Medico-religious plants used by the Hajong community of Assam, India

Sharma, Uma Kanta; Pegu, Shyamanta; Hazarika, Diganta; Das, Arpana

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2012.06.053

Cited by 23 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…people speaking the Huastec indigenous language had a more diverse and evenly shared plant knowledge than people having adopted the majority mestizo and Spanish language. Sharma et al [ 44 ] similarly found a rapid erosion of herbal traditions among the Hajong communities in India linked to language loss. Srithi et al [ 45 ] documented an inter-generational loss of traditional plant knowledge by Mien ethnic communities in Northern Thailand due to acculturation and interrupted knowledge transmission.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vernacular dominance in folk taxonomy: a case study of ethnospecies in medicinal plant trade in Tanzania

Otieno

Abihudi

Veldman

et al. 2015

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundMedicinal plants are traded as products with vernacular names, but these folk taxonomies do not always correspond one-to-one with scientific plant names. These local species entities can be defined as ethnospecies and can match, under-differentiate or over-differentiate as compared to scientific species. Identification of plant species in trade is further complicated by the processed state of the product, substitution and adulteration. In countries like Tanzania, an additional dimension to mapping folk taxonomies on scientific names is added by the multitude of ethnicities and languages of the plant collectors, traders and consumers. This study aims to elucidate the relations between the most common vernacular names and the ethnicity of the individual traders among the medicinal plant markets in Dar es Salaam and Tanga regions in Tanzania, with the aim of understanding the dynamics of vernacular names in plant trade.MethodsA total of 90 respondents were interviewed in local markets using semi-structured interviews. The ethnicity of each respondent was recorded, as well as the language of each ethnospecies mentioned during the interviews. Voucher collections and reference literature were used to match ethnospecies across languages.ResultsAt each market, the language of the majority of the vendors dominates the names for medicinal products. The dominant vendors often represent the major ethnic groups of that region. Independent of their ethnicity, vendors offer their products in the dominant language of the specific region without apparently leading to any confusion or species mismatching.ConclusionsMiddlemen, traders and vendors adapt their folk classifications to those of the ethnic groups of the region where they conduct their trade, and to the ethnicity of their main customers. The names in the language of the traders are not forgotten, but relegated in favor of the more salient names of the dominant tribe.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1746-4269-11-10) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vernacular dominance in folk taxonomy: a case study of ethnospecies in medicinal plant trade in Tanzania

Otieno

Abihudi

Veldman

et al. 2015

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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“…In addition, it is interesting to note that many of these cultural syndromes are widespread in rural populations of the world (Estomba et al, 2006). 'Religious plants' concept is generally believed to have begun in the initial stage of the human society (Sebastian and Bhandari, 1984;Sharma et al, 2012). However, it seems that the purpose to which the plants are used is more important than the plants itself and hence the low ICF that is usually obtained for these group of emic illnesses.…”

Section: Culture-bound Syndromesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants by population of Valley of Juruena Region, Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Bieski

Leonti

Arnason

et al. 2015

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

145

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“…This index theoretically varies from 0 to 1. According to Sharma et al [ 23 ], when relative frequency of citation is 0, it means that nobody refers to the plant/animal as useful, and when relative frequency of citation is 1, it means that all informants in the survey refer to the plant/animal as useful.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Therapies Used to Manage Diabetes and Related Complications in Mauritius: A Comparative Ethnoreligious Study

Mahomoodally

Mootoosamy

Wambugu

2016

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Religious communities from Mauritius still rely on traditional therapies (TT) for primary healthcare. Nonetheless, there is still a dearth of scientific information on TT used by the different religious groups to manage diabetes and related complications (DRC). This study aimed to gather ethnomedicinal knowledge on TT used by the different religious groups against DRC. Diabetic patients (n = 95) and traditional healers (n = 5) were interviewed. Fifty-two plant species belonging to 33 families and 26 polyherbal formulations were documented to manage DRC. The most reported DRC was hypertension (n = 36). Leaves (45.2%) and juice (36%) were the most cited mode of preparation of herbal recipes. Plants which scored high relative frequency of citation were Citrus aurantifolia (0.55) and Morinda citrifolia (0.54). The cultural importance index showed that Ocimum tenuiflorum, Cardiospermum halicacabum, Camellia sinensis, and Ophiopogon japonicas were the most culturally important plants among Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist community, respectively. Hindu and Muslim community showed the highest similarity of medicinal plants usage (Jaccard index = 95.8). Seven animal species distributed over 4 classes were recorded for the management of DRC. Plants and animals recorded as TT should be submitted to scientific studies to confirm safety and efficacy in clinical practice and to identify pharmacologically active metabolites.

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Medico-religious plants used by the Hajong community of Assam, India

Cited by 23 publications

References 5 publications

Vernacular dominance in folk taxonomy: a case study of ethnospecies in medicinal plant trade in Tanzania

Vernacular dominance in folk taxonomy: a case study of ethnospecies in medicinal plant trade in Tanzania

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants by population of Valley of Juruena Region, Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Traditional Therapies Used to Manage Diabetes and Related Complications in Mauritius: A Comparative Ethnoreligious Study

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