The historical development of pharmacopoeias and the inclusion of exotic herbal drugs with a focus on Europe and Brazil.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: In spite of the rich bio-cultural diversity found in the Neotropics relatively few herbal drugs native to South America are included in the global pharmacopoeia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the attempt to historically explain the inclusion of herbal drugs into official pharmacopoeias we consider the disparate epidemiology and cultural evolution of the New and the Old World. We then trace the development of pharmacopoeias and review forces that worked towards and against the synchronization of pharmacopoeias and highlight the role of early chemical and pharmacological studies in Europe. Finally, we compare the share of exotic and native herbal drug species included in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia with the share of exotic and native species included in the European Pharmacopoeia as well as those used for products registered with ANVISA. RESULTS: The domination of Eurasian herbal drugs in the European Pharmacopoeia seems to be conditioned by the geographical extension of Eurasia, which facilitated the interchange of materia medica and the creation of a consensus of use since ancient times. At the time of the Conquest the epidemiology of the Amerindian populations resembled that of pre-agriculturalist societies while no written consensus around efficacious medicine existed. Subsequently, introduced and well-tried plant species of the Old World gained therapeutic importance in the New World. CONCLUSION: The research focus in Europe and the US resulted in a persistence of herbal drugs with a historic importance in the European and US pharmacopoeias, which gained a status as safe and efficacious. During the last decades only few ethnopharmacological field-studies have been conducted with indigenous Amerindian groups living in the Brazilian Amazon, which might be attributable to difficulties in obtaining research permissions. Newly adopted regulations regarding access to biodiversity and traditional knowledge as well as the simplified procedure for licencing herbal medicinal products in Brazil prospects an interesting future for those aiming at developing herbal medicine based on bio-cultural diversity and respecting the protocols regulating benefit sharing.

The taste of heat: How humoral qualities act as a cultural filter for chemosensory properties guiding herbal medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Organoleptic properties, and more specifically chemosensory cues, have been shown to guide therapeutic applications of medicinal plants. Humoral qualities, on the other hand, are widely believed to be an abstract concept, mainly applied post hoc to validate therapy. However, the nexus between humoral qualities, chemosensory properties, and medicinal plant uses has never been systematically assessed. AIM OF THE STUDY: To systematically analyse the correlations between chemosensory properties, humoral qualities, and medicinal uses of selected botanical drugs. METHODS: The issue was approached experimentally via an organoleptic testing panel, consisting of Zoque healers in Chiapas, Mexico. The healers smelled and tasted 71 selected herbal drugs and subsequently commented on their humoral qualities and therapeutic uses. The resulting dataset is analysed for correlations between these variables using Bayesian statistics. Qualitative data on the characteristics and role of the hot-cold dichotomy complement the quantitative analysis, facilitating meaningful interpretation. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results reproduce and extend the findings of previous studies, which established specific correlations between chemosensory cues and nosological units. The key predictors of drugs' therapeutic uses, however, are their humoral qualities, which are themselves conditioned by taste and smell. These findings appear to be valid for drug samples known to the participants as well as for unfamiliar samples. Thus, this study establishes the role of the hot-cold dichotomy as an important cultural filter connecting organoleptic properties and therapeutic uses of herbal drugs. CONCLUSIONS: There is considerable cross-cultural consensus in Mesoamerica for the specific correlations described in this study. Given the continued pervasiveness of the hot-cold dichotomy, humoral qualities and the underlying organoleptic properties ought to be increasingly considered in the design of pharmaceutical products as well as public health strategies. Such culturally appropriate adjustments may considerably improve the perceived quality and effectiveness of healthcare.

Acculturation and ethnomedicine: A regional comparison of medicinal plant knowledge among the Zoque of southern Mexico.

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.