A central task of ethnopharmacological research is the study of resources, primarily medicinal plants, used by indigenous populations and how these contribute to better health care in marginalized areas. In this article, Leonti et al. evaluate the materia medica of one Mexican indigenous group in an attempt to document and understand rapidly disappearing knowledge. By documenting the number of use reports, i.e., the number of times a species is reported, the authors estimate the ethnobotanical importance of a species. Their study resulted in a database for the Popoluca consisting of 4488 use reports on 614 plant species. Analysing the results the authors discuss different levels of cultural consensus on disease groups, healing strategies, and preferences for parts of plants used. Their study marked the first ethnopharmaceutical study of the Popoluca and the authors suggest that it be used as a base for further studies on more specifics of medicinal plant use as well as for biodiversity conservation and community development.

Prepared by Erin Smith