In an effort to try and get some of the Papua New Guinea village herbs documented and researched with the view to finding out what they are and whether they might have any farming or export value, Uncle Joel recently brought another batch with him into town.
(Uncle Joel)
Just like the first time a few weeks ago we laid out each of the herbs, attached the local name and indicated whether the folks back in Kaubasis use it for cooking or for healing…
We are basically trying to get some help with the identification of these herbs and a few weeks ago I did manage to contact a herbalist friend of mine back in Australia. The process of actually identifying a herb, especially one that is unknown is ny no means a fast, simple and easy process. Here’s an excerpt from the herbalist friend of mine which will give an idea of what’s involved…
The thing about collecting plants in the wild like you have is that its only
one view of them after they have dried out a bit. Real ID would involve
photograghs of the herb in different seasons/stages of growth and more
seriously chromocytography (a chemical analysis). Once the correct ID is
made anacdotal evidence of its medicinal usage can begin to be collected.
this would involve information on where and when (stage of growth, time of
day/ season, etc) the plant is grown and collected, how it is prepared
(different preparations may be made for different applications), the dosages
given in various administrations, long-term storage/preservation, adverse
affects (if any), time of comparative recuperations (control data),
compounding or mixes of herbs used and any adverse influences to growth and
quality (like high lead content in roadside herbs). This info will start to
gather information that can be used for further scientific research if you
can find a sponsor to finance the expensive process of qualitative research
that will withstand the scrutany of the scientific arena. its usually drug
(pharmaceutical) companys that monopolise research but they do this rarely
on herbs because herbs are not patentable and therefore its not in their
interest. Sometimes governments grant funds but not nearly as much as they
do for drug research.
NB: Anyone reading this post that might be interested in helping out or getting involved with this PNG herbal identification project - please drop me a line.
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