Effect of Gender on the Knowledge of Medicinal Plants: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Knowledge of medicinal plants is not only one of the main components in the structure of knowledge in local medical systems but also one of the most studied resources. This study uses a systematic review and meta-analysis of a compilation of ethnobiological studies with a medicinal plant component and the variable of gender to evaluate whether there is a gender-based pattern in medicinal plant knowledge on different scales (national, continental, and global). In this study, three types of meta-analysis are conducted on different scales. We detect no significant differences on the global level; women and men have the same rich knowledge. On the national and continental levels, significant differences are observed in both directions (significant for men and for women), and a lack of significant differences in the knowledge of the genders is also observed. This finding demonstrates that there is no gender-based pattern for knowledge on different scales

The role of gender in the knowledge of medicinal plants and the resilience of local medical systems

O gênero é uma das variáveis mais estudadas que influencia na variação intra e intercultural do conhecimento nos sistemas médicos locais. A sua relação com os componentes estruturais e funcionais destes sistemas a coloca como uma variável importante a ser analisada, considerando seu papel e sua influencia na resiliência dos sistemas médicos locais. No entanto, estudos etnobiológicos que têm o objetivo de entender como os sistemas médicos são mantidos, não analisam o gênero associado a fatores que são importantes na resiliência dos sistemas, como a redundância utilitária e a transmissão do conhecimento, mediante uma perspectiva estrutural e funcional. Este estudo possui três objetivos específicos: 1) analisar se existe um padrão no conhecimento de plantas medicinais entre homens e mulheres em diferentes escalas; 2) analisar como o gênero contribui para a resiliência dos sistemas médicos locais; e 3) analisar se a dinâmica do papel social de cada gênero no núcleo familiar influencia na variação do conhecimento de plantas medicinais entre gênero. Para o primeiro objetivo, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática e meta-análise em diferentes escalas (país, continente e global), considerando 61 estudos etnobotânicos que analisaram a diferença do conhecimento entre homens e mulheres em diferentes comunidades do mundo. No segundo e terceiro foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas, considerando o conhecimento médico local da comunidade indígena Fulni-ô, avaliando informações como o conhecimento de plantas medicinais entre homens e mulheres, a redundância utilitária dos alvos terapêuticos, o compartilhamento, os modelos de transmissões do conhecimento sobre plantas medicinais entre gêneros, o papel social, fontes de obtenção do recurso, diversidade de modelos aos que se aplica o tratamento e a preferência do uso de plantas medicinais entre gêneros. Os resultados do primeiro objetivo mostram que existe uma variação do conhecimento a diferentes escalas e esta não é unidirecional, mostranto que tanto homens como mulheres podem possuir um maior conhecimento de plantas medicinais ou pode não haver diferenças no conhecimento entre gêneros. As análises realizadas para a resiliência do sistema mostram que os homens da comunidade indígena Fulni-ô contribuem mais na resiliência do sistema médico local Fulni-ô, no entanto as mulheres contribuem mais na funcionalidade. Os resultados das análises sobre o papel social mostraram que a dinâmica do papel social de cada gênero dentro do núcleo familiar influencia a variação no conhecimento de plantas medicinais entre os gêneros. Neste estudo se conclui que o gênero tem um papel importante na resiliência dos sistemas médicos locais ao influenciar a estrutura, a função e a funcionalidade do sistema, no entanto esse papel varia com relação a cada gênero devido a dinâmica do papel social de cada gênero na sociedade, ressaltando que essa variação é diferente entre as escalas global, continental e de país. Com base nas conclusões, são necesairos estudos futuros com uma perspectiva multifatorial, e não unidirecional, considerando a dinâmica destes sistema socioecológico.The gender is one of the most studied variables that influence on the intra and intercultural knowledge variation in local medical systems. Its relationship with the structural and functional components of these systems poses as an important variable to be analysed, considering its role and influence on the resilience of the local medical systems. However, etnobiologic studies that were designed to understand how medical systems are maintained, have not described the gender associated with factors that are important in the resilience of systems, such as, utilitarian redundancy and the transmission of knowledge, through a structural and functional perspective. This study has three specific objectives to analyze the gender variable: 1) examine whether there is a pattern in the knowledge of medicinal plants between men and women on different scales; 2) analyze how gender contributes to the resilience of the local medical systems; and 3) analyze whether the dynamics of the social role of each genus in the family nucleus has influence on the variation of knowledge of medicinal plants between gender. For the first objective, we have carried out a systematic review and meta-analyses in different scales (country, continent, global), whereas 61 Ethnobotanical studies which analysed the difference in the knowledge gap between men and women in different communities in the world. In the second and third objective, we performed semi-structured interviews, in the indigenous community Fulni-ô, in their knowledge of the local medical system, evaluating information like, the knowledge of medicinal plants between men and women, the utility redundancy of the therapeutic targets, the sharing, the models of diffusion of knowledge about medicinal plants between genders, the social role, sources of obtaining the resource, diversity of models in which to apply the treatment and the preference of using medicinal plants between genders. The results of the first goal show that there is a variation of knowledge in different scales and it is not unidirectional, men and women may have a greater knowledge of medicinal plants or almost do not have differences. The analyses performed for the resilience of the system show that the men of the Fulni-ô indigenous community contribute more in local medical system resilience however, women contribute more in functionality. The results of the analysis of the social role showed that the dynamics of this, related to each gender within the family nucleus, influences the variation in knowledge of medicinal plants between genders. This study concludes that gender plays an important role in local medical system resilience, to influence the structure, function and system functionality, however this role varies for each gender because of the dynamics of the social role of each gender in society, pointing out that this variation is different between the global and continental scales of the country. Based on the conclusions, future studies have to be performed with a multifactorial perspective, not unidirectional one, considering the dynamics of this social-ecological system

Medicinal plant knowledge in Caribbean Basin: a comparative study of Afrocaribbean, Amerindian and Mestizo communities

International audienceBackground: The Caribbean Basin has complex biogeographical and cultural histories that have shaped its highly diverse botanical and cultural landscapes. As a result, the current ethnic composition of the Basin is a heterogeneous mixture including Amerindian, Afrocaribbean and a wide range of Mestizo populations. A comparison was done of the medicinal plant repertoires used by these groups to identify the proportion of native species they include and any differences between the groups. Methods: The TRAMIL program has involved application of ethnopharmacological surveys to gather data on the medicinal plants used for primary care in 55 locations the Caribbean Basin. Three Afrocaribbean, three Amerindian and three Mestizo communities were selected taking in account the Ethnic prevalence. Differences in native and exotic plant used by groups and between groups were done using contingency tables. Identification of differences in the numbers of native and exotic plants used within each group was done with a one sample Z-test for proportions. Similarity in medicinal species use was estimated using the Sørensen Similarity Index. Species use value (UV) was estimated and a principal components analysis (PCA) run to determine differences between groups. Results: The 1,753 plant records generated from the surveys of the nine communities included in the analysis covered 389 species from 300 genera and 98 families. The studied groups used different numbers of native and exotic species: Afrocaribbean (99 natives, 49 exotics); Amerindian (201 natives, 46 exotics); and Mestizo (63 natives, 44 exotics). The proportion of natives to exotics was significantly different in between the Afrocaribbean and Amerindian communities, and between the Amerindian and Mestizo communities, but not between the Afrocaribbean and Mestizo communities. In the PCA, the groups were disparate in terms of the use value they assigned to the medicinal species; these were determined according to species with high use value and those used exclusively be a particular group Conclusions: Although migration, cultural intermixing and a consequent hybridization of medicinal plant knowledge have occurred in the Caribbean Basin, the results highlight differences between the three studied groups in terms of the medicinal plant repertoire they employ for primary health care

Are ethnopharmacological surveys useful for the discovery and development of drugs from medicinal plants?

Ethnopharmacological and ethnobotanical approaches are described in the literature as efficient to identify plants of interest for phytochemical and pharmacological studies. In the present work, we reflect on the quality of the data collected in ethno-directed studies. In accordance to the problems identified in published studies, and their theoretical and methodological underpinnings, we believe that these studies are poorly suited to contribute to the advancement of research aimed at the development of novel drugs

Temporal evaluation of the Conservation Priority Index for medicinal plants

ABSTRACT We investigated, through a temporal comparison, the extraction of non-timber forest resources by quantitatively analyzing the Conservation Priority Index (CPI). The study focused on the Fulni-ô Indigenous Territory, in the municipality of Águas Belas, PE (Northeast Brazil), which is characterized by caatinga vegetation (seasonal dry forest). Information on the availability of the exploited resources and the reported use of the species were obtained from vegetation sampling and semi-structured interviews, respectively. Our results demonstrated a reduction in species richness overtime, which may be due to continued resource extraction in the area, and that some species with low densities were even more affected. The species reported as being at high risk in the current study apparently did not differ from their status in the previous study, which supports the idea that these species are most evident in this situation more for their high potential of use than for their high densities. When we associate these events together with the disappearance of some rare species, we can conclude that the CPI was not efficient in predicting changes, and that the combination of variables used with the biological variables of the species needs to be adjusted