Ethnobotanical knowledge and use-value of Harpagophytum (Devil's claw) in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe

Abstract Background: Fig trees are ecological keystone species in many tropical regions and play important roles in the spirituality, nutrition and health for many rural communities. Although the tropical forests in Myanmar contain many fig species, little ethnobotanical knowledge on their uses has been recorded.Information about the uses and conservation related actions of figswould be helpful in development ofstrategic policy for sustainable use and biodiversity conservation of the country. We showcase the rich ethnobotanical knowledge as well as the variety of collection and conservation practices related to figs among five ethnic groups in Southern Shan State. Methods: We performed both key informant and semi-structured interviews with 114 informants from five ethnic groups. Their uses for figs were categorized according to local practices and recipes. Informants were asked about trends in conservation status over the past 10 years and any conservation related customs and practices. Data were analyzed quantitatively by use report (UR) and use value (UV). Results: Informants reported the uses of eight fig species (Ficusauricularta，F.concinna, F. geniculata，F. hispida, F. racemosa, F. religiosa，F. semicordata, and F. virens).F. geniculata and F. virens were most useful (UR = 228) and were used by all five ethnic groups, corresponding to a high use value (UV = 2). Treatments for 16 diseases were reported from seven species. Household consumption, economic, and sacred uses were accompanied by sustainable practices of harvest and protection. Traditional taboos, in situ and ex situ conservation were practiced especially for highly demanded species (F. geniculata and F. virens), and the sacred fig F. religiosa.Conclusion: Findings suggest that figs are useful for nutrition (all informants) and medicine (13.16% of the informants) in the study area. Traditional taboos, in situ and ex situ conservation practices help to maintain sustainable utilization of locally important figs. This is an early contribution to the traditional knowledge of edible figs. Although similar uses have been reported in neighboring countries for seven of the fig species, the ethnobotanical use of F. concinna is novel.

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Folk medicines of Bafra (Samsun-Turkey)

Turkish Journal of Biochemistry ◽

10.1515/tjb-2017-0172 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Elif Karcı ◽

İlhan Gürbüz ◽

Galip Akaydın ◽

Tuğba Günbatan

Keyword(s):

Relative Frequency ◽

Folk Medicine ◽

Use Value ◽

Ethnobotanical Knowledge ◽

Gradual Reduction ◽

Quantitative Indices ◽

Cultural Importance ◽

Informant Consensus ◽

Importance Index ◽

Cultural Importance Index

AbstractObjective:In this study, determination and documentation of folk medicines that are being used by indigenous people in Bafra was aimed.Materials and methods:Scientific trips were organised to the region and folk medicines were identified by interviewing individuals which have knowledge of folk medicine. One hundred and fifty-five plant samples were collected during the study. Obtained data were statistically analysed by using four quantitative indices; “informant consensus factor”, “use value”, “relative frequency of citation” and “cultural importance index”.Results:Fifty-three genera and 62 taxa belonging 33 families were recorded to be used in the treatment of different diseases. The usage of five species (Conclusion:Once again, the present investigation has highlighted the gradual reduction in the use of folk medicines, and ethnobotanical knowledge has been falling into oblivion rapidly. Therefore, ethnobotanical inventory surveys should be undertaken throughout Turkey before this important cultural heritage becomes lost.

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Use Value of Food Plants in the Xi'iuy Indigenous Community of Las Guapas, Rayon, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

Ethnobiology Letters ◽

10.14237/ebl.3.2012.40 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 39-55

Author(s):

Haydeé Carbajal-Esquivel ◽

Javier Fortanelli Martínez ◽

José García-Pérez ◽

Juan A. Reyes-Agüero ◽

Laura Yáñez-Espinosa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Age Groups ◽

Seasonal Migration ◽

Food Plants ◽

Grocery Stores ◽

Use Value ◽

Ethnobotanical Knowledge ◽

San Luis ◽

San Luis Potosi ◽

Food Species ◽

San Luis Potosí

Native communities’ erosion of ethnobotanical knowledge of food plants is a global concern. This investigation focuses on a Xi’iuy community in the Sierra Madre Oriental, San Luís Potosí, México. A total of 21 randomly-selected families participated (22% of the total population). The 56 people who were interviewed—an average of 2.7 per family-- were separated into four groups (fathers, mothers, single sons, single daughters). To investigate the use value of each plant, a collection of 54 food specimens was shown to the informants. Knowledge of each food species’ uses was compared between genders and age groups. The results included figures that were lower than expected, as well as less knowledge among women than men, particularly among underage daughters. The difference in use value between men and women in this community is explicable by cultural factors: i.e., women’s participation in agriculture and plant collecting is minimal. This, along with men’s seasonal migration for work (men are usually wage laborers half the year in the sugarcane harvest, and the other half they cultivate their own land), plus increasing availability of commercial food in grocery stores, contributes to the steady loss of ethnobotanical knowledge.

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Ethnobotanical Utilization of Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. according to Herbal Medicine Traders in Benin.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-55498/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Hubert Olivier Dossou-Yovo ◽

Fifanou G. Vodouhè ◽

Valentin Kindomihou ◽

Brice Sinsin

Keyword(s):

Herbal Medicine ◽

Traditional Medicine ◽

Use Value ◽

Ethnobotanical Knowledge ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Plant Parts ◽

Gynecological Disorders ◽

Sustainable Exploitation ◽

Structured Questionnaire

Abstract BackgroundThis research aimed at gathering knowledge on the medicinal exploitation and magic utilization of Kigelia africana in Benin. The species has received very little attention in Benin where it is widely used in traditional medicine to treat diseases and recently recorded as a threatened speciesMethodsA semi-structured questionnaire was used in different markets in Benin to gather ethnobotanical knowledge on Kigelia africana from herbal traders. Various percentages of traders were calculated, the Use Value of the most traded parts was determined and the two proportions test was performed to check for difference in Use Value.ResultsThirty-six percent of respondents obtained parts of the species both by purchase in their own markets and by travelling far. The same proportion confirmed that they travelled very far before buying parts they used to sell. None mentioned harvesting the plant parts from wild populations. A high proportion of informants (63%) reported selling fruits and bark whereas a relatively low proportion of them (37%) sell fruits, bark and leaves of the species. Bark was recorded as most sold followed by fruits. Leaves were recorded as least sold.The majority of respondents confirmed the scarcity of the species in recent years. Thirteen diseases, disorders and rituals were recorded and the majority oftraders mentioned the use of bark in treating stomach infections followed by gynecological disorders. Fruits were mainly used in magic rituals followed by treatment for stomach infections. Fruits showed a Use Value higher than bark although bark was recorded as most in demand. Five types of preparation were recorded and 54% of traders mentioned bark decoctions while 27% highlighted infusion of fruits in water.ConclusionsKigelia africana plays an important role in local ethnomedicine and bark and fruits were the most traded organs. Its fruits were relatively more important than bark in terms of uses but harvesting and trade of its parts are threats to the species. Urgent conservation tools are needed for its long-term sustainable exploitation.

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Marx and the “law of value”: Critical appraisal on the occasion of his 200th birth anniversary

Voprosy Ekonomiki ◽

10.32609/0042-8736-2018-11-27-49 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 27-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

H. D. Kurz

Keyword(s):

Karl Marx ◽

Critical Appraisal ◽

Critical Discussion ◽

Use Value ◽

Transformation Problem ◽

The Common ◽

The Law

The paper celebrates Karl Marx’ 200th birthday in terms of a critical discussion of the “law of value” and the idea that “abstract labour”, and not any use value, is the common third of any two commodities that exchange for one another in a given proportion. It is argued that this view is difficult to sustain. It is also the source of the wretched and unnecessary “transformation problem”. Ironically, as Piero Sraffa has shown, prices of production and the general rate of profits are fully determined in terms of the same set of data from which Marx started his analysis.

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Marx, Silk Poems, and the Pretext of Qualities

Representations ◽

10.1525/rep.2020.151.5.96 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 151 (1) ◽

pp. 96-126

Author(s):

Kathryn Crim

Keyword(s):

The Other ◽

Use Value ◽

Working Day ◽

The One ◽

Insight Into

Karl Marx’s comments on silk manufacture in “The Working Day” chapter of Capital, volume 1, demonstrate how “quality”—usually associated with “use value”—has been mobilized by capital to naturalize industrialized labor. Putting his insight into conversation with a recent multimedia poetic project, Jen Bervin’s Silk Poems (2016–17), this essay examines the homology between, on the one hand, poetry’s avowed task of fitting form to content and, on the other, the ideology of labor that fits specific bodies to certain materials and tasks.

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Ethnobotanical Knowledge of Magar Community in Siluwa VDC, Palpa District, Nepal

Journal of Natural History Museum ◽

10.3126/jnhm.v24i1.2243 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 ◽

pp. 58-71

Author(s):

Rita Ale ◽

Bhakta Bahadur Raskoti ◽

Keshav Shrestha

Keyword(s):

Ethnobotanical Knowledge ◽

Knowledge Use ◽

Plant Resources ◽

History Museum ◽

Wild Fruit ◽

Rapid Rural Appraisal ◽

Development Committee ◽

Village Development Committee ◽

Rural Appraisal ◽

Appraisal Tool

Ethnobotanical knowledge, associated with plant resources was studied in Siluwa village development committee, Palpa district. Rapid rural appraisal tool was used to obtain information of indigenous people. This study revealed that Magar community has a vast knowledge of using plant resources. Local people are using plants for medicinal, wild fruit, food, religious and other various domestic purposes. The ethnobotanical knowledge is gradually decreasing in the younger generations. Key words: Indigenous knowledge; use of plants; Magar community. Journal of Natural History Museum Vol. 24, 2009 Page: 58-71

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Ethnopharmacological Survey of Medicinal Plants Used in Traditional Treatment of Kidney Diseases in Fez–Meknes Region, Morocco

Phytothérapie ◽

10.3166/phyto-2019-0189 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 99-114

Author(s):

M. Chebaibi ◽

D. Bousta ◽

I. Iken ◽

H. Hoummani ◽

A. Ech-Choayeby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Kidney Disease ◽

Medicinal Plants ◽

Kidney Diseases ◽

Rank Order ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Use Value ◽

Traditional Treatment ◽

Toxic Plants ◽

A Value ◽

Chi Squared

The purpose of this study was to inventory and collect information on plants and mixtures commonly used by herbalists to treat kidney disease in the Fez–Meknes region. We also aimed to compare the results obtained with the results of the other studies and exploit the correlations between different factors. An ethnopharmacological survey was conducted from 289 local herbalists in eight different areas of Fez–Meknes region. Ethnomedicinal uses and ethnobotanical indices were analyzed using quantitative tools, i.e., the total number of citation (TNC), use value (UV), family use value (FUV), fidelity level (FL), and rank order priority (ROP). Statistical analyses such as Pearson correlation and chi-squared test were performed to delineate any correlation. Two hundred and eighty-nine herbalists were questioned. Sixty-nine plant species belonging to 38 families were cited by herbalists for traditional treatment of kidney disease. The highest value of UV was obtained for Herniaria glabra L. (UV = 0.79), and Caryophyllaceae was the family frequently cited (FUV = 0.795). Ammodaucus leucotrichus Coss. & Dur. had the highest value of FL with a value of 100%, and the highest value of ROP was recorded for Herniaria glabra L. (ROP = 91%). Sociodemographic characteristics had a significant impact on the knowledge of toxic plants. Our study has revealed a cultural heritage linked to herbalism and a great wealth of medicinal plants, whose valorization and protection are necessary. Several studies are needed to sensitize herbalists and population on the danger of toxic plants, to extract chemical compounds from the main plants used, and to evaluate their toxicity.

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