Gathering of wild plant foods with medicinal use in a Mapuche Community of NW Patagonia.

LADIO, ANA

Eating and healing: explorations of traditional food as medicines

The Harworth Press

Lugar: New York; Año: 2006; p. 297 - 321

The aim of this study was to compare quantitatively the use pattern between wild plants with edible and medicinal properties in a rural Mapuche community by using different approaches.  It was found that people know and use a lot of wild edible plants in their diets that also have medicinal utilization. These wild edible plants with medicinal use belong to different botanical families in comparison to edible plants only. The knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants varies with gender, women know more about food and non-food plants with medicinal application than men do. The results of this study have implications for the conservation of this traditional knowledge. Edible and medicinal plants have distinct attributes in terms of taxonomical filiations which lead to distinct pattern of use. Finally, elders and knowledgeable women should be considered and included in local project of cultural revival given that they serve as an important vehicle for the transmission and maintenance of these valuable resources for the young generations.