Documentation and evaluation of Aboriginal medicinal plants for anti-inflammatory agents (Old ID 27219)
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
Aboriginal people in Australia, especially in remote areas, have a vast knowledge of medicinal plants and bush food (Packer et al., 2012) that have supported their sustenance and protected them against different ailments for thousands of years. In Far North Queensland (FNQ), there are more than 18 Aboriginal communities and their customary food and medical knowledge differ from other parts of Australia. Their knowledge is shaped by their rich tropical forests that are home to range of medicinal plants and bush tucker. It is believed that these plants and bush food keep some remote Aboriginal people healthy especially protected against Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The prevalence of IBD in Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory is almost 8-37-times less than the non-indigenous population (Leach et al., 2014; Iyngkaran, 2015). Although genetic and other factors cannot be ruled out, diet, which plays a pivotal role in shaping the architecture and functionality of resident microbes in the gut (Zmora et al., 2019), may be responsible for this health outcome. Indeed, some Indigenous populations are known to possess unique microbiota compared to non-indigenous population (Iyngkaran, 2015) and we hypothesize that this could be due to inclusion of medicinal plants and bush food in their diet. Unfortunately, since younger generation are not interested to learn the Aboriginal medicinal plants and bush food knowledge, the rich customary knowledge is dying with the community elders. There is urgent need to document the surviving customary food and medical knowledge of some remote Indigenous communities before they are lost forever, which has both cultural and health ramifications in near future. Therefore, this study proposes to document and study the largely untapped pharmacopoeia of Mbabaram Aboriginal people in Atherton and discover viable medicinal plant candidates for anti-inflammatory screening.
Date
01 May 2021 - 30 Apr 2022
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
Aboriginal Medicine;Rainforest plants;Biodiscovery;Medicinal Plants;Inflammatory Bowel Disease;Traditional Knowledge
Funding Body
Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation
Amount
5000
Project Team
Gerald Turpin