RT Article
T1 Medico-Religious Plants Employed in Mauritius: A Survey Among Hindu Priests
JF Journal of religion and health
VO 58
IS 6
SP 2110
OP 2143
A1 Luximon, Krishnand
A1 Mahomoodally, Mohamad Fawzi
A1 Sreekeessoon, Uddhav
A1 Suroowan, Shanoo
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V.
YR 2019
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/168729173X
AB Mauritius is renowned for its rich floral and cultural diversity. The aim of this study was to identify and document medicinal plants exclusively employed in rituals and to promote wellness among the Hindu community. In addition, it also highlights poorly documented plants with respect to their safety, efficacy, and herb-drug interaction inducing potential. The informant group included Hindu priests (n = 14) solely, while the relative frequency of citation (RFC) and use value (UV) were utilised to analyse the data. A total of 33 plants were reported in this survey. Sixteen plants were reported by informants to have both medicinal and religious values, while the highest RFC and UV index was obtained by Ocimum tenuiflorum L. (RFC = 0.79; UV = 0.71). Nonetheless, despite known and utilised commonly for years by humanity, various plant species mentioned in this study have been poorly evaluated in randomised clinical trials and for any risks of herb-drug interactions. Hence, there are concerns surrounding the safe use of these plant species particularly among patients suffering from chronic diseases.
K1 Hindu community
K1 Mauritius
K1 Medicinal plants
K1 Medico-religious plants
DO 10.1007/s10943-019-00826-6