Towns Alexandra M, Quiroz Diana, Guinee Lieke, de Boer Hugo, van Andel Tinde
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden University, Darwinweg 4, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden University, Darwinweg 4, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands; Biosystematics Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 6700 AP, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2014 Sep 11;155(2):1184-93. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.052. Epub 2014 Jul 1.
African medicinal plant markets offer insight into commercially important species, salient health concerns in the region, and possible conservation priorities. Still, little quantitative data is available on the trade in herbal medicine in Central Africa. The aim of this study was to identify the species, volume, and value of medicinal plant products sold on the major domestic markets in Gabon, Central Africa.
We surveyed 21 herbal market stalls across 14 of the major herbal medicine markets in Gabon, collected vouchers of medicinal plants and documented uses, vernacular names, prices, weight, vendor information and weekly sales. From these quantitative data, we extrapolated volumes and values for the entire herbal medicine market.
We encountered 263 medicinal plant products corresponding with at least 217 species. Thirteen species were encountered on one-third of the surveyed stalls and 18 species made up almost 50% of the total volume of products available daily, including the fruits of Tetrapleura tetraptera and seeds of Monodora myristica. Although bark comprised the majority of the floristic diversity (22%) and the highest percentage of daily stock (30%), the resin of IUCN red-listed species Aucoumea klaineana represented 20% of the estimated daily volume of the entire herbal market. Plants sold at the market were mainly used for ritual purposes (32%), followed by women׳s health (13%), and childcare (10%). The presence of migrant herbal vendors selling imported species, especially from Benin, was a prominent feature of the Gabonese markets.
An estimated volume of 27 t of medicinal plant products worth US$ 1.5 million is sold annually on the main Gabonese markets. Aucoumea klaineana and Garcinia kola are highlighted as frequently sold species with conservation priorities. The herbal market in Gabon is slightly higher in species diversity but lower in volume and value than recently surveyed sub-Saharan African markets.
非洲药用植物市场能让人了解具有商业重要性的物种、该地区突出的健康问题以及可能的保护重点。然而，关于中非草药贸易的定量数据仍然很少。本研究的目的是确定在中非加蓬主要国内市场上销售的药用植物产品的种类、数量和价值。
我们调查了加蓬14个主要草药市场中的21个草药摊位，收集了药用植物凭证并记录了其用途、俗名、价格、重量、供应商信息和每周销售额。根据这些定量数据，我们推断出了整个草药市场的数量和价值。
我们遇到了263种药用植物产品，对应至少217个物种。在三分之一的被调查摊位上出现了13个物种，18个物种几乎占每日可用产品总量的50%，包括四翅四棱豆的果实和肉豆蔻的种子。尽管树皮在植物种类多样性中占多数（22%）且在每日库存中占比最高（30%），但世界自然保护联盟红色名录物种奥古曼的树脂占整个草药市场估计日交易量的20%。市场上出售的植物主要用于仪式目的（32%），其次是女性健康（13%）和儿童护理（10%）。加蓬市场的一个突出特点是有流动草药供应商出售进口物种，尤其是来自贝宁的物种。
加蓬主要市场上每年估计销售27吨药用植物产品，价值150万美元。奥古曼和可乐果被列为经常销售且具有保护重点的物种。加蓬的草药市场物种多样性略高，但交易量和价值低于最近调查的撒哈拉以南非洲市场。
