Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1068, 0316 Oslo, Norway; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1172, 0318 Oslo, Norway; The Institute of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), 74/2 Jarakabande Kaval, Post Attur via Yelahanka, Bangalore 560064, India.
The Institute of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), 74/2 Jarakabande Kaval, Post Attur via Yelahanka, Bangalore 560064, India.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 Jul 15;221:56-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.04.011. Epub 2018 Apr 7.
More than 15,000 angiosperm species are dioecious, i.e., having distinct male and female individual plants. The allocation of resources between male and female plants is different, and also variation in secondary metabolites and sex-biased herbivory is reported among dioecious plants. However, little is known about the ethnobotany of dioecious species and whether preferences exist for a specific gender, e.g., in food, medicine or timber.
The aim of this study was: 1) to study whether Indian folk healers have preference for plant genders, and to document their knowledge and use of dioecious species; 2) to understand the concept of plant gender in Indian systems of medicine and folk medicine, and whether Ayurvedic literature includes any references to gender preference.
Lists of dioecious plants used in Indian systems of medicine and folk medicine were compiled. Ethnobotanical data was collected on perceptions and awareness of dioecious plants, and preferences of use for specific genders of dioecious species using semi-structured interviews with folk healers in Tamil Nadu, India. In addition, twenty Ayurvedic doctors were interviewed to gain insight into the concept of plant gender in Ayurveda.
Indian systems of medicine contain 5-7% dioecious species, and this estimate is congruent with the number of dioecious species in flowering plants in general. Informants recognized the phenomenon of dioecy in 31 out of 40 species, and reported gender preferences for 13 species with respect to uses as timber, food and medicine. Among informants different plant traits such as plant size, fruit size, and visibility of fruits determines the perception of a plant being a male or female. Ayurvedic classical literature provides no straightforward evidence on gender preferences in preparation of medicines or treatment of illness, however it contains details about reproductive morphology and sexual differentiation of plants.
A knowledge gap exists in ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological literature on traditional knowledge of dioecious plants. From this explorative study it is evident that people have traditional knowledge on plant gender and preferential usages towards one gender. Based on this, we propose that researchers conducting ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies should consider documenting traditional knowledge on sexual systems of plants, and test the existence of gender specific usages in their conceptual framework and hypothesis testing. Incorporating such concepts could provide new dimensions of scientific knowledge with potential implications to conservation biology, chemical ecology, ethnoecology and drug discovery.
超过 15000 种被子植物是雌雄异株的，即具有明显的雄性和雌性个体植物。雄性和雌性植物之间的资源分配不同，雌雄异株植物也报告了次生代谢物和性别偏向性的食草动物的变异。然而，关于雌雄异株物种的民族植物学知之甚少，也不知道是否存在对特定性别的偏好，例如在食物、药物或木材方面。
本研究的目的是：1）研究印度民间治疗师是否对植物性别有偏好，并记录他们对雌雄异株物种的了解和使用情况；2）了解印度传统医学和民间医学中植物性别的概念，以及阿育吠陀文献中是否有对性别的偏好的提及。
编制了印度传统医学和民间医学中使用的雌雄异株植物清单。通过在印度泰米尔纳德邦对民间治疗师进行半结构化访谈，收集了关于雌雄异株植物的认知和意识以及对雌雄异株物种特定性别的使用偏好的民族植物学数据。此外，还采访了 20 位阿育吠陀医生，以深入了解阿育吠陀中植物性别的概念。
印度传统医学系统中包含 5-7%的雌雄异株物种，这与开花植物中雌雄异株物种的数量一致。40 种植物中有 31 种被发现具有雌雄异株现象，13 种植物在木材、食物和药物方面的使用存在性别偏好。在受访者中，植物大小、果实大小和果实可见性等不同的植物特征决定了对植物是雄性还是雌性的认知。阿育吠陀古典文献没有提供关于在制备药物或治疗疾病时性别偏好的直接证据，但它包含了有关植物生殖形态和性分化的详细信息。
传统的雌雄异株植物知识在民族植物学和民族药理学文献中存在知识空白。从这项探索性研究中可以明显看出，人们对植物性别有传统知识，并且对一种性别有偏好使用。基于此，我们建议进行民族植物学和民族药理学研究的研究人员应考虑记录植物性别的传统知识，并在他们的概念框架和假设检验中测试性别特定用途的存在。纳入这些概念可以为科学知识提供新的维度，可能对保护生物学、化学生态学、民族生态学和药物发现产生影响。
