Can organoleptic properties explain the differential use of medicinal plants? Evidence from Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: This study examined how people classify plants in terms of their taste and smell, and how those organoleptic properties influence the differential use of medicinal plants for treating different diseases.

Methods: We conducted an ethnobotanical survey of household heads in the community of Sucruiu, located in Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil. The head of each family was questioned concerning their knowledge and use of medicinal plants, as well as the therapeutic indications (TIs), taste, and smell of each plant. We then tested for associations between the therapeutic indications and taste attributes of various plants using the Chi-squared test on a contingency table with Monte Carlo simulations. The same analysis was performed for associations between TIs and smell.

Results: The study participants provided more details when classifying tastes than when classifying smells. We considered only the most cited TIs and attributes, and found significant associations between both taste and therapeutic indications (p<0.001) and smell and therapeutic indications (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Our results showed that the taste and smell of a plant can influence its differential medicinal use, since plants with certain tastes and smells prevailed in the treatment of distinct diseases. However, our results are valid only for the most popular TIs and organoleptic attributes.

Keywords: Brazil; Ethnomedicine; Medicinal plant selection; Traditional medicine.