Historical versus contemporary medicinal plant uses in Ghana
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Three
extraordinary, historical documents stemming from observations made in
1697, 1803 and 1817 quote medicinal plant uses among the Fante, Ga and
Ashanti people of present-day Ghana, and can be linked to original
botanical specimens in European herbaria. This provides a unique
opportunity to gain insight to the historical materia medica of
Ghana and compare this to contemporary medicinal plant uses. By
critical literary and taxonomic review, the present study
(re-)establishes the earliest known history of many important Ghanaian
medicinal plants, and assesses the scale of change and loss of medicinal
plant knowledge in Ghana over time. The study provides the foundation
to reconstruct lost or discontinued Ghanaian plant uses in local or
ethnopharmacological contexts.
Materials and methods
Historical
botanical specimens were located in the herbaria of University of
Copenhagen Herbarium (C) and British Museum of Natural History (BM). The
classification and synonymy of the specimens were updated for the
study, and the historical vernacular names and medicinal uses of the
plants compared with 20th/21st century literature. The plants of the
historical Ga materia medica were (re-)collected to aid in
semi-structured interviews. The interviews aimed to document the
contemporary uses and names of the plants among the Ga, and to determine
to what extent the historical medicinal uses and names are extant.
Results and discussion
The
study identified 100 species in historical medicinal use in Ghana,
which could be linked to 134 unique uses and 105 vernacular names in Twi
(Ashanti/Fante) and Ga. Most of the plants are common in Ghana. At
least 52% of the historical vernacular names appear to still be in use
today. Of the specific historical uses, 41 (31%) were traced among
contemporary medicinal plant uses in Ghana and represent some of the
most important Ghanaian medicinal plant species. However, 93 (69%) of
the historical uses could not be traced and appears to be discontinued
or forgotten. Among the Ga, two medicinal plants species have become
rare or locally extinct, and thus the vast majority of the loss of
knowledge appears to be due to cultural extinction.
Conclusions
The
scientifically strong voucher material allowed for identification of a
high number of historical medicinal plants and their roots in
traditional Ghanaian medicine systems 2–300 years ago. The materia medica
of the Fante, Ga and Ashanti of Ghana has changed considerably over
time. The “forgotten” historical uses warrant further studies to
determine the pharmacological activity of these plants. This could
provide the foundation for reconstruction of historical medicinal plant
uses in evidence-based modern contexts.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Historical materia medica;
- Ethnopharmacology;
- Ga;
- Ashanti;
- Fante;
- Ghana
- Corresponding
author at: Museum of Natural Medicine, University of Copenhagen,
Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.:
+45 3532 7900.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
