Soelberg J, Asase A, Akwetey G, Jäger A K
Museum of Natural Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Universitetsparken 2, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Botany, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 55 Legon, Ghana.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Feb 3;160:109-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2014.11.036. Epub 2014 Dec 2.
Three extraordinary, historical documents stemming from observations made in 1697, 1803 and 1817 quote medicinal plant uses among the Fante, Ga and Ashanti people of present-day Ghana, and can be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.
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.
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.
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.
三份源自1697年、1803年和1817年观察记录的非凡历史文献，记载了当今加纳的芳蒂族、加族和阿散蒂族使用药用植物的情况，并且这些记载可以与欧洲植物标本馆中的原始植物标本相对应。这提供了一个独特的机会，来深入了解加纳的历史药物学，并将其与当代药用植物的使用情况进行比较。通过严谨的文献和分类学审查，本研究（重新）确立了许多重要加纳药用植物的已知最早历史，并评估了加纳药用植物知识随时间的变化和流失规模。该研究为在当地或民族药理学背景下重建已失传或已停用的加纳植物用途奠定了基础。
历史植物标本存于哥本哈根大学植物标本馆（C）和英国自然历史博物馆（BM）。为该研究更新了标本的分类和同义词，并将植物的历史方言名称和药用用途与20世纪/21世纪的文献进行了比较。对历史上记载的加族药物学中的植物进行了（重新）采集，以辅助半结构化访谈。访谈旨在记录加族中这些植物的当代用途和名称，并确定历史药用用途和名称在多大程度上仍然存在。
该研究确定了加纳历史上有药用记载的100种植物，它们与134种独特用途以及阿散蒂语/芳蒂语（阿散蒂族/芳蒂族）和加语中的105个方言名称相关。这些植物大多在加纳很常见。如今，至少52%的历史方言名称似乎仍在使用。在特定的历史用途中，41种（31%）在加纳当代药用植物用途中仍有迹可循，它们代表了一些最重要的加纳药用植物种类。然而，93种（69%）历史用途无法追溯，似乎已停用或被遗忘。在加族中，有两种药用植物变得稀少或在当地灭绝，因此，绝大多数知识的流失似乎是由于文化灭绝。
科学可靠的凭证材料有助于识别大量历史药用植物及其在2至300年前加纳传统医学体系中的根源。加纳的芳蒂族、加族和阿散蒂族的药物学随着时间的推移发生了很大变化。那些“被遗忘”的历史用途值得进一步研究，以确定这些植物的药理活性。这可为在循证医学现代背景下重建历史药用植物用途提供基础。
