TRACEABILITY OF 20 MEDICINAL PLANTS IN THE MARKETS OF NORTHERN PERU S. Evans Carolina Téllez Carlos Vega Southern Cross University INBIA Perú INBIA Perú Australia Keywords : medicinal plants, sustainability, traceability, supply chain, botanical identification. Corresponding author: Sue Evans [email protected] ABSTRACT The social, cultural and economic value of medicinal plants is prominent in many parts of South America, providing important economic and health benefits. However market pressures and an absence of appropriate conservation policies are putting species at risk. These problems are exacerbated by an informal market system with poor remuneration for plant collectors which makes for a fragile economy. This study, located in the coastal cities of Chiclayo and Trujillo in northern Peru, focuses on market vendors. The objective of the study is to establish market vendors’ knowledge about the traceability, conservation status and botanical identification of twenty (20) medicinal plants. A selection of 20 native medicinal plants was made including both plants which are endangered and those that are in high demand. Two markets were visited in each city and samples of each available plant were purchased. Vendors were asked about the origin of the plants, and their understanding of the availability of supply. Plants were botanically identified and the results checked with the vendor´s information. Most plants came from either the department in which the market was located, or an adjacent department and a number of plants are available in very small amounts. Of the sources known to vendors, they claim specific regional knowledge for half of the plants. The rest are known by more general information. Plant identification problems occur largely at a species rather than a genus level, either through lack of knowledge by vendors, or because of the plant product itself, eg only the root being sold. This research indicates that detailed information about the collection of medicinal plants in northern Peru is unavailable by the time the plants reach these markets, although they were sourced relatively locally and supplies of some plants are scarce. Addressing the issues raised here will benefit the region by protecting a resource which is an important part of healthcare and also important to the region economically. INTRODUCTION In Peru a rich biodiversity and long use of traditional medicines in both remote and urban communities The northern cities of Chiclayo and Trujillo are located at the center of the ‘Andean health axis’ (Bussmann, Sharon et al. 2007), an area where traditional medical practices, including the widespread use of plants, have maintained their importance to the local community over centuries. A large number of fresh and dried plants are traded in local markets, and they also provide processed herb products and supplies for shamanic practices. Bussmann and Sharon (2007) found some 400 species traded in these markets and estimate the value of the medicinal plant trade to those cities to be in the region of 1.2mUSD. This is income from market vendors only and excludes income to local healers so the real value to the local economy is likely to be higher. Previous studies (Villar Velásquez 2007, Revene, Bussmann et al. 2008) have indicated that although the herbs are often harvested in neighboring departments, they may have passed through a number of intermediaries before they are sold in these markets. Most of the plants are harvested in the wild rather than cultivated and market pressures and the absence of appropriate conservation policies such as replacing seed after collection of flowerheads place some species at risk from overexploitation. In addition, there is evidence that the combination of mining and indiscriminate harvesting is devastating medicinal plant supplies in some areas (Ramirez Vidaurre et al. 2006; Villar Velásquez 2007). These problems are aggravated by poor remuneration of plant collectors, which makes for a fragile market economy (Reverne 2006). OBJECTIVES The study was carried out in four markets in two cities of northern Peru, in Chiclayo and Trujillo. The cities are in adjacent departments, 178 km apart. The objectives concerned the knowledge of the market vendors regarding the plants they sell, specifically in terms of 1. Traceability – to establish the extent to which herb sellers in the four markets knew the sources of a selection of plants they sold. 2. Identification - to verify that the selection of plants sold were the botanical species they were claimed to be, i.e. the species with documented medicinal attributes. 3. Conservation status – to establish whether, from the perspective of the vendor, there were problems with plant supply. MATERIALS AND METHODS The markets selected were Mercados Modelo and Moshoqueque in Chiclayo, Lambayeque and Mercados Mayorista and de la Unión in Trujillo, La Libertad. Modelo, Mayorista and La Unión are daily markets serving the city-centres of Chiclayo and Trujillo. In addition, Sundays at La Unión sees an influx of traders from regional La Libertad, selling foodstuffs and herbs. Moshoqueque is a wholesale market in Chiclayo. A list of twenty herbs was compiled for investigation, based on the prior knowledge of the researchers and referring also to Bussmann and Sharon (2007), and Mostacero León et al. (2011). Plants were selected using the following criteria: • Native species • Plants that are in danger of extinction (in particular Ranunculaceae and Burseraceae) • Plants that are widely used for medicinal actions (Gentianaceae and Valerianaceae) • Plants that are used for strictly medicinal uses as well as for luck (various families) Market visits were carried out between June and September 2012. Vendors were asked for plant material by common name, samples of plants were purchased and vendors were asked what they knew of the origin of the plants, and their abundance or scarcity. Respondents were informed of the research project in conversation with the researcher’s and gave their verbal permission for the interviews to proceed. Interviews were carried out by native Spanish speakers. Identification samples were purchased and lodged with a local NGO Instituto para el desarrollo local sostenible y la conservación de la diversidad biológica y cultural andino amazónica (Institute for the local sustainable development and conservation of the biological and cultural diversity of the Andes and the Amazon)( INBIA PERU), which works with medicinal plants in Trujillo . No plant samples were taken out of Peru. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The markets of Modelo, Moshoqueque, Mayorista and La Unión are characterized by their informality. Vendors are often asked for their advice on which plant to use and how to prepare it for particular ailments, but also it is not unusual to see customers pass a piece of paper with a list of herbs to a vendor which they wish to buy. In these cases the vendors may suggest substitutes if they do not have the herb listed. Traceability Sixty of a possible sample of 80 plants were collected (maximum of 20 species from each of four markets), and these were identified by the vendors as originating from a district within a department (state), a department, or by locale (see Table1). Locale might include reference to a herb from ´south of Lima’, although more commonly these references were to the Andes. Herbs commonly came from ‘altitude’, or ‘sierra’ in a particular department, or ´jalcas’ which refer to areas above 3000m, or from mountain lakes. It was not possible in this project to definitively relate abundance/scarcity to specific altitude or other geographic indicators. In nine (9) cases the plant was sourced in the market but its origin was unknown by the vendor. Of the remaining samples, less than half the plants were identified as originating from a particular district (23 ) and the rest were identified by department (15) or by less specific geographic information (11). The departments identified in our study were Cajamarca, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Piura, Ancash and Huánuco. Most of the plants traded in these markets were from the department of Cajamarca (21) although (the high country of) Lambayeque, Piura, and Ancash were also represented. Mercado de la Unión, was visited on a Sunday when peasants visit from local regions, and all medicinal plants were from that department - La Libertad. INSERT TABLE 1 Botanical identification Of the 20 plants considered, one was not identified on either a species or genus level, and five were identified only at the genus level, rather than the species level. • Hierba de la sonrisa is identified by Bussmann and Sharon (2007) as Tetragonia crystallina, but the samples purchased at Mercado Modelo and Mercado Moshoqueque were not that species, and were unidentifiable at a genus or species level. • Hierba del oro, Stelis eublepharis , was of the Stelis genus, but not S. eublepharis . The species was unidentifiable, and our informants were unclear about its conservation status. • Hórnamo amarillo, Senecio chionogeton , was found to be of the Senecio genus, but not S. chionogeton . Supply is understood by our informants to be scarce. • Hercampuri , Gentianella alborosea, was found to be of the Gentianella genus but not G. alborosea. Supply is understood by our informants to be scarce. • Three species from the Valerian family were included in our list – these were Hierba de la estrella, Phyllactis rigida , and Hierba de las lagunas, Valeriana spp and Valeriana, Geum peruvianum . Of these, only P. rigida , Hierba de la estrella, was identifiable at a species level. This herb is sold as the fresh or dried root, without any above-ground parts, so species identification is not possible. Conservation status With regard to conservation status of the twenty (20) plants we surveyed our informants told us that seven were available in large quantities (‘abundant’), 10 were scarce or threatened, and three were of unknown status. (See Table 2) Of particular concern are plants that are endemic, that is, specific to those regions and not found elsewhere.