Economic Botany Research Articles

A Review on Taxonomy, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Threats and Conservation of Elaeocarpus L. (Elaeocarpaceae)

The genus Elaeocarpus is considered as largest among the family Elaeocarpaceae recorded by ca. 360 species with significant distribution throughout the world except from Africa and America. This review provides elaborate and comprehensive details on taxonomy, phylogeny, Economic botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, threats and conservation of Elaeocarpus. This genus is taxonomically significant; however, the morphological variation among the species of Elaeocarpus and its allied species were ineffectually known and not even fully monographed. Phylogenetic relationships of this genus have investigated by several studies using plastid trnL, nuclear ITS and trnF sequences. Most of the species of Elaeocarpus are economically important as timber and fruits are edible, seeds used as beads for rosaries, bracelets, necklaces and also for their ostensible magico-religious purposes whereas, some trees also have reported with medicinal properties. Phytochemical studies on various species of Elaeocarpus indicated that it has reported with some biologically active phytoconstituents. Pharmacological studies attempted through crude extracts and individual phytoconstituent describe the biological efficiency of Elaeocarpus. For boosting sales of seeds of Elaeocarpus, the traders use legends and myths of the seeds by branding and telemarketing techniques. These demands on seeds raise the collection in wild, and affect seedling recruitment in the wild which lead to affect the natural population. About one-third of species was included under the IUCN red list and need immediate attention. Very few attempts have been undertaken on conservation by macro and micropropagation techniques. It is a first attempt on the compilation of taxonomy, phylogeny, Economic botany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, threats and conservation of Elaeocarpus.

Using ICPC-2 Standard to Identify Thai Zingiberaceae of Pharmacological Interest.

The Economic Botany Data Collection Standard (EBDCS) is a widely used standard among ethnobotanists. However, this standard classifies ethnomedicinal uses into categories based on local peoples’ perception. It is difficult to apply in pharmacological research. The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), now updated to ICPC-2, is more related to medical terms, but is rarely used among ethnobotanists. This study aims to apply the ICPC-2 to classify metadata of the ethnomedicinal uses of Zingiberaceae plants in Thailand, in order to identify important medicinal taxa for future research. Data on the ethnomedicinal uses of Thai gingers were collected from 62 theses, journal articles, scientific reports and a book, published between 1990 and 2019. Scientific plant names were updated using The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) website. Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) was used to identify the medicinal issues commonly treated with gingers, and the Cultural Importance Index (CI) was used to identify species that might have pharmacological potential. We found records of 76 ginger species with ethnomedicinal uses, and together they had 771 use reports. The gingers were commonly used for treatments related to digestive system conditions, particularly abdominal pain and flatulence. Gingers remain exceedingly important in Thai ethnomedicine, with a high number of useful species. They are used to treat a variety of health conditions, but most commonly such ones that are related to the digestive system. Apart from the popular studied ginger, Curcuma longa, we identified a number of other useful gingers in Thailand.

Between Metropole and Province: circulating botany in British museums, 1870–1940

Exchange of duplicate specimens was an important element of the relationship between metropolitan and regional museums in the period 1870–1940. Evidence of transfers of botanical museum objects such as economic botany specimens is explored for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and six museums outside the capital: Cambridge University Botanical Museum, National Museum Wales, Glasgow Museums, Liverpool World Museum, Manchester Museum and Warrington Museum. Botany became an important element in these museums soon after their foundation, sometimes relying heavily on Kew material as in the case of Glasgow and Warrington, and usually with a strong element of economic botany (except in the case of Cambridge). Patterns of exchange depended on personal connections and rarely took the form of symmetrical relationships. Botanical displays declined in importance at various points between the 1920s and 1960s, and today only Warrington Museum has a botanical gallery open to the public. However, botanical objects are finding new roles in displays on subjects such as local history, history of collections, natural history and migration.

Ferdinand von Mueller’s phytochemical laboratory

Victoria’s government botanist and, at the time, Director of the Botanic Garden, Ferdinand von Mueller had a strong interest in the possible industrial and medicinal uses of plant products (economic botany), for which he established a phytochemical laboratory and engaged the services of qualified chemists to conduct experiments on wood distillation, paper-making, essential oils, alkaloids, ash of woods and seaweeds, dyes and tanning materials, and the strength of Australian timbers. The careers of Mueller’s laboratory chemists, George Christian Hoffmann, Ludwig Rummel, and Johann Georg Luehmann, and their interactions with other members of the colonial science and technology community are also described in this article.

KEW GARDENS AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE SCHOOL MUSEUM IN BRITAIN, 1880–1930

AbstractThe idea of the school museum as an active resource for object-based learning played an important but now neglected part in programmes of educational reform during the closing decades of the nineteenth century and the opening decades of the twentieth. In this article we focus on the role of the Kew Museum of Economic Botany in supplying schools with botanical specimens and artefacts for their own museums during this period, to support a broad variety of curricular agendas, from nature study to geography and beyond. The evidence suggests that this scheme was remarkably popular, with demand among teachers for museum objects outstripping supply, and increasingly being met in other ways. Seen from the perspective of Kew, the distribution of specimens, artefacts, and visual materials to schools was a way of extending the ethos of economic botany into the classroom. For the teachers who requested specimens in large numbers, and the pupils who studied and handled them, however, such objects may have had other meanings and uses. More broadly, we propose new avenues for study that can help us to better appreciate the ways in which museum objects, expertise, and practices moved across professional, institutional, and increasingly global boundaries in this period.

Foundations of Ethnobotany: 21st Century Perspective (Sudhir Chandra (Ed. Ashok K. Jain). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur (India). 2017. Pages 199)

The book presents a very different type of information that deals with the development of agriculture in various civilizations world over. Foreword for the book is written by Hon. Dr. S.K. Jain. Over the period voluminous data has been accumulated regarding uses of plant species by tribals and rural folk across the country. However, ethnobotanical living has almost deteriorated in our lives. In preface author emphasizes the need to look beyond ‘Hershberger’s ethnobotany’. According to him, 99% of Indian Ethnobotany is Economic Botany and not Ethnobotany. In fact, it is not economic but utilitarian botany. Importance of ethnobotany is put very lucidly by the author through a Chinese story; the moral derived is that “Ecology has been the official wife of human society, that failed to protect the environment and Ethnobotany – a concubine – alone can take care of the environment”. An introductory chapter, five thoughts are enumerated, which are guiding principles of the content of the book. Contents of the book are presented in five parts.

Historical chemical annotations of Cinchona bark collections are comparable to results from current day high-pressure liquid chromatography technologies.

Species of the genus Cinchona (Rubiaceae) have been used in traditional medicine, and as a source for quinine since its discovery as an effective medicine against malaria in the 17th century. Despite being the sole cure of malaria for almost 350 years, little is known about the chemical diversity between and within species of the antimalarial alkaloids found in the bark. Extensive historical Cinchona bark collections housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, and in other museums may shed new light on the alkaloid chemistry of the Cinchona genus and the history of the quest for the most effective Cinchona barks. We used High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection (FLD) to reanalyze a set of Cinchona barks originally annotated for the four major quinine alkaloids by John Eliot Howard and others more than 150 years ago. We performed an archival search on the Cinchona bark collections in the Economic Botany Collection housed in Kew, focusing on those with historical alkaloid content information. Then, we performed HPLC analysis of the bark samples to separate and quantify the four major quinine alkaloids and the total alkaloid content using fluorescence detection. Correlations between historic and current annotations were calculated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, before paired comparisons were performed using Wilcox rank sum tests. The effects of source were explored using generalized linear modelling (GLM), before the significance of each parameter in predicting alkaloid concentrations were assessed using chi-square tests as likelihood ratio testing (LRT) models. The total alkaloid content estimation obtained by our HPLC analysis was comparatively similar to the historical chemical annotations made by Howard. Additionally, the quantity of two of the major alkaloids, quinine and cinchonine, and the total content of the four alkaloids obtained were significantly similar between the historical and current day analysis using linear regression. This study demonstrates that the historical chemical analysis by Howard and current day HPLC alkaloid content estimations are comparable. Current day HPLC analysis thus provide a realistic estimate of the alkaloid contents in the historical bark samples at the time of sampling more than 150 years ago. Museum collections provide a powerful but underused source of material for understanding early use and collecting history as well as for comparative analyses with current day samples.

Review: Current status of ethnobiological studies in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia: A perspective of biological-cultural diversity conservation

Abstract. Simbiak M, Supriatna J, Walujo EB, Nisyawati. 2019. Review: Current status of ethnobiological studies in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia: A perspective of biological-cultural diversity conservation. Biodiversitas 20: 3455-3466. Ethnobiology is a scientific study that examines the dynamic relationship between humans, biota and the environment. In this dynamic relationship, holistic notions that integrate humans and their cultural and biological diversity give more responsibility to ethnobiological studies. This research approach stimulates insights to integrate scientific research with awareness of political and ecological issues, loss of biological resources, including indigenous peoples' struggles over land and resources, identity degradation due to loss of culture and language. Ethnobiological studies undertaken in Merauke, Papua between 2000 and 2017 were reviewed from the perspective of biological-cultural diversity conservation. The aims and results of such published ethnobiological studies were analyzed and we found the failure of such studies in accounting for linguistic diversity in the region while documenting ethnobiological knowledge. Most of such ethnobiological studies were oriented on the topic of economic botany, focusing on recording the potential uses of plants utilized by each ethnic group in the Marind language-culture area of Merauke District, especially those belonging to the domain of medicinal plants. Some studies also used artificial community terminology to treat several ethnic groups as uniform and did not mention what language used for the local names of plants in their reports. Future ethnobiological research in the area would benefit from: (i) adopting a cognitive ethnobiology orientation; (ii) applying appropriate ethnolinguistics standards of research to document the languages; and (iii) using a quantitative approach to analyze the distribution of ethnobiological knowledge within the communities studied. The latter approach is especially important given the extreme and rapid changes of the environment in this region.

Assessing Extreme Seed Longevity: The Value of Historic Botanical Collections to Modern Research.

Botanical, historical, and archaeological collections have been the source of extraordinarily long-lived seeds, which have been used to revive extinct genotypes or species. The longest-lived example of a viable seed of known age is the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera L., of which an estimated 2000-year-old seed was germinated in 2005. Seed longevity is important for agriculture and biodiversity conservation, and understanding the basis for the extraordinary longevity of seeds from botanical collections could help improve seed banking technology. In this work, we studied the viability and structural features of date palm seeds collected in Baghdad in 1873 and stored in the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and seeds collected in 2004 and stored dry at −20°C in the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). Viability was studied by attempted seed germination and in vitro culture of embryos, and structural features were studied by X-rays, transmission electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. We found that the seeds preserved in the MSB did not decrease in viability, with ultrastructural features similar to those in freshly harvested seeds. In contrast, the 144-year-old seeds were dead, and large ultrastructural changes were observed, particularly in the storage lipids (size, distribution, and melting properties) and other storage constituents. These results contrast with previous reports that date seeds could remain viable for ∼2000 years in uncontrolled storage environments. We did not find that the postharvest treatment of the EBC seeds in the 19th century, or their storage conditions at Kew, was more deleterious than that which was likely encountered by the ∼2000-year-old seeds. These results highlight the role of well-documented collections in establishing whether reports of extraordinary longevity are ordinarily repeatable.

Comparative Analysis of Different DNA Extraction Methods and Preliminary Analysis of Genetic Diversity of Hedera nepalensis K. Koch. in Vietnam Based on GBSSI Marker

Though the ivy (Hedera nepalensis K. Koch.) has long been utilized in traditional medicine, its genome information is very limited. For plants, an effective method of DNA extraction is a very important step which greatly affects subsequent genetic analyses. In this study, four different methods of DNA extraction from dry leaves were used. A comparison of different protocols resulted in the yield of extracted DNA that ranged from 10.5 to 437.4 ng/μl and with a purity ranged from 1.8 to 2.2. Based on the PCR results of GBSSI gene, Gene JET Plant Genomic DNA Purification Mini Kit is the most optimal extraction method for Vietnam ivy’s dry leaves. A preliminary analysis of the phylogenetic tree based on the GBSSI marker showed that ivy growing in a number of northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam belonged to the H. nepalensis K. Koch species. The high - quality total DNA will allow us to amplify different DNA markers, providing valuable genetic information to preserve and develop medicinal resources in Vietnam.
 Keywords
 GBSSI, Hedera nepalensis K. Koch, DNA extraction.
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Useful plants referenced by the naturalist Richard Spruce in the 19th century in the state of Pará, Brazil

ABSTRACT The present work sought to study the biocultural collections made by the naturalist Richard Spruce in the 19th century while in the state of Para, Brazil. The material is largely deposited in the Herbarium and the Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Complementary studies were undertaken in Brazilian institutions to gather more information about the useful plants cited by Spruce for Para and their respective vernacular names and uses in the 19th century. Information was also gathered concerning the current uses of the plants by analyzing contemporary ethnobotanical studies. A total of 54 vernacular names of useful plants were recovered, including 51 native species of which 33 are used for construction purposes, 18 as food resources, eight for medicinal purposes, and one species as an ichthyotoxin. It is interesting to note that 80 % of the uses described for these plants in the 19th century in Para continue into the present day. It is hoped that the present work will serve to promote future studies involving biocultural collections that document the history of local populations and recognize the importance of traditional knowledge in the Amazon region.

‘Specimens Distributed’

Abstract This paper presents research on the dispersal of objects from the Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (rbgk) from 1847 to 1914. Established by William Hooker, the museum received thousands of objects from around the world, the display of which was designed to illustrate plants’ properties and economic potential. The paper argues that the conventional focus in museum studies on processes of acquisition and accumulation captures only one side of collections’ history. Drawing on research in archives and collections at Kew and elsewhere, we highlight the redistribution of specimens and artefacts from Kew’s museum through a variety of channels. We focus on three modes of circulation: firstly, Kew’s role as a clearing house for collections; secondly the exchange of objects; and thirdly the distribution of specimens and artefacts to schools across the British Isles, a practice which became prevalent towards the end of the period.

Colouring of Pacific barkcloths: identification of the brown, red and yellow colourants used in the decoration of historic Pacific barkcloths

Barkcloth textiles made in the Pacific islands and collected by western explorers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries form part of many museum collections worldwide. Here high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) were used on cloths that were highly coloured or pigmented specifically focussing on identifying the red, yellow and brown colorants. The cloths studied came from collections held at the Hunterian, University of Glasgow, the Economic Botany Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Centre for Textile Conservation and Technical Art History, University of Glasgow. HPLC analysis was carried out following a sequential extraction procedure to minimise changes to the colorants during extraction. A portable XRF was used so no invasive sampling was required. A small number of plant derived colorants were found, Morinda citrifolia, noni (morindin or morindone), Rubia tinctorum (madder), tree tannins and Curcuma longa (turmeric) plus an inorganic colorant, iron oxide. For 40 samples a single colorant was found while in the remaining 12 samples combinations of up to three colorants were found. Madder was found in only 2 samples on the same cloth. The morindone coloured samples were all red whereas morindin samples were both red and yellow. Morindin was used predominantly in combination with other colouring agents. A combination of iron ochre and organic colorant was found in 4 samples. These findings show that despite the numerous potential colorant sources for red, brown and yellow shades listed in the many accounts of historic barkcloth making, only five types of plant colourant and one inorganic pigment were found. There are a number of potential reasons for these findings. Some colours may have faded and so no longer appear coloured. It is also possible that, as some of these cloths were prepared specifically as gifts for visitors or for ceremonial uses, the makers used materials that they knew would retain their integrity over time. Perhaps, like artisans worldwide, experience had taught them that some colorants, although initially bright and vivid, faded over time.

People-plant interaction and economic botany over 47,000 years of occupation at Carpenter’s Gap 1, south central Kimberley

Systematic archaeobotanical analysis, conducted in conjunction with archaeological enquiry at Australian archaeological sites, is still rare despite recent developments. It is still rarer that previously analysed macrobotanical assemblages are revisited over time. Extending on macrobotanical research conducted by McConnell in 1997, this paper presents the results of a recent analysis of Carpenter’s Gap 1 non-woody macrobotanical remains (seeds, fruits, nuts, and other floristic elements) from the deepest square with the longest chronology, Square A2. Over 47,000 years of time is represented in the sequence, and excellent chronological control, coupled with preservation of carbonised and desiccated macrobotanical remains in the earliest cultural units, allows an examination of plant exploitation over time and human responses/adaptations to periods of documented climatic instability. Carpenter’s Gap 1 macrobotanical remains show that diet, subsistence, and site occupation were intimately associated with botanical resources derived from ecologically productive monsoon rainforest environments.

Gems from past: Neuroprotective effects of Bhilawinol and Anacardic acid against Glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in PC-12 cells.

Gems from past: Neuroprotective effects of Bhilawinol and Anacardic acid against Glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in PC-12 cells.

Exaggerated expectations in ancient starch research and the need for new taphonomic and authenticity criteria

Ancient starch research illuminates aspects of human ecology and economic botany that drove human evolution and cultural complexity over time, with a special emphasis on past technology, diet, health, and adaptation to changing environments and socio-economic systems. However, lapses in prevailing starch research demonstrate the exaggerated expectations for the field that have been generated over the last few decades. This includes an absence of explanation for the millennial-scale survivability of a biochemically degradable polymer, and difficulties in establishing authenticity and taxonomic identification. This paper outlines new taphonomic and authenticity criteria to guide future work toward designing research programs that fully exploit the potential of ancient starch while considering growing demands from readers, editors, and reviewers that look for objective compositional identification of putatively ancient starch granules.

Late 19th century accounts of Indian yellow: The analysis of samples from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Indian yellow has always been a mysterious pigment. In 1883, an eye-witness account of its production described it as a urinary sediment from cows fed a mango leaves rich diet; this same account describes a set of manufacturing materials and samples sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (England). Most of these original materials were recovered in 2016 from the Economic Botany Collection at Kew, and analyzed alongside known reference materials, to characterize the pigment materials, and to search for evidence of an animal origin. Component characterization and identification was performed using py (TMAH)-GC-MS, LC-MS, FTIR, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM-EDS, UVA-induced visible fluorescence, and polarized light microscopy. All the materials were shown to contain variable ratios of reported components of Indian yellow (euxanthic acid, euxanthone, and a sulfo-derivative of euxanthone), and some presented hippuric acid, a ruminant metabolite found in urine. This is the first substantial link between animal urine and the pigment Indian yellow. When possible, the interior and exterior of the pigment-balls were characterized, and a higher amount of euxanthone was consistently detected on the exposed exterior of the ball. It is proposed, that euxanthone may be a chemical marker for the degradation of Indian yellow. A laboratory prepared euxanthone was used for comparison; this paper presents the characterization data for euxanthone, much of which is the first time it has been reported in the literature.

Objects, Histories and Encounters

Balata or bullet tree of Guiana was known as one of the finest forest trees of British Guiana. This paper is based on reports from the 19th and 20th centuries (mainly from George Jenman and Everard im Thurn), publications, newspapers, and correspondence on British Guiana’s balata, a rubber-like material. These references were cross-referenced with objects related to balata that are now preserved at the collection of Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as well as with contemporary reports from Guyanese Amerindian. By doing this, a more precise image of this less known rubber material from Guyana came forth, as well as the issues and histories behind it, namely the cross-cultural encounters, the objects significance and their context, and how the colony was managed. Despite the fact that balata was seen, during the last years of the 19th century, as an alternative commodity and a possible answer to the sugar crisis, not much was done to improve its trade.

Diversity of allochtonous substances detected in bee pollen pellets

Diversity of allochtonous substances detected in bee pollen pellets

Distinguised Economic Botanist Award

The Society for Economic Botany has increasingly defined itself as a context for fostering expertise in ethnobotany and its various applications. However, given that my own work as an ethnobotanist has been much influenced by my training as an anthropologist, there may be merit in re-examining the 'economic' in economic botany from the standpoint of anthropology. In this address I suggest that economic anthropology provides a useful framework through which to interrogate the notions of 'use' and 'value' attributed to plant resources, and to understand how plants move - by exchange and dissemination - through socio-economic systems, how plant knowledge informs decision-making, and how ethnobotanical knowledge is socially embedded. Each of these processes rests on the foundational idea that all plants with which humans interact are necessarily and simultaneously biological and cultural. Such perspectives may even help us rethink the still sometimes unresolved issues as to what 'theory' in ethnobotany actually entails