Study of the genus Curcuma in Indonesia used as traditional herbal medicines

Abstract

Abstract. Subositi D, Wahyono S. 2019. Study of the genus Curcuma in Indonesia used as traditional herbal medicines. Biodiversitas 20: 1356-1361. Research into local knowledge is very important in providing a database of medicinal plants and as a basis for further research. The genus Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) has been used as medicines and other purposes, so it has a high economic value. The aim of this study was to record the use of the species of the genus Curcuma as traditional herbal medicines in Indonesia. The study was a part of a project called RISTOJA (Research on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Herbal Medicines), which collected data from 415 ethnic groups in Indonesia from 2012 to 2017. A purposive sampling method was used to select 2,354 respondents (traditional healers) for interviews, 1,042 of whom used Curcuma as herbal medicines. It was found that eight species of the genus were used to treat 73 different ailments. Curcuma longa was found to have the highest relative frequency of citation (0.274) and use value (0.563), and members of the genus Curcuma were found to be extensively used to treat a wide variety of ailments in Indonesia.

Diversity of medicinal plants utilized by To Manui ethnic of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…From 89 species of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in To Manui ethnic and relevance with previous research (Subositi and Wahyono 2019), it was reported whether Curcuma longa L is the most widely used medicinal plant and has the highest use value index (1.6) (as shown in Figure 1 and Table 1). The species with the highest use value index are actually great importance to the local communities in the case of native species and also very pivotal to be one of the considerations in local biological conservation strategies (Mayo et al 2015).…”

Rising to the occasion: outlining Ethnobiologists’ response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

“…Curcumin, the principal curcuminoid of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is known for its capability to block cytokine release (Sordillo & Helson 2015). Plants of the genus Curcuma form an important ingredient in many traditional formulations of South and Southeast Asia (Sanatombi & Sanatombi 2017;Subositi & Wahyono 2019). In addition, a wide variety of species that are traditionally used as foods, might be used to strengthen the immune system, and thus help to prevent the manifestation of COVID-19 (Fan et al 2020).…”

Medicinal plants and practices of Rongkong Traditional Healers in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…The rhizome of Zingiberaceae is popularly used to treat various ailments, including skin problems, fever, diarrhea and bone injury. There are 1,326 information of uses to treat various ailments using C. longa has been recorded from 644 traditional healers, and 281 information on C. zanthorrhiza from 172 traditional healers, from all over Indonesia (Subositi and Wahyono 2019). However, only two species of Curcuma were found to be used in Rongkong.…”