Volume 187, 1 July 2016, Pages 146–159
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
In
rural areas of Mexico the impact of modernization has changed
healthcare and health seeking behaviour to varying degrees. This has
rarely been accounted for when discussing and comparing medicinal
floras. The ethnomedical system of the Zoque has never before been
systematically studied.
Aim of the study
The
objective of this study was to document medical practices and medicinal
plant knowledge of the Zoque of Chiapas and Oaxaca, the latter being
more strongly affected by acculturation. The medicinal floras are
compared in order to detect similarities and differences and
establishing links to the cultural transformation.
Methods
Research
was carried out in a total of nine Zoque municipalities, attempting to
adequately represent the cultural and ecological diversity of the Zoque
territory. Standard anthropological and ethnobotanical methods were used
for data collection. The recorded medicinal uses were classified into
17 disease categories according to emic medical concepts. In each
category, the recorded taxa were rank-ordered based on number of
use-reports and the informant consensus factor was calculated. The
characteristics of the disease categories and the most salient taxa were
compared across the two field sites.
Results and discussion
A
total of 6598 use-reports on 544 species have been collected. With the
strongly acculturated Zoque of Oaxaca we have documented a considerably
less extensive medicinal flora. The ethnopharmacopoeias of the two Zoque
groups share 144 species. These species are of over-proportionate
salience, accounting for two-thirds of the total use-reports. In both
field sites gastrointestinal disorders are of particular importance,
followed by women's diseases, respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal
ailments. Children's and spiritual illnesses seem to have lost their
importance in Oaxaca, as the underlying concepts are often considered
backwards and superstitious.
Conclusion
While
it is difficult to establish a quantitative causal relation between
acculturation and medicinal plant knowledge, in qualitative terms there
are clear indicators for the changes acculturation has brought about in
the medical system of the Zoque of Oaxaca. The results suggest the
development of an increasingly homogenized pan-Mesoamerican medicinal
flora.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Acculturation;
- Cross-cultural comparison;
- Medical ethnobotany;
- Mexico;
- Mesoamerica;
- Traditional medicine
© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
