Ethnobotanical study of Northern Peru reveals abundant system of plant-based medicine spanning 510 plant species: NewsTarget.com

A pair of researchers from the University of Hawaii and the San Diego Museum of Man recently examined the traditional plant-based system of medicine -- "ethnobotany" -- in Northern Peru to gather information on ancient herbal remedies and healing rituals, in a study published in the online November edition of Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine.

The researchers -- Rainer Bussmann and Douglas Sharon -- traveled to Northern Peru to interview local healers known as curanderos and observe native healing practices. Bussmann and Sharon, who are both fluent in Spanish, also collected ethnobotanical information from plant sellers by purchasing native plants in local markets, and by accompanying curanderos on harvesting trips and to healing ceremonies.

Bussmann and Sharon collected Northern Peruvian plants from the wild and also purchased them from the markets, then took the specimens to curanderos to discuss medicinal properties and the plants' role in healing rituals. The researchers were able to determine many of the plants' properties, including the season in which they are best grown, the region in which they are harvested and various ailments the plants have proven effective at treating.

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Ethnobotanical study of Northern Peru reveals abundant system of plant-based medicine spanning 510 plant species

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