Ethnomycological Study of Wild Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms in District Jammu, J&K, India

Background: Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has a rich tradition of usage of wild edible mushrooms (WEM) for culinary and medicinal purposes. But very few studies, restricted to some regions of the Union Territory, have been conducted to enlist the WEM. District Jammu has never been explored for WEM. Moreover, the quantification of the traditional knowledge of WEM has not been carried out as yet in J&K. Therefore, the present study was conducted in Jammu district with aims of; enlisting the WEM and its usage, finding the most used WEM, and enumerating the consensus of usage for a species and associated knowledge. Methods: Data of use reports was collected as per semi–structured questionnaire from 192 randomly selected informants. The cultural importance index (CI) and informant consensus factor (Fic) were calculated on the basis of use reports. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate the significance of differences in the usage of WEM among the different informant categories.Results: Results of the present study show that the locals were having the knowledge of fourteen fleshy fungi that are mainly utilized for culinary purposes. They also affirmed various medicinal values of some of these fungi. Termitomyces sp. (CI, 0.57) was the most important and diversely used species. Termitomyces heimii, Termitomyces clypeatus and Termitomyces striatus var. annulatus were the other frequently consumed species by the locals. More than 78.6% of these WEM were new records as culinary and medicinal for Jammu and Kashmir (UT). Agaricaceae and Lyophyllaceae were the largest families and Termitomyces (5 species) the most represented genera. Females, elders, and informants who have not attended schools were having significantly (P<0.05) higher information regarding WEM. The maximum consensus was recorded for the use of WEM as culinary with 596 citations and 0.98 Fic, and the minimum homogeneity was found for their use in skin diseases (42 citations and 0.76 Fic).Conclusion: The inhabitants of district Jammu had good knowledge of WEM, but no documentation, lying of most of the information with elders and uneducated people, and destruction of forests and other natural habitats of WEM pose serious threat of losing this valuable information in near future. An ardent need is to educate locals regarding regionally available WEM. Further studies are recommended for developing protocols of cultivation of these WEM so that their future availability is ascertained along with creating income resources for the local population.

Woody species associated with coffee production systems in southern Colombia

In the coffee zone of the town La Unión- Nariño, native or introduced trees are associated with the productive systems of the farms, mainly because they provide shade for coffee crops, where particular aspects such as species biodiversity and silvicultural management are unknown. With the aim of knowing the woody species of common use and the cultural importance, a semi structured survey was applied to 100 coffee growers who were selected at random and aleatorily distributed in three altitudinal ranges: (m.a.s.l.): I (<1500), II (1500-1800) and III (> 1800). Species richness was determined for each chosen range; for diversity between ranges, the Jaccard Index (JI) and the Cultural Importance Index (CI) were used. The latter was determined by adding up the intensity of use (IU), frequency of citation (FC), and use value (UV). In the three altitude ranges evaluated, 59 tree species were found. These were distributed in 32 botanical families and 46 genera. The fabaceae family was the most representative, followed by rutaceae, myrtaceae and bignoniaceae; 45.8% of the species were introduced. Among the altitudinal ranges, a low degree similarity was found; ranks I and II shared 24 species, which is equivalent to 33.8% of their floristic composition. As for ranges I and III, they had an even lower degree of similarity: 24.2%; only 17 species were shared. The species I. densiflora had the highest percentage of CI, with 32.92%, followed by C. sinensis with 31.98%; then the species T. gigantea and P. americana with 30.49% and 26.27% respectively. These species were of great importance to coffee growers due to the positive impact they have on the family economy and their contribution to the environmental well-being of production systems.

Using Measurable Indices to Evaluate the Cultural Importance of Socio-religious Plants: Comparative Data from the Three States of India

The aim of the present study is to do the balancing between the science and cultural practices in an increasingly complex developing society and policy on the traditional knowledge landscape. Various quantitative indices are proposed to determine the cultural importance of socio-religious and ethnobotanically valuable plants as a tool for the evaluation of cultural heritage. These indices were applied to an ethnobotanical, sociocultural survey of plants and plant parts traditionally used and consumed in the selected study area. Selected plants were grouped into seven use categories for further analysis. The cultural value index (CV), use value index (UV), the relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance (RI), and cultural importance index (CI) were calculated for different plant species cited by 45 informants in different traditional societies from the studied states. The calculated values of the cultural importance of plants through diverse indices generated interesting variations from three regions of India. There were eight common species through all the three states. Among these eight species Butea monosperma shows the highest values from Rajasthan and Ziziphus jujube shows the lowest values from Gujarat region. While Nelumbo nucifera, Vigna mungo, and Nymphaea lotus were also portrayed high calculated values in the CI, RI, and CVs. The combined use of these indices makes it possible to quantify the role which has given to a particular plant within a specific culture in one or many festivals in general or religious rituals.

An ethnobotanical study on the Chuanqing People of China based on an herbal market survey at the Dragon Boat Festival

Background: The Chuanqing People (穿青人) are an ethnic group native to Guizhou Province of China, with a unique culture and rich knowledge of traditional medicinal plants. The herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival plays an important role in the inheritance of traditional medicinal knowledge among the Chuanqing People. This study aims to record the characteristics, current situation, and problems of medicinal plant usage by the Chuanqing People of China. Such information is important for the inheritance and protection of the Chuanqing People’s traditional medical knowledge. Methods: Data were collected through key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews, and taxonomic identification. The results were compared with those of traditional Chinese medicine and other ethnic medicines in Guizhou Province. Data were analyzed with use-value (UV) and cultural importance index (CI) values. Results: A total of 102 species from 53 families and 92 genera were recorded, with Orchidaceae and Asparagaceae (6 species each), Berberidaceae and Compositae (5 species each), and Apocynaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, and Polygonaceae (4 species each) as the predominant families. The most frequently used taxon was Hedera nepalensis var. sinensis (Tobler) Rehder (UV and CI=0.29). Moreover, 71 investigated human ailments were grouped into 12 categories. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (34 mentions) were the most frequently mentioned in this study. Conclusions: The traditional herbal market during the Dragon Boat Festival is a hotspot of traditional medicinal plant knowledge of the Chuanqing People. However, urbanization threatens the inheritance of local medicinal plant knowledge. This study highlights the traditional medicinal knowledge of the Chuanqing People, providing basic data for further research on and protection of minority medicine.

Species richness and ethnozoological annotations on mammals at the Boanamo indigenous community, Waorani territory, Orellana and Pastaza provinces, Ecuador

We present the results of a rapid ecological assessment conducted in 2012 in the community of Boanamo, in the Waorani Ethnic Reserve and Yasuní National Park, Orellana and Pastaza provinces, Ecuadorian Amazon. The study included surveys and observations of mammals by different methodologies over a 16-day sampling period. The results show the presence of 89 species of mammals, but there are several other mammal species expected in the area, increasing the projected diversity to 119 species, a high diverse community when compared with similar locations. Statistical analyses show that Boanamo is an area of high species richness and heterogeneity, consistent with comparable surveys in other areas of primary lowland rainforest in Amazonia. In addition, we documented nine distinct ways and 130 different usages in which 43 species are utilized in Boanamo. To estimate the importance of mammal diversity, we used a Cultural Importance Index, which shows that the species with the highest value are Panthera onca and Nasua nasua. However, the most frequently hunted species were Tayassu pecari and Lagothrix lagothricha. Our final conclusion is the community of Boanamo is entirely dependent on the surrounding forest, and mammals are an important part of their culture and subsistence.

Using ICPC-2 Standard to Identify Thai Zingiberaceae of Pharmacological Interest

The Economic Botany Data Collection Standard (EBDCS) is a widely used standard among ethnobotanists. However, this standard classifies ethnomedicinal uses into categories based on local peoples’ perception. It is difficult to apply in pharmacological research. The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), now updated to ICPC-2, is more related to medical terms, but is rarely used among ethnobotanists. This study aims to apply the ICPC-2 to classify metadata of the ethnomedicinal uses of Zingiberaceae plants in Thailand, in order to identify important medicinal taxa for future research. Data on the ethnomedicinal uses of Thai gingers were collected from 62 theses, journal articles, scientific reports and a book, published between 1990 and 2019. Scientific plant names were updated using The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) website. Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) was used to identify the medicinal issues commonly treated with gingers, and the Cultural Importance Index (CI) was used to identify species that might have pharmacological potential. We found records of 76 ginger species with ethnomedicinal uses, and together they had 771 use reports. The gingers were commonly used for treatments related to digestive system conditions, particularly abdominal pain and flatulence. Gingers remain exceedingly important in Thai ethnomedicine, with a high number of useful species. They are used to treat a variety of health conditions, but most commonly such ones that are related to the digestive system. Apart from the popular studied ginger, Curcuma longa, we identified a number of other useful gingers in Thailand.

Ethnomedicinal Plant Knowledge of the Karen in Thailand

The Thai Karen, the largest hill-tribe in Thailand, guard substantial ethnomedicinal plant knowledge, as documented in several studies that targeted single villages. Here, we have compiled information from all the reliable and published sources to present a comprehensive overview of the Karen ethnomedicinal plant knowledge. Our dataset covers 31 Karen villages distributed over eight provinces in Thailand. We used the Cultural Importance Index (CI) to determine which species were the most valuable to the Karen and the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) to evaluate how well distributed the knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants was in various medicinal use categories. In the 31 Karen villages, we found 3188 reports of ethnomedicinal plant uses of 732 species in 150 plant families. Chromolaena odorata, Biancaea sappan, and Tinospora crispa were the most important medicinal plants, with the highest CI values. The Leguminosae, Asteraceae, Zingiberaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Acanthaceae, Apocynaceae, and Menispermaceae were the families with the highest CI values in the mentioned order. A high proportion of all the 3188 Karen use reports were used to treat digestive, general and unspecified, musculoskeletal, and skin disorders.

Variability between socio-cultural groups and generations of traditional knowledge of the use of Euphorbia poissonii Pax in Benin

This study was conducted in the Municipality of Savalou to assess endogenous knowledge related to the use of Euphorbia poissonii in the Mahi and Nago ethnic groups. The survey was conducted through individual interviews with 112 people. The Relative Frequency, the Use Value, Fidelity and Cultural Importance index were used to assess the importance of each use. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to describe the relationship between the categories of use and ethnicities and between the parts used of the plant and the ethnics groups. The analysis showed that the plant, Euphorbia poissonii, falls under three levels of major medicinal use, including: medicinal use of the stem, sap and leaf, which is the most common practice of the Mahi sociocultural group (UV=1.58) like Nago (UV=1.35). It helps to effectively treat measles (FL=23.08), incurable wounds (FL=22.30) and scorpion sting (FL=22.30). Powder, infusion and decoction are the forms of preparation of the products most used by the skin. The two socio-cultural groups all hold and effectively various knowledge of the use of different derivatives of the plant. The importance and increasing use of Euphorbia poissonii puts this plant under various pressures and threats from the population and it has no conservation measures to this day. Finally, this study not only alerts but also provides a scientific basis to define strategies for the conservation and protection of this neglected species.

High-Value Plant Species Used for the Treatment of “Fever” by the Karen Hill Tribe People

The symptom “fever” is generally not itself a terminal condition. However, it does occur with common mild to severe ailments afflicting the world population. Several allopathic medicines are available to attenuate fever by targeting the pathogen or the symptom itself. However, many people in marginal civilizations are obligated to use locally grown medicinal plants due to limited access to common pharmaceuticals. The Karen ethnic group is the biggest ethnic minority group in the hill-tribes of Thailand. They utilise a vast repertoire of medicinal plant species. Since many modern drugs were discovered out of traditional therapies, it is possible to discover new allopathic drugs in the treatment of fever and associated pathogens from the Karen people. Thus, this study aims to identify and record the ethnomedicinal plants they used for the treatment of “fever”. The names of plants used by the Thai Karen people for the treatment of fever were mined from publications on ethnomedicinal uses. Useful plant species and families were identified using the Cultural Importance Index (CI). With the mined data, 125 plant species from 52 families were identified, distributed across 25 Karen villages. A chemical cross-examination of these species provided valuable insights into chemical classes worthy of further investigation in the context of fever and associated pathogens.

Traditional Knowledge of Wild Edible Plants of Biga (Çanakkale), Turkey

Biga, located in the southwestern part of the Marmara Region of Turkey, is the largest district of Çanakkale. Wild edible plants and the ways in which they are used in Biga have not previously been documented. This ethnobotanical study of Biga was conducted between June 2011 and September 2014. In this study, we recorded information such as the local names of plants, the manner in which they are used, and the particular parts of the plants used. The cultural importance index was calculated for each taxon. One hundred and sixty-five interviews were conducted in 49 villages. The study revealed that 55 wild edible plant taxa belonging to 41 genera are used in this area. The most frequently used families are Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae, and Apiaceae. The genera that represented the greatest number of taxa included <em>Rumex</em> (six taxa), <em>Thymus</em>, <em>Eryngium</em>, <em>Mentha</em>, <em>Oenanthe</em>, <em>Papaver</em>, <em>Prunus</em>, <em>Rubus</em>, and <em>Urtica</em> (each containing two taxa). The most culturally important species were <em>Urtica dioica</em>, <em>U. urens</em>, <em>Malva sylvestris</em>, <em>Thymus longicaulis</em> subsp. <em>longicaulis</em> var. <em>subisophyllus</em>, and <em>Cornus mas</em>. Local people consumed plants in the form of vegetables, fruits, beverages like herbal teas, spices, and other products. Edible parts of plants included leaves, aerial parts, young stems, and fruits. The results of our study showed that even in districts located close to cities, the use of wild edible plants still continues.