J Ethnopharmacol. 2017 Mar 24. pii: S0378-8741(16)31578-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.03.031. [Epub ahead of print]
- 1
- Laboratoire
Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens (LEEISA),
CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300 Cayenne, France.
- 2
- Laboratoire
Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions des Systèmes Amazoniens (LEEISA),
CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, 97300 Cayenne, France. Electronic address: guillaume.odonne@gmail.com.
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
French
Guiana is a French overseas territory with a rich history of migration
that has led to a highly intercultural society. Today, its population is
one of the youngest in the French territory and is rapidly increasing.
Despite a context of cultural revival seeking "tradition", a distanced
baseline of local practices is still lacking. This work addresses some
aspects of the cultural hybridizations in progress in urban areas.
METHODS:
Semi
directed interviews were conducted with willing participants aged
between 18 and 40. Interviews took place in French Guiana's two main
urban centres: Cayenne and Saint Laurent du Maroni. People were
interviewed about the last medicinal plant they used in the preceding
year. Due to the high use of plant baths in French Guiana, a focus was
made on baths.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Eighty-three
people answered: 43 women and 40 men (mean age of 28.7 years old). In
total, 226 remedies were counted in our study, 155 single plant remedies
and 71 compound remedies leading to 316 use reports of plants from 16
cultural groups. A surprising number of 108 botanical species were
recorded. Eighty-one recipes for baths were also collected. Despite this
high citation rate, a rather low proportion of people declare a
systematic and regular recourse upon local pharmacopoeia (46%; 38/83).
Although many interviewees used plants, far from the majority used them
on a regular basis. In practice, 50% of the species (54/108 spp.; 99/316
URs) are non-native but domesticated exotic species, imported from
Asia, Europe, Africa or remote parts of America, either during
colonization, the slave trade era, or more recently with the latest
migrations.
CONCLUSION:
Although phytotherapy use is often thought to be related to countryside dwellers and older people, medicinal plants
seem to play an important role in the lives of urban French Guianese
youth. Research shows a large diversity of medicinal species used linked
with the great cultural diversity of the Guianese cities. One
characteristic of this population is the hybridization process leading
to a perpetual renewal of practices, both in terms of species and
practice.
Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.
KEYWORDS:
Creole; Guiana shield; Maroon; bita; cultural hybridization; medicinal baths; migration; urban ethnobotany
