Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England

In recent years, diverse scholars have addressed the issue of the chemosensory perceptions associated with traditional medicines, nevertheless there is still a distinct lack of studies grounded in the social sciences and conducted from a cross-cultural, comparative perspective. In this urban ethnobotanical field study, 254 informants belonging to the Gujarati, Kashmiri and English ethnic groups and living in Western Yorkshire in Northern England were interviewed about the relationship between taste and medicinal perceptions of five herbal drugs, which were selected during a preliminary study. The herbal drugs included cinnamon (the dried bark of Cinnamomum verum, Lauraceae), mint (the leaves of Mentha spp., Lamiaceae), garlic (the bulbs of Allium sativum, Alliaceae), ginger (the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae), and cloves (the dried flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum, Myrtaceae). The main cross-cultural differences in taste perceptions regarded the perception the perception of the spicy taste of ginger, garlic, and cinnamon, of the bitter taste of ginger, the sweet taste of mint, and of the sour taste of garlic. The part of the study of how the five selected herbal drugs are perceived medicinally showed that TK (Traditional Knowledge) is widespread among Kashmiris, but not so prevalent among the Gujarati and especially the English samples. Among Kashmiris, ginger was frequently considered to be helpful for healing infections and muscular-skeletal and digestive disorders, mint was chosen for healing digestive and respiratory troubles, garlic for blood system disorders, and cinnamon was perceived to be efficacious for infectious diseases. Among the Gujarati and Kashmiri groups there was evidence of a strong link between the bitter and spicy tastes of ginger, garlic, cloves, and cinnamon and their perceived medicinal properties, whereas there was a far less obvious link between the sweet taste of mint and cinnamon and their perceived medicinal properties, although the link did exist among some members of the Gujarati group. Data presented in this study show how that links between taste perceptions and medicinal uses of herbal drugs may be understood as bio-cultural phenomena rooted in human physiology, but also constructed through individual experiences and culture, and that these links can therefore be quite different across diverse cultures

Establishing 'Friends of Care Home' Groups

NoThis chapter presents key findings from a year long study where two `friends of care home¿ groups were established, monitored and evaluated. The authors are both qualified social workers and one has worked as an inspector of care homes whilst the other has worked as a nurse in both residential and nursing homes. Working as researchers we wanted to draw upon our experiences and understanding of care homes to develop and provide a practical contribution that could be used to raise standards in care homes. Although the notion of setting up `friends of care home¿ groups is not new, the lessons learnt from setting up such groups have not been shared through research

Relations between sweet and medicinal perceptions for mint and cinnamon

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/21</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007;3():21-21.</p><p>Published online 3 May 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1872019.</p><p></p

Comparison of the overall medicinal perception of the five selected herbal drugs across the three ethnic groups

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/21</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007;3():21-21.</p><p>Published online 3 May 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1872019.</p><p></p

Relations between bitter and spicy taste and medicinal perceptions for ginger, garlic, clove, and cinnamon

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/21</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007;3():21-21.</p><p>Published online 3 May 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1872019.</p><p></p

Relations between bitter, spicy, sweet and sour herbal drug's taste perceptions and age of the interviewees

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/21</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007;3():21-21.</p><p>Published online 3 May 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1872019.</p><p></p

Percentage of males and females perceiving the herbal drugs as "tasteless"

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Does the taste matter? Taste and medicinal perceptions associated with five selected herbal drugs among three ethnic groups in West Yorkshire, Northern England"</p><p>http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/3/1/21</p><p>Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2007;3():21-21.</p><p>Published online 3 May 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC1872019.</p><p></p

A: Cross-cultural adaptation in urban ethnobotany: The Colombian folk pharmacopoeia in London

a b s t r a c t Aim of the study: To investigate traditional health care practices and changes in medicinal plant use among the growing Colombian community in London. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical fieldwork consisted of qualitative, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 Colombians living in London and botanical identification of 46 plant species actively used as herbal remedies. Subsequently, research data were compared with literature on ethnobotany and traditional herbal medicine in the home country, using a framework on cross-cultural adaptation, adjusted for the purpose of this study. Results: Similarities and discrepancies between data and literature are interpreted as potential indicators of continuity and loss (or deculturation) of traditional remedies, respectively. Remedies used in London that are not corroborated by the literature suggest possible newly acquired uses. Conclusions: Cross-cultural adaptation related to health care practices is a multifaceted process. Persistence, loss and incorporation of remedies into the Colombian folk pharmacopoeia after migration are influenced by practical adaptation strategies as well as by symbolic-cultural motives of ethnic identity