is described. The geographic context is continental North America north of the Rio Grande River. The chapter is divided into an introduction containing broader information about traditional ceremonies, followed by the characteristics of sacred plants. Finally, the chapter concludes with a summary and discussion.
Southern Africa: The Forgotten Cradle of Psychoactive Healing Plants
J. F. Sobiecki
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0161
This paper summarizes and contextualises the history of psychoactive plant research in South Africa as well as the recent advances made in the field. Hypothesized mechanisms by which African psychoactive plants heal the mind are highlighted. Key areas requiring further research include: the indigenous cultural understandings of mental illness and psychoactive plants, the role of psychoactive plants in the spiritual practices of southern African traditional healers, the influence of various psychoactive plant species used in traditional formulas, the use of African psychoactive plants in treating drug addiction and the folklore and mythology relating to indigenous psychoactive plants.
The Intersection of Culture and Science in South African Traditional Medicine
J. F. Sobiecki
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0166
Traditional African medicine often carries with it a perception and stigma of being irrational and ungrounded in scientific method in academia. One reason for this common prejudicial view of traditional African medicine is the failure to effectively interpret African traditional medicine concepts, as these are often metaphorical descriptions of the biological and psychological effects of plants or combinations of them used in the traditional medicine preparations. When translated into other languages such as English, these metaphorical descriptions of medicinal plant use can seem to incorrectly reflect mysticism and/ or superstition with no scientific basis. This difficulty in interpreting cultural descriptions of medical phenomena, together with the fact that there are hardly any academic papers engaging the science of South African traditional medicine in the biological sciences, is an indication of the disconnection between the humanities studies and the biomedical studies of South African traditional medicine. This paper investigates some popular examples of spiritual plant use in traditional South African medicine using phytopharmacological studies together with anthropological fieldwork methods, demonstrating the empirical basis for use of some plants in divination (by producing clarity of thought or dreams). The examples also reveal the phytochemical and biomedical foundations of the South Bantu speaking traditional healers' explanations of why and how various spiritually used plants have medicinal value. The challenge for scientists (such as botanists) is to effectively translate and interpret cultural and language based descriptions of spiritual medicinal plant use made by indigenous people while recognizing and discarding cultural prejudices that prevent a more comprehensive and integrated understanding of the science that intersects and forms the basis of many, though not all, cultural healing practices.
Herbs of the Traditional Chinese Medicine
E. Amirova
DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7509-881-8-0179
Chinese herbal medicine represents one of the largest and extensively studied contributions of traditional Chinese medicine. The fundamentals of Chinese herbal medicine are built on extensive, centuries-long exploration, research and analysis that focused on healing and restoration of energy. Chinese herbal medicine is not restricted to plants and includes a wide variety of naturally occurring materials that individually or in combination have therapeutic effects that help balance and maintain health, and offer multiple approaches and modalities to treatments of particular diseases or medical conditions.