Medicinal plant markets in Northern Peru
Bussmann RW, Sharon D, Vandebroek I, et al. Health for sale: the medicinal plant markets in Trujillo and Chiclayo, Northern Peru. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2007 Dec 10;3:37. PMID: 18070350
A fascinating, well-researched paper. From the introduction:
"Northern Peru is what Peruvian anthropologist Lupe Camino calls the "health axis" of the old Central Andean culture area stretching from Ecuador to Bolivia. The traditional use of medicinal plants in this region, which encompasses in particular the Departments of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Cajamarca, and San Martin, dates back as far as the first millennium B.C. (north coastal Cupisnique culture) or at least to the Moche period (AC 100–800), with healing scenes and healers frequently depicted in ceramics. Early ethnobotanically oriented studies focused mainly on the famous "magical" and "mind altering" flora of Peru. A first study on "cimora" -another vernacular name for the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi) dates back to the 1940’s. The first detailed study on a hallucinogen in Peru focused also on San Pedro, and tree datura (Brugmansia spp.). A variety of works on these species followed. Coca (Erythroxylum coca) also attracted early scientific attention, as did the Amazonian Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi). Chiappe et. al were the first to attempt an overview on the use of hallucinogens in shamanistic practices in Peru. General ethnobotany studies in Peru and Bolivia focused mostly on Quechua herbalism of the Cusco area. Other comprehensive studies centered on the border region of Peru and Bolivia around Lake Titicaca and the Amazon. Northern Peru, in contrast, has always been in the shadow of these more touristically important regions, and very few studies have been conducted to date. During the last years, the contemporary use of plants by local healers (curanderos) in Northern Peru has been well documented."
technorati tags: complementary and alternative medicine integrative medicine complementary medicine herbalism ethnomedicine
Comments and Links Appreciated.
