Ethnobotany and Community Health

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2021) | Viewed by 14863

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458, USA
Interests: ethnobotany; ethnobiology; community health; food security; conservation
Natural Products Institute, University of the West Indies, 6 Belmopan Close, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Interests: ethnopharmacology; pharmacognosy; traditional knowledge systems; policy development
Natural Products Institute, The University of the West Indies, 6 Belmopan Close, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
Interests: botanical medicine; integrated medicine; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology; traditional medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ethnobotany research into Traditional Medicine (TM) has focused largely on documenting the cultural uses of plants as medicines, the drivers behind medicinal plant knowledge and use, or the identification and shortlisting of plant species for further laboratory studies of biological activity and safety. Although these studies and plant inventories are important to expand the body of ethnobotanical knowledge in the literature, their direct benefits for improving the health of local communities with whom these studies are conducted often remains unclear or insufficiently addressed in the literature. In addition, other topics relevant to community health remain underexplored in the debate on ethnobotany and community health, such as the value-added development of traditional medicines to improve community health at local, national, and regional levels, and the importance of documenting folk illnesses, spiritual plant uses, and traditional diets in efforts to improve community health.

In this Special Issue, we welcome papers that address the importance of ethnobotany for community health, through the applicability of the results of research, or at the policy level.

We welcome papers that: (1) Present original research and answer research questions (or hypotheses) related to ethnobotany and community health; and (2) demonstrate the relevance of the results for community health.

At this stage, we invite authors to submit an abstract (until 15 October 2020), explaining the goals, methods, results, and conclusions of their research, and how their study contributes directly to improving community health. Authors of accepted abstracts will be further invited to submit a full paper before 31 January 2021.

Dr. Ina Vandebroek
Dr. Rupika Delgoda
Dr. David Picking
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ethnobiology
  • Traditional Medicine
  • intercultural health
  • medicinal plants
  • home remedies
  • self-medication
  • medical anthropology
  • traditional knowledge
  • local knowledge
  • ethnopharmacology
  • immigrant health
  • folk medicine
  • ethnomedicine
  • ethnobotany
  • indigenous knowledge systems
  • botanical medicine

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1658 KiB  
Article
Medicinal Plants for Rich People vs. Medicinal Plants for Poor People: A Case Study from the Peruvian Andes
by Fernando Corroto, Jesús Rascón, Elgar Barboza and Manuel J. Macía
Plants 2021, 10(8), 1634; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10081634 - 09 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3301
Abstract
Traditional knowledge (TK) of medicinal plants in cities has been poorly studied across different inhabitants’ socioeconomic sectors. We studied the small city of Chachapoyas (~34,000 inhabitants) in the northern Peruvian Andes. We divided the city into three areas according to the socio-economic characteristics [...] Read more.
Traditional knowledge (TK) of medicinal plants in cities has been poorly studied across different inhabitants’ socioeconomic sectors. We studied the small city of Chachapoyas (~34,000 inhabitants) in the northern Peruvian Andes. We divided the city into three areas according to the socio-economic characteristics of its inhabitants: city center (high), intermediate area (medium), and city periphery (low). We gathered information with 450 participants through semi-structured interviews. Participants of the city periphery showed a higher TK of medicinal plants than participants of the intermediate area, and the latter showed a higher TK than participants of the city center. The acquisition of medicinal plants was mainly through their purchase in markets across the three areas, although it was particularly relevant in the city center (94%). Participants of all socioeconomic levels widely used the same medicinal plants for similar purposes in Chachapoyas, which is likely based on a common Andean culture that unites their TK. However, participants with the lowest socioeconomic level knew and used more plants for different medicinal uses, indicating the necessity of these plants for their livelihoods. City markets with specialized stores that commercialize medicinal plants are key to preserve the good health of poor and rich people living in Andean cities and societies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ethnobotany and Community Health)
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12 pages, 1804 KiB  
Article
Hibiscus sabdariffa, a Treatment for Uncontrolled Hypertension. Pilot Comparative Intervention
by Marwah Al-Anbaki, Anne-Laure Cavin, Renata Campos Nogueira, Jaafar Taslimi, Hayder Ali, Mohammed Najem, Mustafa Shukur Mahmood, Ibrahim Abdullah Khaleel, Abdulqader Saad Mohammed, Hasan Ramadhan Hasan, Laurence Marcourt, Fabien Félix, Nicolas Vinh Tri Low-Der’s, Emerson Ferreira Queiroz, Jean-Luc Wolfender, Marie Watissée and Bertrand Graz
Plants 2021, 10(5), 1018; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10051018 - 19 May 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4157
Abstract
In Iraq, in 2019, there were about 1.4 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP); medical treatments were often interrupted. The feasibility of using Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) decoction to curb hypertension was evaluated. A multicentric comparative pilot intervention for 121 participants with high [...] Read more.
In Iraq, in 2019, there were about 1.4 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP); medical treatments were often interrupted. The feasibility of using Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) decoction to curb hypertension was evaluated. A multicentric comparative pilot intervention for 121 participants with high blood pressure (BP) (≥140/90 mmHg) was conducted. Participants of the intervention group (with or without conventional medication) received HS decoction on a dose regimen starting from 10 grams per day. BP was measured five times over six weeks. The major active substances were chemically quantified. Results: After 6 weeks, 61.8% of participants from the intervention group (n = 76) reached the target BP < 140/90 mmHg, compared to 6.7% in the control group (n = 45). In the intervention group, a mean (±SD) reduction of 23.1 (±11.8) mmHg and 12.0 (±11.2) for systolic and diastolic BP, respectively, was observed, while in the control group the reduction was 4.4 (±10.2)/3.6 (±8.7). The chemical analysis of the starting dose indicated a content of 36 mg of total anthocyanins and 2.13 g of hibiscus acid. The study shows the feasibility of using HS decoction in IDP’s problematic framework, as hibiscus is a safe, local, affordable, and culturally accepted food product. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ethnobotany and Community Health)
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Review

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20 pages, 611 KiB  
Review
Checklist of African Soapy Saponin—Rich Plants for Possible Use in Communities’ Response to Global Pandemics
by Yvonne Kunatsa and David R. Katerere
Plants 2021, 10(5), 842; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/plants10050842 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4373
Abstract
Plants that exhibit foaming properties when agitated in aqueous solutions are commonly referred to as soapy plants, and they are used in different communities for washing, bathing, and hair shampooing. The frothing ability of these plants is attributed to saponins which are also [...] Read more.
Plants that exhibit foaming properties when agitated in aqueous solutions are commonly referred to as soapy plants, and they are used in different communities for washing, bathing, and hair shampooing. The frothing ability of these plants is attributed to saponins which are also well-documented to possess antimicrobial attributes. In the light of COVID-19, soap and hand hygiene have taken center stage. The pandemic has also revealed the low access to running water and commercial soaps in many marginalized and poor communities to the detriment of global health. Thus, soapy plants, either in their natural form or through incorporation in commercial products, may be a relevant additional weapon to assist communities to improve hand hygiene and contribute to curbing COVID-19 and other communicable infections. This review paper was compiled from a review of literature that was published between 1980 and 2020. We found 68 plant species, including those which are already used as traditional soaps. Our findings support the potential use of extracts from soapy plants because of their putative viricidal, bactericidal, and fungicidal activities for use in crude home-based formulations and possibly for developing natural commercial soap products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ethnobotany and Community Health)
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