Departamento de Botánica
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/32294
2024-03-28T15:58:15ZComparison of Lamiaceae medicinal uses in eastern Morocco and eastern Andalusia and in Ibn al-Baytar's Compendium of Simple Medicaments (13th century CE)
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/89914
Comparison of Lamiaceae medicinal uses in eastern Morocco and eastern Andalusia and in Ibn al-Baytar's Compendium of Simple Medicaments (13th century CE)
El Gharbaoui, Asmaa; Benítez Cruz, Guillermo; González-Tejero García, María Reyes; Molero Mesa, Joaquín; Merzouki, A.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
Transmission of traditional knowledge over time and across culturally and historically related territories is an important topic in ethnopharmacology. Here, we contribute to this knowledge by analysing data on medicinal uses in two neighbouring areas of the Western Mediterranean in relation to a historical text that has been scarcely mentioned in historical studies despite its interest.
AIM OF THE STUDY
This paper discusses the sharing of popular knowledge on the medicinal uses of plants between eastern Morocco and eastern Andalusia (Spain), focusing on one of the most useful plant families in the Mediterranean area: Lamiaceae. Moreover, we used the classical work of Ibn al-Baytar (13th century CE) The Compendium of Simple Medicaments and Foods as a basis to contrast the possible link of this information, analysing the influence of this historical text on current popular tradition of medicinal plant use in both territories.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
For data collection, we performed ethnobotanical field research in the eastern part of Morocco, recording current medicinal uses for the Lamiaceae. In addition, we systematically reviewed the ethnobotanical literature from eastern Andalusia, developing a database. We investigated the possible historical link of the shared uses and included in this database the information from Ibn al-Baytar's Compendium. To compare the similarity and diversity of the data, we used Jaccard's similarity index.
RESULTS
Our field work provided ethnobotanical information for 14 Lamiaceae species with 95 medicinal uses, serving to treat 13 different pathological groups. Of the total uses recorded in Morocco, 30.5% were shared by eastern Andalusia and found in Ibn al-Baytar's work. There was a higher similarity when comparing current uses of the geographically close territories of eastern Morocco and eastern Andalucía (64%) than for eastern Morocco and this historical text (43%). On the other hand, coincidences between current uses in eastern Andalusia and the ones related in the Compendium are lower, 28%.
CONCLUSIONS
The coincidence of the current ethnobotanical knowledge in the two territories is high for the Lamiaceae. Probably the shared historical background, recent exchanges, information flow, and the influence of the historical herbal texts have influenced this coincidence. In this sense, there is a high plant-use overlap between Ibn al-Baytar's text and both territories: nearly half of the uses currently shared by eastern Morocco and eastern Andalusia were included in the Compendium and are related to this period of Islamic medicine, indicating a high level of preservation in the knowledge of plant usage. The study of 14 species of Lamiaceae suggests that this classical codex, which includes a high number of medicinal plants and uses, constitutes a valuable bibliographical source for comparing ancient and modern applications of plants.
Advances in the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants in Eastern Andalusia, Spain
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/89104
Advances in the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants in Eastern Andalusia, Spain
Benítez Cruz, Guillermo; Molero Mesa, Joaquín; González-Tejero García, María Reyes
A model to analyse the ecology and diversity of ethnobotanical resources: case study for Granada Province, Spain
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/89100
A model to analyse the ecology and diversity of ethnobotanical resources: case study for Granada Province, Spain
Benítez Cruz, Guillermo; Molero Mesa, Joaquín; González-Tejero García, María Reyes
In recent decades, a number of ethnobotanical studies have been developed in
many territories, but only a few studies deal with the ecology of the botanical resources,
apart from those focused on the so-called ethnoecology, i.e., on the local perceptions of the
ecological issues of used plants and their environment. Ethnobotanical resources are
known by local people and are normally gathered from the wild, therefore altering the
environment in which they grow. From a performed database of all ethnobotanical
resources used in Granada Province (South Spain), we analysed several botanical issues,
such as the main represented botanical families, biological types, and the biological
spectrum. Complementing this classical analysis, in order to establish a new model to
know which habitats are more visited and therefore altered by plant collections, we performed
an ecological study. For this study, an ecological adscription of the botanical
resources was made on the basis of the phytosociological method. Some important questions
for us developed during our long time field ethnobotanical work are analysed and
commented. For example, the fact that generally people do not gather many plants from
mountain summits, only a few medicinal plants without a relative-substitute in lowlands.
Differences of the visited habitats in order to collect medicinal or edible wild plants are
also analysed. A final brief analysis deals with the relation of the ecology of some ethnobotanical
resources with their chemical compounds, focusing on alkaloidic plants: most
plants with alkaloid generally grow in nitrogen-rich soils in which any type of nitrophilous
vegetation is developed.
Knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine in the Province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/89098
Knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine in the Province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain
Benítez Cruz, Guillermo; Molero Mesa, Joaquín; González-Tejero García, María Reyes
Ethnopharmacological relevance
This paper constitutes an important contribution to the knowledge of biological resources used in ethnoveterinary practices (EVPs) in southern Europe, a territory with a clear lack of information on the subject.
Aim of the study
To catalogue, analyze, and disseminate the knowledge of plant and animal use in ethnoveterinary practices in the province of Granada. Data have been analyzed to highlight the similarities between ethnoveterinary practices and human ethnopharmacology for the same study area.
Methodology
Information was gathered through open and semi-structured interviews with local people, mainly elderly shepherds and farmers, in the western part of the province. The primary data have been supplemented with information on EVPs from previous ethnobotanical works for the province. Data were gathered using the same field methods.
Results
A total of 88 ethnoveterinary uses are documented for the treatment of 24 animal conditions. Of these, 82 uses involve 60 different plant species. Over three-quarters of these plants are also used for some human conditions in the same study area. Moreover, 6 animal species were catalogued for 6 other ethnoveterinary uses; four of these species were also used for similar conditions in humans. Ritual and health-prevention practices are also discussed.
Conclusions
EVPs in southern Spain involve a high number of species and conditions and are strongly linked to folk tradition (i.e. how local people understand certain conditions and their treatment, sometimes in a ritual manner). Unfortunately, some evidence of their slow disappearance has been found.
Cross-cultural and histórical traceability of ethnomedicinal Asteraceae. Eastern Morocco and Eastern Andalusia: Two sides of a sea in 20 centuries of history. South African Journal of Botany
https://hdl.handle.net/10481/87825
Cross-cultural and histórical traceability of ethnomedicinal Asteraceae. Eastern Morocco and Eastern Andalusia: Two sides of a sea in 20 centuries of history. South African Journal of Botany
Benítez Cruz, Guillermo; El Gharbaoui, Asmaa; Zahrae Redouan, Fatima; González-Tejero García, María Reyes; Molero Mesa, Joaquín; Merzouki, A.
The aim of the study is to analyse the sharing and dissimilarities of current popular knowledge on the medicinal uses of plants in two neighbouring areas of the Western Mediterranean with a shared historical background: Eastern Morocco and Eastern Andalusia (Spain), focusing on the most important botanical family in both territories, the Asteraceae. Data on the Moroccan traditional use of the plants were gathered in an ethnobotanical field research. For comparison, a database was developed containing these data and those from the reviews of the ethnobotanical literature from Eastern Andalusia, and three historical important herbals. Statistical analysis was performed using clustering hierarchical analysis and Jaccard´s similarity index. Results show that in Morocco, 10 taxa of the family are used to treat 45 medical conditions of 10 pathological groups. The whole database reached 380 use records to treat 64 conditions across time and both cultures. The consensus of current ethnobotanical knowledge in the two studied territories is high, as 35.5% of uses are practised in both territories. Among coincident uses in the 5 information sources, most are currently accepted-approved through phytotherapeutical and ethnopharmacological studies. Nearly 70% of the uses included in Ibn al-Baytar´s codex are of previous unknown origin. The high coincidence in the current use in both territories seems to be influenced by: 1. the shared historical context and medical traditions for several centuries and 2. the validity and pharmacological effectiveness of the plants: well ethnopharmacologicaly studied uses are transmitted both through time and territories or cultures.
Keywords: Ethnomedicine; Compositae; Ibn al-Baytar; Dioscorides; Quer; Morocco; Andalusia; Historical studies on medicinal plants