Mutation of Cultural Information on the Use of Plant Complexes in Local Medical Systems

Despite being an affable strategy of adaptive expectation, the transmission of cultural information can result in unintended changes in the information. This is known as “mutation” in the theory of cultural evolution. The occurrence of information mutations in local medical systems may be greater in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 2020, Vol.2020 (2020), p.1-11
Main Authors: Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino de, Silva, Taline C., Nascimento, André L. B., Dantas, Janilo I. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Data collection
Evolution
Flowers & plants
Genetic aspects
Herbal medicine
Hypotheses
Information systems
Medical equipment
Medicinal plants
Medicine, Botanic
Medicine, Herbal
Mutation
Mutation rates
Natural resources
Physiological apparatus
Variation
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Summary:Despite being an affable strategy of adaptive expectation, the transmission of cultural information can result in unintended changes in the information. This is known as “mutation” in the theory of cultural evolution. The occurrence of information mutations in local medical systems may be greater in some situations. For example, “vegetable complexes” can be used as good study models to show a greater accumulation of mutations due to the variation in the mixtures and combinations of information. Here, we tested the following hypotheses: (H1) medicinal plants in plant complexes generate a greater accumulation of mutations than isolated plants in local medical systems; (H2) information on the medicinal function of the plant species generates a greater proportion of mutations than information on the parts of plants used medicinally; (H3) plants in plant complexes perceived as less efficient undergo more information mutational events; and (H4) changes in information on plant complexes are more random (mutation) than intentional (guided variation). We conducted the study in the Lagoa do Junco community, state of Alagoas, Northeast Brazil. For data collection, we used semistructured interviews to address the use of isolated medicinal plants and plant complexes. Additionally, we assessed the informants’ perceptions about the effectiveness of the plants used in these preparations. We found that the mutation rate was higher when isolated plants were used than when plant complexes were used (p=0.02), and it was also higher for function than for parts of the medicinal plants (p
ISSN:1741-427X
1741-4288
DOI:10.1155/2020/7630434