van Andel Tinde, Fundiko Marie-Cakupewa C
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Econ Bot. 2016;70(4):405-415. doi: 10.1007/s12231-016-9365-8. Epub 2016 Dec 16.
Maintaining cultural identity and preference to treat cultural bound ailments with herbal medicine are motivations for migrants to continue using medicinal plants from their home country after moving to Europe and the USA. As it is generally easier to import exotic food than herbal medicine, migrants often shift to using species that double as food and medicine. This paper focuses on the trade in African medicinal plants in a Congolese neighborhood in Brussels (Belgium). What African medicinal plants are sold in Matonge, where do they come from, and to which extent are they food medicines? Does vendor ethnicity influence the diversity of the herbal medicine sold? We hypothesized that most medicinal plants, traders, and clients in Matonge were of Congolese origin, most plants used medicinally were mainly food crops and that culture-bound illnesses played a prominent role in medicinal plant use. We carried out a market survey in 2014 that involved an inventory of medicinal plants in 19 shops and interviews with 10 clients of African descent, voucher collection and data gathering on vernacular names and uses. We encountered 83 medicinal plant species, of which 71% was primarily used for food. The shredded leaves of Welw., Crantz, and (L.) Lam were among the most frequently sold vegetables with medicinal uses. Cola nuts, shea butter, (L.) Burm.f., and (Hook.f.). Skeels were the main non-food medicines sold. Women's health, aphrodisiacs, and rituals were the most important medicinal applications, but culture-bound ailments did not entirely dominate the plant uses. While most clients in Matonge were Congolese, most vendors and plant species were not. The Pakistanis dominated the food trade, and typical Congolese plants were sometimes replaced by West African species, creating confusion in vernacular names. African-managed shops had significantly more species of medicinal plants in stock than shops managed by Pakistanis. Almost all non-food herbal medicine was sold by Africans. Apart from informal shops, non-food herbal medicine was also sold from private homes and by ambulant vendors, probably to reduce costs and escape taxes and control by the authorities. We expect that in the future, increasing rent, strict regulations, and decreasing investments by the Congolese community will force the medicinal plant trade in Matonge to go even more underground.
保持文化认同以及倾向于使用草药治疗文化相关疾病，是移民在迁往欧洲和美国后仍继续使用原产国药用植物的动机。由于进口异国食物通常比进口草药更容易，移民们常常转而使用兼具食物和药物双重功能的物种。本文聚焦于比利时布鲁塞尔一个刚果人社区内非洲药用植物的贸易情况。在马通格出售哪些非洲药用植物，它们来自哪里，以及在何种程度上它们是药食两用的？摊主的种族是否会影响所售草药的多样性？我们假设马通格的大多数药用植物、贸易商和客户都来自刚果，大多数药用植物主要是粮食作物，并且与文化相关的疾病在药用植物的使用中起着重要作用。我们在2014年进行了一项市场调查，包括对19家店铺中的药用植物进行清点，对10名非洲裔客户进行访谈，收集凭证以及收集有关当地名称和用途的数据。我们共发现了83种药用植物物种，其中71%主要用于食用。刺果番荔枝、柯拉豆和油棕的碎叶是最常出售的具有药用价值的蔬菜。可乐果、乳木果、辣木和假虎刺是主要出售的非食用药物。女性健康、壮阳药和仪式是最重要的药用用途，但与文化相关的疾病并未完全主导植物的使用。虽然马通格的大多数客户是刚果人，但大多数摊主和植物物种并非如此。巴基斯坦人主导着食品贸易，典型的刚果植物有时会被西非物种取代，这导致当地名称出现混淆。由非洲人经营的店铺所储存的药用植物物种明显多于由巴基斯坦人经营的店铺。几乎所有非食用草药都是由非洲人出售的。除了非正式店铺外，非食用草药也从私人住宅出售，并由流动摊贩出售，这可能是为了降低成本并逃避当局的税收和管控。我们预计，未来租金上涨、严格的监管以及刚果社区投资减少，将迫使马通格的药用植物贸易更加转入地下。
