Ethnobotanical study of Hakka traditional medicine in Ganzhou, China and their antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic assessments
Authors
Haibo Hu
National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Hakka Medical Resources Branch, School of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000 China
Yanfang Yang
National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Hakka Medical Resources Branch, School of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000 China
Abdallah Aissa
Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Volkan Tekin
Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Jialin Li
National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Hakka Medical Resources Branch, School of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000 China
Sujogya Panda
Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Hao Huang
National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Hakka Medical Resources Branch, School of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000 China
Walter Luyten
Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Traditional herbs played a crucial role in the health care of the Hakka people. However, studies to identify these traditional herbs are few. Here we document and assess the potential of these plants for treating microbial infections. Many herbs used by the Hakka people could potentially be a novel medicinal resource.
Methods
Local herb markets were surveyed via semi-structured interviews, complemented by direct observations to obtain information on herbal usage. For each herb selected for this study, extracts in four different solvents were prepared, and tested for activity against 20 microorganisms, as well as cancerous and noncancerous cells. All data were subjected to cluster analysis to discover relationships among herbs, plant types, administration forms, solvents, microorganisms, cells, etc., with the aim to discern promising herbs for medicine.
Results
Ninety-seven Hakka herbs in Ganzhou were documented from 93 plants in 62 families; most are used for bathing (97%), or as food, such as tea (32%), soup (12%), etc. Compared with the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and Chinese Materia Medica, 24 Hakka medicines use different plant parts, and 5 plants are recorded here for the first time as traditional medicines. The plant parts used were closely related with the life cycle: annual and perennial herbs were normally used as a whole plant, and woody plants as (tender) stem and leaf, indicating a trend to use the parts that are easily collected. Encouragingly, 311 extracts (94%) were active against one or more microorganisms. Most herbs were active against Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus (67%), Listeria innocua (64%), etc. Cytotoxicity was often observed against a tumor cell, but rarely against normal cells. Considering both antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity, many herbs reported in this study show promise as medicine.
Conclusion
Hakka people commonly use easily-collected plant parts (aerial parts or entire herb) as medicine. External use of decoctions dominated, and may help combating microbial infections. The results offer promising perspectives for further research since little phytopharmacology and phytochemistry has been published to date.
Graphical Abstract
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-022-03712-z.
Keywords: Hakka herbs, Hakka traditional medicine, Antibacterial activity, Antifungal activity, Cytotoxicity, Ganzhou, Gannan
Author Biographies
Haibo Hu, National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Hakka Medical Resources Branch, School of Pharmacy, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, 341000 China
Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Abdallah Aissa, Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Centre de Recherche Scientifique et Technique en Analyses Physicochimiques (CRAPC), BP384, Bou-Ismail, 42004 Tipaza, RP Algeria
Sujogya Panda, Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Section, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Department of Zoology, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751004 India
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