Ethnomedicinal Plant Knowledge of the Karen in Thailand

Phumthum, Methee; Balslev, Henrik; Kantasrila, Rapeeporn; Kaewsangsai, Sukhumaabhorn; Inta, Angkhana

doi:10.3390/plants9070813

Cited by 17 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…For example, Leguminosae was widely used in traditional medicines in Southeast Asian countries, whereas Asparagiaceae and Orchidaceae were widely used by the Chuanqing people. The reason for this difference was that Leguminosae was widely distributed in tropical flora and available in these countries [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. The area of southwest China populated by the Chuanqing people is a typical karst landform, with the majority of the plants distributed in Asparagaceae and Orchidaceae [45][46][47].…”

Section: Comparison With Chp the Qsg And Southeast Asian Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnobotanical study on herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival of Chuanqing people in China

Wang

Zhao

Chi

et al. 2021

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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Background The Chuanqing people (穿青人) are a linguistic group native to the Guizhou Province of China, with unique culture and rich knowledge of traditional medicinal plants. Herbal market at Dragon Boat Festival (DBF) plays an important role in the inheritance of traditional medicinal knowledge among the Chuanqing people. This study aims to record the profile of medicinal plants of the Chuanqing people, discuss the dilemmas faced by their inheritance, and propose some strategies for passing down information, which is critical for the inheritance and protection of the Chuanqing people’s traditional medical knowledge. Methods Data were collected through key informants and semi-structured interviews and free listing. Collected voucher specimens were identified using by botanical taxonomy method and deposited in the herbarium. Data were analyzed through use-value (UV) and cultural importance index (CI) values. Medicinal plants were compared with the Information System of Chinese Rare and Endangered Plants of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Results were compared with the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (ChP), the Quality Standard of Traditional Chinese Medicine and National Medicine in Guizhou Province (QSG), and traditional medicines of Southeast Asian countries. Results A total of 102 species from 53 families and 92 genera were recorded, with Orchidaceae and Asparagaceae (six species each), and Berberidaceae and Asteraceae (five species each) as the predominant families. The whole plant (36%) was the most common medicinal part. Decoction (44%) was the most common preparation method. Seventy-one investigated human ailments were grouped into 12 categories. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system (34 mentions) were most frequently mentioned in this study. Moreover, the most frequently used taxon was Hedera sinensis (Tobler) Hand.-Mazz. (UV and CI = 0.29). The Chuanqing people’s medicine was highly similar to ChP and QSG. In comparison with Southeast Asian countries’ traditional medicines, except for the same preparation methods, the similarities in terms of medicinal ingredients, plants, and disease treatment were very low. Conclusions The herbal market at the DBF is an important platform for exchanging knowledge about the Chuanqing people’s traditional medicinal plants. The Chuanqing people’s traditional medicine is facing many challenges to its inheritance and development. To solve these problems, this study highlights the traditional medicinal knowledge of the Chuanqing people, providing basic data for further research and protection of minority medicine.

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Section: Comparison With Chp the Qsg And Southeast Asian Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnobotanical study on herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival of Chuanqing people in China

Wang

Zhao

Chi

et al. 2021

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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“…The Karen and the Hmong are the largest ethnic minorities in Thailand ( HHDC, 2018 ). Both groups have vast traditional knowledge of medicinal plant uses ( Phumthum, 2020 ; Phumthum et al, 2020 ). Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used by these ethnic minorities is mostly unique to each group ( Phumthum and Balslev, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medicinal Plants Used for Treating Mild Covid-19 Symptoms Among Thai Karen and Hmong

2021

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many severe problems globally, and it is not known for how long it will last. The only hope we have for dealing with the problem is to produce sufficient vaccines and administer them efficiently. However, the current demand for vaccines greatly exceeds the supply, and many people will suffer from the disease for still some time. Moreover, the period for immunity obtained by the vaccines remains unknown, and we cannot predict how long the world will suffer the COVID-19 infections. Therefore, there will be a continued demand for treatments of its symptoms. An alternative solution for providing such treatment is the use of traditional medicinal plants.Aims: To document medicinal plants used by Hmong and Karen in Thailand to treat mild symptoms of COVID-19.Methods: Traditional knowledge about ethnomedicinal plants used by Hmong and Karen in Thailand for treating mild symptoms listed by WHO as associated with COVID 19, was collected in field interviews and extracted from the literature.Results: We identified 491 plant species used medicinally by both ethnic groups to treat fever, cough, diarrhea, muscle pain and ache, rash, headache, sore throat, and conjunctivitis. Of the 491 species 60 were mentioned at least five times in the literature or in our field data. Of these 60 species, we propose the most commonly used ones for treatments of mild COVID-19 symptoms. Ten of these most commonly mentioned species were used for treatments of fever, nine for treatment of cough, four for treatment of diarrhea, two for treatment of rash, and a single species was used to treat muscle pain and headache.Conclusion: This study suggests alternative treatments for mild symptoms of COVID-19 with medicinal plants that are traditionally used by the ethnic minority groups of the Hmong and Karen in Thailand. Although COVID-19 is a new disease, its mild symptoms are shared with many other diseases. Traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used by the Thai Karen and Hmong could help in the treatments of these symptoms associated with COVID-19. Many of the proposed plants were used abundantly by both ethnic groups, and other studies on biological activities support their efficacy in such treatments.

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“…Leguminosae was widely used in traditional medicines of the Southeast Asian countries, and Asparagiaceae and Orchidaceae were widely used by the Chuanqing. The reason for this difference was that Leguminosae was widely distributed in tropical ora and provided many medicinal species in these countries [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. The living area of Chuanqing people was a typical karst landform, with the most plants distributed in Asparagaceae and Orchidaceae [46][47][48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wang

Zhao

Chi

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The Chuanqing (穿青人) are an ethnic group native to the Guizhou Province of China, with a unique culture and rich knowledge of traditional medicinal plants. The herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival (DBF) plays an important role in the inheritance of traditional medicinal knowledge among the Chuanqing. This study aims to record the profile of medicinal plants of the Chuanqing, discuss the dilemmas faced by its inheritance and propose strategies. Such information is important for the inheritance and protection of the Chuanqing’s traditional medical knowledge. Methods: Data were collected through key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews and free listing. The collected voucher specimens were identified and deposited in the herbarium. The medicinal plants were compared with the Information System of Chinese Rare and Endangered Plants of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results were compared with those of the pharmacopeia of the People's Republic of China (ChP) and the Quality Standard of TCM, and National Medicine in Guizhou Province (QSG) and traditional medicines of Southeast Asian countries. 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 Asteraceae (5 species each) as the predominant families. Whole plant (36%) was the most common medicinal part. Decoction (44%) was the most common preparation method. Seventy-one investigated human ailments were grouped into 12 categories. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system (34 mentions) were the most frequently mentioned in this study. Moreover, the most frequently used taxon was Hedera sinensis (Tobler) Hand.-Mazz. (UV and CI=0.29). A total of 9 medicinal plants were recorded in the Information System of Chinese Rare and Endangered Plants of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Chuanqing’s medicine had high similarity with ChP and QSG. While it had a high similarity in preparation method, and low similarity in medicinal parts, plant families and disease treatments with traditional medicines in Southeast Asian countries.Conclusions: The traditional herbal market at the DBF is an important platform for communicating traditional medicinal plant knowledge of the Chuanqing. There are some differences and connections between the Chuanqing's medicine, Chinese traditional medicines, and traditional medicines in Southeast Asian countries. The Chuanqing's traditional medicine is facing many difficulties in the inheritance and development. More scientific research and policies planning are needed to solve it. This study highlights the traditional medicinal knowledge of the Chuanqing, providing basic data for further research on and protection of minority medicine.

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Ethnomedicinal Plant Knowledge of the Karen in Thailand

Cited by 17 publications

References 26 publications

Ethnobotanical study on herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival of Chuanqing people in China

Ethnobotanical study on herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival of Chuanqing people in China

Medicinal Plants Used for Treating Mild Covid-19 Symptoms Among Thai Karen and Hmong

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

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