Introduction
Medicinal plants, used in folk therapy by unique healing methods and special healers, play an important part in the everyday life of people living in the isolated regions of the world which are only partially or not provided by official medical or veterinary service.
In 3rd world countries basic healthcare is still provided by traditional healers for 70-90% of the population. E.g. in South Africa, 70-80% of the total population (27 million) is healed by traditional medicine, involving 350,000 traditional healers, who apply 3,000 different plants.
Worldwide: 25,000-50,000 higher plants are applied in traditional medicine.
USA and Europe: ca. 120 official effective compounds of plant origin – discovery of 74% derived from traditional medicine – directly or indirectly
Ethno sciences
Ethno sciences (ethno meaning “people” or “cultural group”) include ethnomedicine,
Pharmacognosy 1
dyeing plants etc. An ethnobotanist may study how people collect wild foods for a meal and fodder, use herbs to treat illness, dye clothes, or apply them in a variety of ways, e.g. as children’s toys, handicrafts, tools, furniture and timbers.
Ethnopharmacology is an interdisciplinary science, focusing on the biologically active substances in plants that are traditionally applied in various cultures.
Ethnopharmacology encompasses botany, pharmacology, chemistry, as well as pharmacognosy, ethnography, anthropology and archaeology.
Leading journals of the field include
Economic Botany, an interdisciplinary journal focusing on the past, present and potential uses of plants by people. The reports include data on the traditional plant use of a particular area, often compared e.g. with the data of neighbouring countries and cultures to highlight the differences and similarities in the fieldworks.
(http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/plant+sciences/journal/12231)
Journal of Ethnopharmacology publishes reports on biological and pharmacological effects of plants, fungi and animals based on their traditional uses described during fieldworks (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-ethnopharmacology).
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine is an online journal available at http://www.ethnobiomed.com. This journal publishes papers on the traditional use of plants, animals and fungi of various regions, mostly compared with data recorded in other countries.
Research methods
Ethno-pharmacobotanical surveys study the oral tradition as the most common source in this field. The first step is to choose a new region or village which has not been investigated ethnobotanically earlier. This step is based mostly on the analysis of written sources, including historical, geographical, botanical and medical references.
The next step is planning the field work involving the acquisition of tools and other necessities (e.g. dictaphone, camera, plant identification keys). During field work, various types of interviews are conducted, handwritten notes are taken, local vocabulary and herbaria are prepared, photos are taken about the plants and informants, and records of the interviews with dictaphone are transcribed. Among the described data, the vernacular plant name, time and method of collection, used plant part, preparation form (e.g. tea, syrup, tincture, vinegar, gargle, rinse, bath, cataplasm, cream or liniment), way of administration and treated diseases (completed by beliefs and peculiar magico-mythological role) can be listed. Plant taxa should be identified as species with plant’s identification books of the selected region. In addition, voucher specimens should be also deposited at the institute which co-ordinates the study.
The source of the medical knowledge (studied, heard or read data) is also recorded, and the elements of inherited knowledge should be separated from data originating from any written sources. This step plays a significant role in further analysis of the described data, which means the comparison of these elements with official sources (e.g.
pharmacopoeias, scientific literature and references). In the case of describing a new plant species, a new drug or original way of application, phytochemical and/or pharmacological studies should be planned to affirm or disprove the traditional use.
Basic Ethnobotany Data types and analyses
The ancient knowledge using plants, animals and fungi can be used in the healing practice of human and veterinary medicine, too. Traditional uses of the listed materials involve both rational and irrational elements. Rational elements include using plants for food, fodder and medical purposes, keeping away parasites or as fibers and dyes.
These data encompass exact methods of the collection and preparation of specific plants in local remedies. Based on these data the preparations should be replicable in laboratory analyses. Irrational elements include the magical use of natural resources accompanied by magic chants, casting spells and pow-wows. These data commonly involve e.g. peculiar numbers, places, dates and specific processes connected to the local uses of the applied materials. These elements are of pivotal importance rather in the ethnographical sciences.
There are 3 components in each healing practice:
(1) the plant, animal or mineral that is used for healing
(2) words that have to be said (chanted) according to the people’s believes
(3) action that has to be performed simultaneously (e.g. taking water from the creek) One of the research topics at the Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Pécs, is the study of the ethnobotanical data in various regions of Transylvania, currently part of Romania. Based on several earlier works from the 16-17th century, new ethnobotanical surveys were carried out since the 1960s in several regions of the country, inhabited mostly by the ethnic groups of Széklers and Csángós.
A few examples of how medicinal plants are used by the Csángó population in the Úz valley (Transylvania, Romania) are summarized below. E.g. the leaves of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) have to be taken from 3 separate nettle plants bearing 5, 7, 9 leaves respectively. They are used against snake bite scrubbed into the injured body parts.
Pharmacognosy 1
beeswax. It is used in the treatment of jaundice based on colour analogy, which means that the colour of the used plant parts is associated with the colour of the disease or its symptoms (in this case: yellowish colour of the skin).
Figure 1.31
Gentiana asclepiadea (willow gentian)
In veterinary medicine, a well-known example is inducing a local inflammation by placing the roots (rhizomes) of hellebore (Helleborus sp., Figure 1.32) into an incision in the ear or breast of an animal (e.g. cattle, sheep) in order to boost non-specific immune responses. Similar applications of various Adonis species were reported from Hungary (A. vernalis – pheasant’s eye, Figure 1.33), Transylvania: A. transsylvanica and Mongolia: A. mongolica.
Basic Ethnobotany
Figure 1.32
Helleborus odorus (fragrant hellebore)
Figure 1.33
Adonis vernalis (pheasant’s eye)
Significance of the field
Although new plant species, new drug parts or indications can be described mostly from the tropical areas of Asia, Africa and America, attributed to the rich and undiscovered flora elements, other regions such as the Mediterranean can also be characterized by
Pharmacognosy 1
Underlining the importance of home treatments and the possible plant sources, ethnobotanical works highlight the necessity of the preservation of disappearing medical practices among the indigenous people with further analyses which can play a significant role in recent phytotherapy.