New Study: Iloilo, Philippines

Today we have added a study of plants used by the Panay Bukidnon, a major indigenous group who live in the interior highlands of Panay Island in Western Visayas, Philippines.

The study featured 131 plant species. This is the first study from the South Pacific that we have featured on our site. As we get the site up and running, we aim to feature studies that are well distributed across the globe.

Some of the most culturally relevant and important species are, according to analysis in the study, Curcuma longa, Blumea balsamifera, Artemisia vulgaris, Annona muricata, and Chromolaena odorata. The best represented families are Fabaceae (13), Lamiaceae (9) and Poaceae (8).

Data for this survey was collected during the pandemic. Several species had been reported by survey participants to help boost immunity against COVID-19, fight infection, and feel substantially better. These include Capsicum annuum, Vitex trifolia, Euphorbia hirta, Musa balbisiana, Peperomia pellucida, Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale, Areca catechu, Piper betle, and Nicotiana tabacum. Many of these species are traditionally used by the Panay Bukidnon to treat fever, headache, cough, and body pains.

As always, any reported medicinal uses require scientific investigation. For more information about preparations and the parts of the plants used, please see the original publication.

This research was conducted by the University of Santo Tomas and published in Frontiers in Pharmacology in January of 2022.

Citation

• Cordero CS, Meve U, Alejandro GJD. Ethnobotanical Documentation of Medicinal Plants Used by the Indigenous Panay Bukidnon in Lambunao, Iloilo, Philippines. Front Pharmacol. 2022 Jan 10;12:790567. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.790567. PMID: 35082673; PMCID: PMC8784692.