ethnomedical knowledge of plants used for the treatment of

Research ArticleEthnomedical Knowledge of Plants Used for the Treatment ofTuberculosis in Johor Malaysia

Siti Fatimah Sabran Maryati Mohamed and Mohd Fadzelly Abu Bakar

Centre of Research for Sustainable Uses of Natural Resources (CoR-SUNR) Faculty of Science Technology amp Human DevelopmentUniversiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) 86400 Parit Raja Batu Pahat Johor Malaysia

Correspondence should be addressed to Siti Fatimah Sabran fatimahsbuthmedumy

Received 14 September 2015 Accepted 5 November 2015

Academic Editor Rahmatullah Qureshi

Copyright copy 2016 Siti Fatimah Sabran et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properlycited

This study documented ethnomedical knowledge of plants used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and its related symptomsas practiced by the Jakun community of Kampung Peta situated in Endau Rompin Johor National Park Johor Malaysia Eightkey informants were selected by snowball sampling technique and data about medicinal plants were collected by semistructuredinterviews participatory observations and focus group Qualitative analysis was undertaken using thematic analysis There were23 species of plants (22 genera 20 families) documented and herbarium specimens were deposited at the UTHM HerbariumDipterocarpus sublamellatus was recorded for the first time with ethnomedical uses while other species were previously reportedThe qualitative approach employed in this study demonstrates the emic perspective in terms of perceptions on traditional herbalmedicine transfer of knowledge significant taboos related with medicinal plants and their conservation efforts Local andbiomedical terminology in treatment of TB showed substantial correspondence The outcomes obtained in the study are worthbeing further investigated for conservation strategies and are worthy of verifying their ethnomedical claims scientifically

1 Introduction

Tuberculosis (TB) is a key global health problem [1] Thisancient airborne infectious disease is caused by Mycobac-terium tuberculosis bacterium In 2012 it is estimated that 86million people developed TB and 13 million died from it [1]Its epidemiology shows that this disease can affect a wholecommunity by causing significant mortality andmorbidity tohuman being [2] Additionally occurrence of drug-resistantstrains of TB poses serious threat to the current situationand the typical anti-TB drugs have caused ruthless side andadverse effects to the patients [3] An ideal anti-TB regimen isnot yet available to combat the resistant strains of TB and therecommended treatment regimens are problematic [4] SinceJohor having the second highest prevalence of tuberculosis(TB) cases in Peninsular Malaysia is also home to the Jakunperhaps documenting the existing ethnomedical knowledgeof the Jakun of the treatment for TB and its symptoms couldbe a leading way towards future discovery of medication forTB [5] Therefore the search for at least one potentially new

drug derived from nature should be initiated [6] In this caseethnomedical knowledge of the Jakun community could pro-vide a lead in primary screening of potential anti-TB agents

Malaysia is ranked as the twelfth megadiverse countryin the world due to its richness and endemism of flora andfauna [7] Peninsular Malaysia has been estimated to havemore than 2000 species of medicinal plants and there areabout 200 species being used by different ethnic groups allaround the country [8] Endau Rompin forest (2∘251015840129410158401015840N103∘151015840409410158401015840E) is one of the few remaining areas of vir-gin lowland rainforest in the southern part of PeninsularMalaysia Geographically it is themainlandAsianrsquos southern-most stretch of tropical rainforest In 1993 48905 hectaresof the Endau Rompin forest was gazetted as a national parkby the state government of Johor [9] Kampung Peta is avillage located outside the boundaries of the park (Figure 1)It has become the main entrance to Endau Rompin JohorNational Park in the municipality of Mersing Johor Withinthe rich lowland mixed dipterocarp forest of the park lievarious species of plants that provide substantial sources for

Hindawi Publishing CorporationEvidence-Based Complementary and Alternative MedicineVolume 2016 Article ID 2850845 12 pageshttpdxdoiorg10115520162850845

2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

N

Figure 1 Location of Endau Rompin Johor National Park and Kam-pung Peta [11]

foodmedicines shelters timber products andmanymore tothe nearby civilization [10]

Orang Asli is a local term for indigenous people inPeninsular Malaysia A total of 18 tribes of Orang Asli areestimated to be 150000 people covering 05 of the wholeMalaysian population [12] They are clustered into threemajor groups Negrito (northern region) Senoi (middleregion) and Proto-Malay (southern region) A tribe calledthe Jakun is a subgroup of Proto-Malay and is the most dom-inant Orang Asli tribe in Johor [13] The Jakun communityof Kampung Peta are descendants of the first inhabitants ofEndau River valley [14] The population of Jakun communityin Kampung Peta is about 220 people with 67 householdswhich represents 2 of the whole Orang Asli in Johor [15]They are still practicing traditional lifestyle amidst modernfacilities and strongly adhere to their ancestors beliefs astheir way of life They speak the Jakun dialect which isa subdialect of the Malay language Their livelihood reliesheavily on natural resources around them which includescombination of fishing hunting farming and trading forestproducts Recent years have shown tremendous changesin their lifestyle Due to socioeconomic improvement theyounger generation of Jakun are able to get higher educationand many have migrated to other places [16]

The first documentation work about medicinal plantsused by the Jakun community in Kampung Peta recorded52 plants species used for minor common ailments [17]Additionally 118 species of plants from Endau Rompin JohorNational Park were also surveyed against their alkaloid

saponin triterpene and steroid contents [18] Recent inven-tory data taken from 2005 to 2008 showed that approx-imately 54 nontimber plant families are used for variousethnobotanical uses that include Rubiaceae (16 species)Arecaceae (12 species) Annonaceae (9 species) Melastom-ataceae (7 species) Euphorbiaceae (5 species) Leguminosaeand Zingiberaceae (4 species) and Connaraceae LiliaceaeMyrtaceae Rhizophoraceae and Piperaceae (3 species) [19ndash21] This information demonstrates the prominence anddependency of the Jakun community on such plants thatmay have potential value as sources of active medicinalprinciples Although the Jakun community in Kampung Petastill depend on their ethnomedical knowledge for primaryhealthcare it is easy to lose this attribute as the worldprogresses towards modernizationTherefore by conductingproper documentation existing ethnomedical knowledgecould be maintained and not easily manipulated

This paper aims to document plants used for the treat-ment of TB and its related symptoms guided by ethnomedicalknowledge of the Jakun community in Kampung Peta Johorsouth of Peninsular Malaysia To the best of our knowledgeno previous ethnomedical study had been conducted specif-ically for treatment of TB from this community The newinformation gained from this study might initiate furtherstudies to aim at exploring the anti-TBpotentials of the plantssupporting the sustainability of traditional herbalmedicine inlocal community and conserving plants diversity

2 Methodology

21 Ethical Authorizations Following ethical guidelines from[22] approval from Department of Orang Asli Development(JAKOA) under the Malaysia Ministry of Rural and RegionalDevelopment was acquired Plants were collected undera permit approved by Johor National Parks Corporation(JNPC)Written Prior Informed Consent (PIC) was obtainedand Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was explained duringdata collection The inclusion of the headman (tok batin) ofthe Jakun of Kampung Peta indicated our commitment in ful-filling ABS mechanism at this juncture of time Participationof informants was dependent on their self-willingness andacceptance of the terms in PIC andABS which were speciallydeveloped for this research program

22 Data Collection Fieldworks were conducted betweenApril 2013 and April 2014 Key informants were recruitedusing snowball samplingmethod [23ndash25] Initially a courtesycall was made to the village headman The purpose of theresearchwas briefed to him andhe then assigned his people toparticipate in the interviews During the discussion with thefirst informant (R1) she then referred to other informantsCriteria of selection were also based on (i) the recognitionthat they are local practitioners by the Jakun community (ii)their ability to identify plants and explain the uses and (iii)the recommendation by park officers for their involvementin traditional herbal medicine Eight key informants of Jakuncommunity were selected from Kampung Peta as shown inTable 1 Each informant has vast experience in the areas oftraditional practices herbal formulations field identification

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3

Table 1 Characteristics of the selected key informants in Kampung Peta

Code Gender Age Marital status Belief Knowledgegained from

Duration ofpractice

Educationlevel Occupation

R1 F 66 Widowed A S O P and H Since small Primaryschool

Retired parkstaff farmer

R2 F 57 Married A S O P and H Since small No formaleducation


R3 M 58 Married A S O and P Since young No formaleducation

Handicraftherbal and

forestproducts

entrepreneur

R4 F 55 Married A S O P and H After beingmarried

No formaleducation

Park stafffarmer

R5 F 40 Single A S O P and H Since young No formaleducation Park staff

R6 F 44 Married I S O P and H Since small Primaryschool

Park stafftrade forestproducts

R7 M 45 Single A S O and P Since small No formaleducation Park staff

R8 F 55 Married A S O and G 3 months Primaryschool Park staff

Codes R1ndashR8 refers to informantrsquos name R1 Dido Lanau R2 Lindan Jala R3 Awang Kudi R4 Kikai Akar R5 Resnah Jala R6 Azizah Hussien R7 SalamLiman R8 Kechek Chuka F female M male A animism I Islam S self-experienced O observation P parents H herbalist and G God or spirit

and collection of medicinal plants One of the informants(R8) was selected for her experience in preparing herbalremedies to treat her son who claimed to have active TB andnow recovered from it

In-depth semistructured interviews were carried out asguided [26 27] The interviews were comprised of threeparts (i) demographic profile of the informants such asname gender age marital status religious belief how theygained the knowledge duration of practice education leveland occupation (ii) information about medicinal plantsconsumed by the Jakun related to signs and symptoms of TB(cough cough with blood cough with sputum fever nightfever loss of weight or appetite asthma rheumatism andfatigue) including the local names parts used method ofpreparation dosage and administration and (iii) significantaspects of Jakunrsquos ethnomedical knowledge such as beliefs ortaboos related to the plants Each interview session lasted anaverage of two hours ranging from 30minutes to three hours

Participatory observations were also done during casualor social meetings for any occurrences of what related toethnomedical knowledge of plants among the Jakun com-munity This also created a unique opportunity for the mainresearcher to get closer to build up rapport and trust and tominimize the cultural gap between the main researcher andthe informants

A 2-day training course on ldquoDocumentation of Ethnob-otanical Knowledge of Indigenous Peoplerdquo was organized byUniversiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) to form afocus group The objectives for this course were to providetraining on ethnobotanical documentation and to establishan open-ended discussion among researchers state agencies

and four representatives from the Jakun community Thediscussion session was directed to encourage the representa-tives to share and discuss their knowledge in greater depthQuestions like ldquoHow do you feel about your mom usingherbs Do you think it is ancient or out-datedrdquo were askedIn this way the representatives were able to provide in-depthanswers as individuals

23 Plants Identification Plant samples were collected fol-lowing the standard guidelines with consideration to theconservation of the species [28] Triplicates of each Herbar-ium specimens were pressed oven-dried at 40∘C for twoweeks and mounted on Herbarium sheets which were thendeposited at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)Herbarium Collection for future references Other standarddata such as location vegetation habitat description othermedicinal plants present and local plant name were recordedat each field site on preprepared forms Digital photographsshowing morphological features were also taken The pre-pared specimens were compared to previously identifiedspecimens from Kepong National Herbarium (KEP) Theauthentication was done by Kamarudin Saleh from ForestResearch Institute Malaysia (FRIM)

24 Data Analysis Tables and graphs were generated instandard software namely Microsoft Excel 2013 [29] Datafrom the transcribed interviews were analysed qualitativelyfollowing the emic approach [30] Thematic analysis whichwas derived from informantsrsquo own concepts was applied toconceptualize the data identify themes and assign conceptcodes [31] Reported uses of various medicinal plants were


comparedwith previously published ethnomedical literaturesaboutmedicinal plants in EndauRompin JohorNational Parkto cross-check and identify new medicinal uses [32] and anyloss of knowledge [33]

3 Results and Discussion

31 Demographics The eight key informants were two malesand six females with ages ranging between 40 and 66 yearsIn common they were individuals who gained knowledgeof medicinal uses of plants from self-experiences and obser-vations and through their parents as detailed in Table 1Additionally some of them were formally trained by a localherbalist due to their occupational requirement as park staffsThe God forest spirits or deceased ancestors revealed theknowledge through dreams as experienced by one of theinformantsrsquo son This showed that belief and ethnomedicalknowledge were integrated in this study Although theywere not regarded as the local experts or herbalists theywere the traditional herbal medicine practitioners that wouldgenuinely describe the plants they were very familiar with tothe researcher Additionally the main advantage of employ-ing the snowball sampling method was that the subsequentkey informants were introduced to the researcher based onacknowledgement by their own tribe Thus in this studycharacteristics such as age gender marital status belief andeducation level did not influence the acquisition of theirethnomedical knowledge of plants

32 Ethnomedical Knowledge of Plants

321 Plant Families Habitat The ethnomedical knowledgeabout the plants was summarized in Table 2 A total of23 species of medicinal plants were documented in thisstudy From Table 2 22 genera and 20 botanical familieswere presented indicating that the medicinal plants weremuch diversified taxonomically The top most representedfamilies were Arecaceae Aristolochiaceae and Rubiaceaewith two species each of the total distribution Otherswere the remaining 17 families (Loganiaceae MusaceaeCucurbitaceae Sterculiaceae Annonaceae Dipterocarpa-ceae Dilleniaceae Hypoxidaceae Myrtaceae NepenthaceaeUrticaceae Simaroubaceae Euphorbiaceae Poaceae Anac-ardiaceae Ebenaceae and Connaraceae) which representedonly one species each

The plant families consist of various habitats such astrees (7 species) climbers (7 species) shrubs (4 species)herbs (3 species) and hemiepiphyte (1 species) In thisstudy the significant uses of the climbers in the Jakunethnomedical knowledge showed a substantial relationshipbetween traditional knowledge and plant conservation Asexamples the climbers are greatly dependent on large treesto grow and survive and vice versa [34 35] At the same timethe climbers play an essential role as remedial resource tothe local community Uncontrolled logging and deforestationcould cause threats to the species of climbers and eventuallyerode local knowledge about medicinal plants [36] There-fore not only is documenting ethnomedical knowledge ofplants an inventory per se but it also contributes to the issue

of biodiversity conservation threats such as deforestationhabitat modification and unsustainable overexploitation

322 Symptoms of TB The 23 medicinal plants speciesrecorded in this study were used to treat an active TB disease(claimed by the Jakun community) and nine of TB-relatedsymptoms The most frequently cited medicinal plants wereused for fever (30) as it is a common ailment even in othercommunities Following that is cough (22) fatigue (17)and asthma (13) 9 of the species were used to treat coughwith blood night fever coughwith sputum and rheumatismwhereas 4 were documented to treat active TB and loss ofappetite

323 Parts Used In this study various plant parts were usedfor the herbal preparation Commonly roots and stems wereused and this applied to 39 of all plants listed This isfollowed by shoots involving 9 The least used parts wereflowers fruits seeds and stem barks for 4 of listed plantsAccording to informants the root is the main plant part usedin the Jakun traditionalmedicineThismay arise from the factthat the roots act as reservoirs for water and mineral uptakeswhich is rich with variety of secondary metabolites such assteroids alkaloids terpenes and volatile organic compounds[37] 83 of the documented species were used individuallywhile the remaining 17 were recommended to be used inmixtures

324 Preparation and Administration In the Jakun commu-nity herbal remedies are usually prepared fresh If this is notthe case they will dry the plant parts (usually the roots) andkeep them in a proper storage before use The most commonmethod of preparation was decoction in water (43 of listedplants) followed by collection of sap (35) and being eatenraw (13) The less common methods include infusion inwater and being cooked as food (9 each) and macerationin water and decoction in oil (4 each) Decoction in wateris equivalent to aqueous extraction and it appears to bemuch favoured because it is easier to prepare Additionallywater is the best solvent to dissolve hydrophilic compoundsthat are responsible for various antimicrobial activities [38]In this study the most typical way of administration wastaken in a form of drink (83) followed by taken as food(17) and applied on tongue (9) The least typical waysof administration were as massage oil and cold press andfor bathing (4 each) These elements might explain therelatively good association between preparation and admin-istration of herbal remedies and more than three-quarters ofthe listed plant species (87) were taken orally as comparedto those taken for topical applications (4)

325 Conservation Status 22 species of the plants docu-mented in Table 2 are taken from the wild whereas onlyone species (Gardenia sp) is cultivated Medicinal plants aregenerally harvested from nearby forest areas by the localpeople These results corroborate the ideas of Ceutericket al [31] who suggested that local people use herbalremedies that are readily available and easily accessible inthe natural vegetation around their settlement However


Table 2 List of medicinal plants recorded in this study

Botanical information Symptoms Parts used Methods ofpreparation

Ways ofadministration

Frequency ofcitation Source of plants

Strychnos ignatii BergAkar IpohLoganiaceaeClimberSUNR(P)001

Feverrheumatism Stem

Decoction inwater infusion

in waterOral drink 6 The wild

Calamus spRotan sepetangArecaceaeClimberSUNR035

Fever Stem Sap collected Oral drink 6 The wild

Calamus scipionum LourRotan semambuArecaceaeClimberSUNR040


Musa gracilisHolttumPisang sumMusaceaeHerbSUNR003

Cough Stem flower Sap collectedOral drinkapplied ontongue

5 The wild

Thottea praetermissa TLYaoPerut keletongAristolochiaceaeShrubSUNR034

Cough coughwith sputum Root Decoction in

water rawOral drinkeaten raw 5 The wild

Hodgsonia macrocarpa(Blume) CognTeruakCucurbitaceaeClimberSUNR001


Scaphium macropodum(Miq) Beumee ex HeyneKembang semangkokSterculiaceaeTreeSUNR021

Fever (high) Seed Infusion inwater

Oral drinkmucilage eaten 4 The wild

Polyalthia bullata KingTungkat Ali HitamAnnonaceaeShrubSUNR030

Fatigue Root Decoction inwater Oral drink 4 The wild

Dipterocarpus sublamellatusFoxwKeruing airDipterocarpaceaeTreeSUNR037

TB Stem barkDecoction in

water decoctionin oil

Oral drinkTopical massageoil for bathing

4 The wild

Tetracera macrophyllaWallex Hookf ampThomsonEmpelasDilleniaceaeClimberSUNR002

Night fever Stem Sap collected Oral drink 3 The wild


Table 2 Continued




Molineria latifolia(Dryand) Herb ex Kurzvar latifoliaLembakHypoxidaceaeHerbSUNR014

Loss of appetite Fruit Raw Oral eaten raw 3 The wild

Rhodamnia cinerea JackPelonggotMyrtaceaeTreeSUNR019

Fever fatigue Stem Sap collected Oral drink 3 The wild

Nepenthes ampullaria JackSentoyotNepenthaceaeClimberSUNR024

Asthmarheumatism Root Decoction in

water Oral drink 3 The wild

Poikilospermum suaveolens(Blume) MerrDemom malamUrticaceaeHemi-epiphyteSUNR026


Eurycoma longifolia JackTungkat Ali PutihSimaroubaceaeTreeSUNR029

Fatigue Root

Decoction inwater In

combinationwith Rennellia

ellipticaPolyalthiabullata and

others

Oral drink 3 The wild

Gardenia spBunga cinaRubiaceaeShrubSUNR020

Fever Shoot leaf Maceration inwater

Topical coldpress 3 Cultivated

Macaranga gigantea (Rchbfamp Zoll) MATudungEuphorbiaceaeHerbSUNR005

Cough Stem Sap collected Oral applied ontongue 2 The wild

Leptaspis urceolata (Roxb)RBrLapun puyuhPoaceaeHerbSUNR012

Asthma coughwith sputum Root Decoction in


Thottea grandiflora RottbHempeduk beruangTelingok kelawarAristolochiaceaeShrubSUNR022

Cough asthma Root Decoction inwater Oral drink 2 The wild


Table 2 Continued




Campnospermaauriculatum (Blume)HookfHabongAnacardiaceaeTreeSUNR028

Cough withblood Shoot root

Decoction inwater raw and

cooked

Oral drinkeaten raw andcooked as food

2 The wild

Diospyros cauliflora BlumeUncertainlowastEbenaceaeTreeSUNR013

Cough Uncertainlowast Uncertainlowast Uncertainlowast 1 The wild

Rourea mimosoides (Vahl)PlanchPengesepConnaraceaeClimberSUNR033

Cough withblood Root Decoction in


lowastThe informants were unable to provide the detailed information regarding the criteria for this plant

forestry overexploitation for timber products [39 40] andwide popularity of their local use lead to overharvesting[41] and perhaps put them into higher risk of extinctionin the future if no conservation efforts are engaged Inthis study all informants showed an understanding aboutconservation practices Their strong affection towards theforest was observed by the researcher during the fieldworksThe implementation of ex situ conservation through homegarden and in situ conservation through the establishment ofethnobotanical garden in national park area was efforts madeby the Jakun community and the national park authority

If I get medicines that are rare highly heal-ing I will plant them (R1 2014 personalcommunication)

It is interesting to note that Jakunrsquos ethnomedical knowl-edge reflected their thoughtful conservation efforts andrespects towards nature Apart from replanting themedicinalplants they also practice to reuse the raw materials

I will not waste the materials After using Icollect the decoction and I dry the remainingmaterials again to reuse them (R6 2014 per-sonal communication)

Perhaps unintentionally these ethnomedical practicesthat implement sustainable method of harvesting have con-tributed to the conservation of medicinal plants In additionthe awareness of loss of herbs among the Jakun communityshows that the natural resources are increasingly threatenedand intensifying efforts need to be implemented immediatelyto curb this problem One of the informants stated thatmajority of the medicinal plants are easily available butcertain species are also available with difficulty

Before this it was very easy to find Now it ishard (R4 2014 personal communication)

Pardo-de-Santayana and Macıa [42] agreed that localresources particularly the plants they use as food andmedicine are crucial to ensure that those communities cancontinue to live and benefit from their local ecosystems in asustainable way

326 Frequency of Citation The plants with the highestfrequency of citation by informants are Strychnos ignatii andCalamus sp (6 citations) whereas plants with the lowest fre-quency of citation by the informants are Diospyros caulifloraand Rourea mimosoides (1 citation) Even though six specieswere cited by less than three informants (119899 lt 3) theirmedici-nal uses appear to beworthy of further investigations to verifytheir possible pharmacological activities especially those usedto treat constitutional symptoms of TB such as night fever andcough with sputum [30] However being named by at leastthree informants (119899 ge 3) is themost typical cut-off point usedby ethnobotanists to establish agreement [43]

327 Novel Knowledge Comparison with previous docu-mentation works appeared to suggest that this study attainedone new ethnomedical knowledge and one new claimMajor-ity of the species reported by the informants were alreadyknown as medicinal plants in Malaysia except for Diptero-carpus sublamellatus Therefore in this study D sublamel-latus was documented for the first time with ethnomedicalknowledge while the rest of the listed species were formerlyreported with diverse medicinal uses from other indigenouscommunities D sublamellatus was specifically used to treatactive TB as claimed by some of the key informants It isinteresting to note that this particular species is a memberof Dipterocarpaceae family which was reported to containsesquiterpenes triterpenes coumarin derivatives phenolicsessential oil and isoquinoline alkaloids groups [44 45]The use of Gardenia sp as medicinal plants for the Jakun


Table 3 Themes that emerged via the coding process

Themes Subthemes Codings

Perceptions on traditional medicinePrimary source of healthcare for eldergeneration Primary

Alternative source of healthcare for youngergeneration Alternative

Transfer of knowledgeMothers have a significant influence MothersThe young generation are not interested tolearn traditional knowledge due to modernlifestyle

Time

Conservation of medicinal plants

Some valuable and in-demand herbs aredifficult to find Difficult to find

The location to collect plants is far Too farThey use only small amount use them whennecessary and reuse the materials Reuse

They plant the seedlings Replant

TaboosAvoid taking prohibited meals duringtreatment Eating

Nice weather is a good time CollectingConfusion of names Appearance of uncertainties Names

community which was another new claim recorded in thisstudy was not previously recorded The knowledge might begained by cross-cultural interaction with outsiders like theMalays andChinese as it is typical ornamental andmedicinalplant in these cultures [46]

33 Thematic Analysis The thematic analysis approach washelpful to recognize the culturally valuable ethnomedicalknowledge of the Jakun community Repetition of certainwords provided a cue to assign coding and identify themesIn addition the repetition of questions was deliberated toprovide a focus for analysis For instance the word ldquotimerdquoappeared frequently during the interviews in describingevents of plant collection and herbal administration Subcod-ings such as ldquocollectingrdquo or ldquoeatingrdquo would be a reference to atheme such as ldquotaboosrdquo Once the themes emerged data werefragmented to lift coded elements out of the context of eachinterview to list comments and information by group [24 25]Table 3 lists the themes that emerged from the codings

331 Perceptions on Traditional Medicine Medicinal plantswere fairly important in the Jakun community for both theelderly and the young generations The use of traditionalmedicine did not seem to conflict with the use of modernmedicine In many cases they complemented each otherHowever there were some contraries among the elder andyounger generations of Jakun community in Kampung PetaAs examples consider the following

We never abandon our traditional practices Justlike you the Malay if you donrsquot get well surelyyou will go to the hospital We still carry out aswhat our ancestors have been practicing beforeand never leave it behind (R1 2014 personalcommunication)

ldquoIf modern medicine is not effective I have tolook for forest remedies as an alternativerdquo (Sonof R1 2014 personal communication)

The elder generation uses traditional herbal medicineas the primary source of healthcare while the youngergeneration uses traditional herbal medicine as the alternativesource of healthcare if the modern medicine seems not effec-tive From the focus group discussion Jakunrsquos representativeexpressed his feelings of being the young generation of Jakunwho is keeping up with the modern lifestyle and his effortto preserve their traditional knowledge He mentioned thefollowing

I do not feel ashamed to the fact that mymother is practicing traditional herbalmedicineIndeed I feel so proud of it I also want to learnabout it and use it to my daughter (Rudi binKudi 2013 personal communication)

Although the elder generations are practicing less fre-quently ethnomedicine due to modernization such dec-laration as above proved that the younger generations ofthe Jakun in Kampung Peta are still supporting the strongpractices of ethnomedical knowledge of their ancestors

332 Transfer of Knowledge During present study it wasfound that the knowledge about utilization of medicinalplant species is generally accumulated by observation andexperiences and transferred orally to the next generationwithout any systematic process However it is certain thatsuch knowledge system is at the risk of fading in the future[47] Lack of interest from the youth is one of the mainconcerns among the elderly The young generation of Jakunshows less attention and are not keen on learning theirtraditional knowledge from the elder generation A likely


explanation is that because it has little scope for moneyTherefore they engage themselves in other occupations [48]One of the informants narrated the following

Even so the community mostly the newgeneration could not recognize the medicinalplants This is why I tell them they are the localpeople but they do not recognize the cures fromthe forest (R1 2014 personal communication)

Commitment towards other responsibilities such as seek-ing formal education was given more priority compared tolearning and teaching about ethnomedical knowledge Theinformant explained the following

How can we teach our grandchildren about thisknowledge while they are studying at school(R4 2014 personal communication)

Assimilation to modern lifestyle by the young generationmost probably contributes to the huge impact on transfer ofknowledge At the time this study was conducted in 2013the community in Kampung Peta had already gained accessto modern medical treatment that was frequently used Itwas in the form of a small clinic built by the governmentin the village to routinely monitor health status of the Jakuncommunity In addition they received regular biweekly visitsby the medical officers Moreover it takes only two hours bycar ormotorcycle from the village toMersingHospital wheredoctors are available Consequently all of these lessen theexposure to ethnomedical knowledge as a source of remedies[49]

Despite the challenges in transferring the knowledgehaving a family and being a parent lead to the awareness inlearning about traditional herbal medicine

He (referring to her son) now knows a littleabout forest remedies after he has a daughter Afew years back before he could not tell anythingat all He definitely knew nothing Just afterhis daughter was sick he asked my opinionon which forest remedies are better (RI 2014personal communication)

Medicinal plants have traditionally been used at hometo treat family sickness In this case women have particularroles in transferring the ethnomedical knowledge in theircapacities as mothers [50]

333 Taboos Associated with Medicinal Plants In Jakunrsquosethnomedical knowledge practices a few conditions mustbe followed during the plant collection preparation andtreatment to ensure efficacy Formedical purposes medicinalplants should be collected in certain settings such as duringthe full moon or early in themorning Indeed time of harvestis a possible source of variation for the bioactivity of theextracts [51]They are particularly prohibited to collect plantsduring ldquohujan panasrdquo or summer rain They believe thatsummer rain brings harmful effects on the collectorrsquos healthand the plants might contain toxic metabolites Additionallythey are aware of the safety and dosage issues particularly

if they take traditional medication together with modernmedicine As demonstrated in Table 2 most of the medicinalplants are prepared as water infusion The water infusionmainly extracts bioactive compounds such as anthocyaninstannins saponins and terpenoids [52] As a result the herbalpreparation should only be taken after meal and the Jakuncommunity would avoid any acidic or spicy food duringtreatment to avoid stomach pain

334 Confusion in Names Confusion of plant names andterminologies and the appearance of uncertainties as shownin Table 2 indicate the erosion of ethnomedical knowledgeamong the Jakun and this was apparent in this studyKhuankaew et al [49] suggested that lack of experiencewith the ethnomedical knowledge practices which is veryvital in the transmission of knowledge might be a possiblefactor This event also suggests that certain knowledge mightpotentially be lost as a form of deculturation The reason asto why the Jakun people stop using certain remedies may bedue to availability of better alternatives (modern medicine)Ceuterick et al [31] concluded that herbal remedies canfunction as ethnic markers Thus erosion of this traditionalknowledge and practices may possibly weaken Jakunrsquos senseof identity

During the interviews some of the informants gaveinformation about the plants that they previously consumedthemselves On the other hand some of the informants gaveinformation about medicinal plants that they thought theresearcher might be interested in although they have littleknowledge about the plant It is important to bear in mindthe possible bias in these responses Hence confirmationusing quantitative approach should be employed to ratify thestatement and to eliminate bias of information

34 Correspondence between Local and Biomedical Termi-nology Following their emic perceptions all of the keyinformants were able to differentiate the symptoms of TB asdescribed by the researcher and to define their ethnomedicalterms according to their understanding Table 4 lists thesymptoms of TB given by informants and their equivalentbiomedical terms

Based on Table 4 14 local terms of TB-related symptomswere listed and each term was capable of being translatedinto standard biomedical terms Terminology is one of thechallenges during ethnomedical knowledge documentation[51 52] Mcclatchey [53] emphasized that it is critical to useterms that are meaningful within a community even if theyare obscure to scientific fields This is because culture definesmedicine while disease etiologies differ between ethnomed-ical systems [54] As the one discussed here Heinrich et al[55] argued that translating indigenous and local diagnosisinto biomedical terms is ideally essential for future clinicalassessment

In the Jakun community TB is closely associated withblackmagic ldquoHasad dengkirdquo or jealousy was speculated as thecause for this disease According to the informant

in our community this disease is typically linkedto jealousy It is intended to destroy the person


Table 4 Symptoms of TB given by informants and their equivalent biomedical terms

Ailment categories Biomedical terms Local terms

Respiratory diseases and fever

Cough Sersquoeh batuk gatal-gatal tekak sakit lidahCough with sputum Batuk berkahak

Ordinary fever Demam panas dalamHigh fever Demam panasAsthma Semput

Chest pain Sakit dadaNight fever Demam malam

Arthritis Rheumatism Sakit dalam badanJoint pain Sakit lutut sakit sendi

Ear nose throat bleedingsNose Hidung dan tekak berdarah

Sore throat Sakit leherCough with blood Batuk berdarah

Others Fatigue Lemah badanLoss of appetite KurangTiada selera makan

We no longer practice such custom and I myselfprohibit it (Sangka Chuka 2013 personal com-munication)

In Kampung Peta ldquobomohrdquo could also be consulted tocure less acute conditions by employing his knowledge of thechemical properties of plants Therefore any plants might beused as a medicinal plant with some addition of charm orldquojampirdquo Some of the plants introduced by the ldquobomohrdquo asmedicinal plants might over time be incorporated into thegroup of medicinal plants used by common people in thevillage Additionally the Jakun community also believed thatother than the ldquobomohrdquo any selected individual could receiveknowledge about forest remedies through dreams revealed bythe spirits of the jungle (semangat hutan or dewa) or theirdeceased ancestors who sympathize with their sufferingsAdditionally the Jakun community have not entirely stoppedbelieving in black magic and the powers of plants to imposecurses to cure or neutralize curses But as the Malays andChinese came in they perceive all black magic as the work ofdemons and it should be strictly avoided They still practiceanimism and believe that God has given plants their specificqualities and their power to act as remedies

4 Conclusions

This study has contributed to the scientific documentationof medicinal plants used for the treatment of TB in JohorMalaysia The 23 species of medicinal plants recorded in thisstudy demonstrate that the Jakun community in KampungPeta are still rich in ethnomedical knowledge particularlyof treatment of TB and its related symptoms The mostfrequently cited species were Strychnos ignatii and CalamusspDipterocarpus sublamellatuswas recorded for the first timefor its ethnomedical knowledge and traditionally claimedto treat active TB by the Jakun While other species wereformerly reportedGardenia sp was a new addition to Jakunrsquosethnomedical knowledge Jakunrsquos ethnomedical knowledge

needs to be conserved as the larger percentage of thetraditional practitioners is older generation and some of theknowledge was apparently eroded in this study The quali-tative approach employed in this study successfully providethe emic perspective in terms of perceptions on traditionalherbal medicine transfer of knowledge significant taboosrelated with medicinal plants and their conservation effortsLocal people and biomedical terminology in treatment ofTB showed substantial correspondence Further studies arein progress on the antituberculosis assay to validate theirtraditional claims

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper

Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to Malaysia Ministry ofHigher Education (MOHE) and Universiti Tun Hussein OnnMalaysia (UTHM) for providing the Fundamental ResearchGrant Scheme (FRGS) Project Code 1435 and UTHM Con-tract Grant Scheme Project Code C031 Mr KamarudinSalleh from Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) andAssociated Professor Dr Alona C Linatoc from Univer-siti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) for advising onplant identification Department of Orang Asli Development(JAKOA) under the Malaysia Ministry of Rural and RegionalDevelopment for the approval to conduct the research anddedicated staffs of Johor National Parks Corporation (JNPC)for assistance during fieldworks and permission to carry outresearch Highest appreciation is due to all key informantswho had given their consent and unreservedly shared theirprecious knowledge and to all Jakun community of KampungPeta for their hospitality and warm friendship


References

[1] WHOGlobal Tuberculosis Report 2014WHOGeneva Switzer-land 2014

[2] C J L Murray K F Ortblad C Guinovart et al ldquoGlobalregional and national incidence and mortality for HIV tuber-culosis and malaria during 1990ndash2013 a systematic analysis forthe Global Burden of Disease Study 2013rdquoThe Lancet vol 384no 9947 pp 1005ndash1070 2015

[3] MaHTAS Clinical Practice Guide Management of Tuberculosisvol 12Malaysia Health Technology Assessment Section (MaH-TAS) Putrajaya Malaysia 3rd edition 2012

[4] A I Zumla S H Gillespie M Hoelscher et al ldquoNew antituber-culosis drugs regimens and adjunct therapies needs advancesand future prospectsrdquoThe Lancet Infectious Diseases vol 14 no4 pp 327ndash340 2014

[5] N Arshad Pekerja Asing Sebar TB Berita Harian KualaLumpur Malaysia 2013

[6] WHO The Stop TB Strategy World Health OrganizationGeneva Switzerland 2006

[7] Convention on Biological Diversity ldquoMalaysiamdashCountry Pro-filerdquo 1992 httpswwwcbdintcountriesprofiledefaultshtmlcountry=myfacts

[8] K M Salleh and A Latiff Tumbuhan Ubatan Malaysia PusatPengurusan Penyelidikan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia2002

[9] K L Chew A Pictorial Guide to Endau Rompin Johor ThePremier National Park in Southern Peninsular Malaysia JohorNational Park Corporation Johor Bahru Malaysia 2007

[10] G W H Davison and M N Society Endau-Rompin AMalaysian Heritage Malaysian Nature Society Kuala LumpurMalaysia 1988

[11] Labis District Council ldquoTaman Negara Johor Endau Rompinrdquo2015 httpwwwmdlabisgovmy

[12] Department of Statistics Malaysia ldquoSummary findings ofMalaysia population 2010ndash2040rdquo 2012 httpswwwstatisticsgovmy

[13] R M Akbal A Asliaty A Hani Suraya et al Program DianDesa Sempena Kembara Mahkota Johor 2009 Kg Orang AsliSayong Pinang Kota Tinggi Johor Darul Tarsquozim Penerbit Uni-versiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia Johor Batu Pahat Malaysia2009

[14] Center for Orang Asli Concerns Jakuns of Kampung Peta to GetTheir Say in Court Center for Orang Asli Concerns 2015

[15] Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli Data Maklumat Asas JabatanKemajuan Orang Asli Negeri Johor Sehingga Jun 2012 JabatanKemajuan Orang Asli Johor Baharu Malaysia 2012

[16] T W Seow M Mohamed M Nur S Bin O Asli and J HEhwal ldquoPembangunan sosioekonomi komuniti orang asli dimalaysiardquo in Persidangan Kebangsaan Geografi amp Alam SekitarKali Ke-4 pp 755ndash761 Jabatan Geografi dan Alam SekitarFakulti Sains Kemanusiaan 2013

[17] C E Taylor and KWWong ldquoSome aspects of herbal medicineamong theOrangHulu community of Kampung PetardquoMalayanNature Journal vol 41 no 2-3 pp 317ndash328 1987

[18] R Kiew N Lajis S Anthonysamy et al ldquoA phytochemicalsurvey at ulu endau johore malaysia malaysian heritageamp scientific expedition endau-rompinrdquo The Malayan NatureJournal vol 41 no 2-3 pp 329ndash336 1987

[19] B J Chee ldquoMedicinal properties and common usages of somepalm species in the Kampung Peta community of Endau-Rompin National Park Johorrdquo Journal of Tropical MedicinalPlants vol 6 no 1 pp 79ndash83 2005

[20] Perbadanan Bioteknologi dan Biodiversiti Negeri Johor Khaz-anah Endau RompinmdashHerba Utusan Publications amp Distribu-tors Sdn Bhd Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 1st edition 2007

[21] Perbadanan Bioteknologi dan Biodiversiti Negeri Johor Khaz-anah Endau RompinmdashHerba Perbadanan Bioteknologi danBiodiversiti Negeri Johor Skudai Malaysia 2nd edition 2008

[22] J R Welch ldquoEthics in ethnobiology publicationrdquo EthnobiologyLetters vol 3 no 1 pp 96ndash97 2012

[23] N Mack W Cynthia K M MacQueen and E NameyQualitative Research Methods A Data Collectorrsquos Field GuideFamily Health International Chapel Hill NC USA 2005

[24] EDrsquoAvigdorHWohlmuth Z Asfaw andTAwas ldquoThe currentstatus of knowledge of herbal medicine and medicinal plantsin Fiche Ethiopiardquo Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicinevol 10 no 1 article 38 2014

[25] K Viney P Johnson M Tagaro et al ldquoTraditional healers andthe potential for collaboration with the national tuberculosisprogramme in Vanuatu results from a mixed methods studyrdquoBMC Public Health vol 14 no 1 article 393 2014

[26] G J Martin Ethnobotany AMethodManual Chapman ampHallLondon UK 1995

[27] C M Cotton Ethnobotany Principles and Applications JohnWiley amp Sons Chichester UK 1997

[28] WHO WHO Guidelines on Good Agricultural and CollectionPractices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants World Health Organi-zation Geneva Switzerland 2003

[29] L Bunalema S Obakiro J R S Tabuti and P WaakoldquoKnowledge on plants used traditionally in the treatment oftuberculosis in Ugandardquo Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol 151no 2 pp 999ndash1004 2014

[30] P Bruschi M Morganti M Mancini and M A SignorinildquoTraditional healers and laypeople a qualitative and quantita-tive approach to local knowledge on medicinal plants in Muda(Mozambique)rdquo Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol 138 no 2pp 543ndash563 2011

[31] M Ceuterick I Vandebroek B Torry and A Pieroni ldquoCross-cultural adaptation in urban ethnobotany the Colombian folkpharmacopoeia in Londonrdquo Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol120 no 3 pp 342ndash359 2008

[32] A Shah K A Bharati J Ahmad and M Sharma ldquoNewethnomedicinal claims from Gujjar and Bakerwals tribes ofRajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir IndiardquoJournal of Ethnopharmacology vol 166 pp 119ndash128 2015

[33] A G Singh A Kumar and D D Tewari ldquoAn ethnobotanicalsurvey of medicinal plants used in Terai forest of westernNepalrdquo Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine vol 8 no1 article 19 2012

[34] L Kammesheidt A Berhaman J Tay G Abdullah and MAzwal ldquoLiana abundance diversity and tree infestation in theImbak Canyon conservation area Sabah Malaysiardquo Journal ofTropical Forest Science vol 21 no 3 pp 265ndash271 2009

[35] P Addo-Fordjour Z B Rahmad andAM S Shahrul ldquoImpactsof forest management on community assemblage and carbonstock of lianas in a tropical lowland forestrdquoMalaysia vol 7 no2 pp 244ndash259 2014

[36] D Acharya and M Rai ldquoTraditional knowledge about Indianantimicrobial herbs retrospects and prospectsrdquo in Ethnomedic-inal Plants Revitalizing of Traditional Knowledge of Herbs


M Rai D Acharya and J L Rios Eds pp 212ndash237 CRC PressBoca Raton Fla USA 1st edition 2011

[37] S Rasmann I Hiltpold and J Ali ldquoThe role of root-producedvolatile secondary metabolites in mediating soil interactionsrdquoin Advances in Selected Plant Physiology Aspects 2000

[38] E M Tekwu T Askun V Kuete et al ldquoAntibacterial activ-ity of selected Cameroonian dietary spices ethno-medicallyused against strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosisrdquo Journal ofEthnopharmacology vol 142 no 2 pp 374ndash382 2012

[39] L S L ChuaM SuhaidaMHamidah and LG Saw ldquoMalaysiaplant red list introductionrdquo Research Pamphlet 129 ForestResearch Institute Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 2010

[40] The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Version 20142International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2014httpwwwiucnredlistorg

[41] U Schippmann D J Leaman A B Cunningham and Inter-Departmental Working Group on Biological Diversity forFood and Agriculture Impact of Culitvation and Gathering ofMedicinal Plants on Biodiversity Global Trends and Issues FAO2002

[42] M Pardo-de-Santayana and M J Macıa ldquoBiodiversity thebenefits of traditional knowledgerdquoNature vol 518 no 7540 pp487ndash488 2015

[43] R J Case S G Franzblau Y Wang S H Cho D D Soejartoand G F Pauli ldquoEthnopharmacological evaluation of theinformant consensus model on anti-tuberculosis claims amongthe Manusrdquo Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol 106 no 1 pp82ndash89 2006

[44] M S AslamM S Ahmad and A S Mamat ldquoA phytochemicalethnomedicinal and pharmacological review of genus diptero-carpusrdquo International Journal of Pharmacy and PharmaceuticalSciences vol 7 no 4 pp 27ndash38 2015

[45] M Nurhuda ldquoThe potential of dipterocarp as timber byprod-uct in Sabahrdquo in Proceedings of the Research Seminars atthe Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation UniversityMalaysia Sabah fromApril 2005 toMarch 2006 Biodiversity andConservation Research for Science and T pp 1ndash4 2005

[46] HW Sangat-Roemantyo ldquoGardenia jasminoides Ellisrdquo in PlantResources of South-East Asia No 3 Dye and Tannin-ProducingPlants R H M J Lemmens and N Wulijarni-Soetjipto Edspp 76ndash78Wageningen Academic PublishersWageningenTheNetherlands 1991

[47] P A Cox ldquoWill tribal knowledge survive the millenniumrdquoScience vol 287 no 5450 pp 44ndash45 2000

[48] S AMohd Sam andTW Seow ldquoPractice cultural of OrangAsliJakun at KampungPetardquo International Journal of Conceptions onManagement and Social Sciences vol 2 no 3 pp 26ndash30 2014

[49] S Khuankaew K Srithi P Tiansawat A Jampeetong AInta and P Wangpakapattanawong ldquoEthnobotanical study ofmedicinal plants used by Tai Yai in NorthernThailandrdquo Journalof Ethnopharmacology vol 151 no 2 pp 829ndash838 2014

[50] H Fassil A Qualitative Understanding of Local TraditionalKnowledge and Medicinal Plant Use World Bank WashingtonDC USA 2003

[51] M Panghal V Kaushal and J P Yadav ldquoIn vitro antimicrobialactivity of ten medicinal plants against clinical isolates of oralcancer casesrdquo Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicro-bials vol 10 no 1 article 21 2011

[52] J Azmir I S M Zaidul M M Rahman et al ldquoTechniquesfor extraction of bioactive compounds from plant materials areviewrdquo Journal of Food Engineering vol 117 no 4 pp 426ndash4362013

[53] W C Mcclatchey ldquoExorcizing misleading terms from ethnob-otanyrdquo Ethnobotany Research and Applications vol 3 pp 1ndash42005

[54] P O Staub M S Geck C S Weckerle L Casu and MLeonti ldquoClassifying diseases and remedies in ethnomedicineand ethnopharmacologyrdquo Journal of Ethnopharmacology vol174 pp 514ndash519 2015

[55] M Heinrich S Edwards D E Moerman and M LeontildquoEthnopharmacological field studies a critical assessment oftheir conceptual basis and methodsrdquo Journal of Ethnopharma-cology vol 124 no 1 pp 1ndash17 2009

Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom

Stem CellsInternational

Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014


MEDIATORSINFLAMMATION

of


Behavioural Neurology

EndocrinologyInternational Journal of



Disease Markers


BioMed Research International

OncologyJournal of



Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity


PPAR Research

The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Immunology ResearchHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

Journal of

ObesityJournal of



Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine

OphthalmologyJournal of


Diabetes ResearchJournal of



Research and TreatmentAIDS


Gastroenterology Research and Practice


Parkinsonrsquos Disease

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Volume 2014Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom


N

Figure 1 Location of Endau Rompin Johor National Park and Kam-pung Peta [11]

foodmedicines shelters timber products andmanymore tothe nearby civilization [10]

Orang Asli is a local term for indigenous people inPeninsular Malaysia A total of 18 tribes of Orang Asli areestimated to be 150000 people covering 05 of the wholeMalaysian population [12] They are clustered into threemajor groups Negrito (northern region) Senoi (middleregion) and Proto-Malay (southern region) A tribe calledthe Jakun is a subgroup of Proto-Malay and is the most dom-inant Orang Asli tribe in Johor [13] The Jakun communityof Kampung Peta are descendants of the first inhabitants ofEndau River valley [14] The population of Jakun communityin Kampung Peta is about 220 people with 67 householdswhich represents 2 of the whole Orang Asli in Johor [15]They are still practicing traditional lifestyle amidst modernfacilities and strongly adhere to their ancestors beliefs astheir way of life They speak the Jakun dialect which isa subdialect of the Malay language Their livelihood reliesheavily on natural resources around them which includescombination of fishing hunting farming and trading forestproducts Recent years have shown tremendous changesin their lifestyle Due to socioeconomic improvement theyounger generation of Jakun are able to get higher educationand many have migrated to other places [16]

The first documentation work about medicinal plantsused by the Jakun community in Kampung Peta recorded52 plants species used for minor common ailments [17]Additionally 118 species of plants from Endau Rompin JohorNational Park were also surveyed against their alkaloid

saponin triterpene and steroid contents [18] Recent inven-tory data taken from 2005 to 2008 showed that approx-imately 54 nontimber plant families are used for variousethnobotanical uses that include Rubiaceae (16 species)Arecaceae (12 species) Annonaceae (9 species) Melastom-ataceae (7 species) Euphorbiaceae (5 species) Leguminosaeand Zingiberaceae (4 species) and Connaraceae LiliaceaeMyrtaceae Rhizophoraceae and Piperaceae (3 species) [19ndash21] This information demonstrates the prominence anddependency of the Jakun community on such plants thatmay have potential value as sources of active medicinalprinciples Although the Jakun community in Kampung Petastill depend on their ethnomedical knowledge for primaryhealthcare it is easy to lose this attribute as the worldprogresses towards modernizationTherefore by conductingproper documentation existing ethnomedical knowledgecould be maintained and not easily manipulated

This paper aims to document plants used for the treat-ment of TB and its related symptoms guided by ethnomedicalknowledge of the Jakun community in Kampung Peta Johorsouth of Peninsular Malaysia To the best of our knowledgeno previous ethnomedical study had been conducted specif-ically for treatment of TB from this community The newinformation gained from this study might initiate furtherstudies to aim at exploring the anti-TBpotentials of the plantssupporting the sustainability of traditional herbalmedicine inlocal community and conserving plants diversity

2 Methodology

21 Ethical Authorizations Following ethical guidelines from[22] approval from Department of Orang Asli Development(JAKOA) under the Malaysia Ministry of Rural and RegionalDevelopment was acquired Plants were collected undera permit approved by Johor National Parks Corporation(JNPC)Written Prior Informed Consent (PIC) was obtainedand Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was explained duringdata collection The inclusion of the headman (tok batin) ofthe Jakun of Kampung Peta indicated our commitment in ful-filling ABS mechanism at this juncture of time Participationof informants was dependent on their self-willingness andacceptance of the terms in PIC andABS which were speciallydeveloped for this research program

22 Data Collection Fieldworks were conducted betweenApril 2013 and April 2014 Key informants were recruitedusing snowball samplingmethod [23ndash25] Initially a courtesycall was made to the village headman The purpose of theresearchwas briefed to him andhe then assigned his people toparticipate in the interviews During the discussion with thefirst informant (R1) she then referred to other informantsCriteria of selection were also based on (i) the recognitionthat they are local practitioners by the Jakun community (ii)their ability to identify plants and explain the uses and (iii)the recommendation by park officers for their involvementin traditional herbal medicine Eight key informants of Jakuncommunity were selected from Kampung Peta as shown inTable 1 Each informant has vast experience in the areas oftraditional practices herbal formulations field identification




Duration ofpractice








forestproducts

entrepreneur


No formaleducation

Park stafffarmer









































5 The wild















4 The wild




Table 2 Continued














Fatigue Root




others













Table 2 Continued







cooked


2 The wild






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of



















Duration ofpractice








forestproducts

entrepreneur


No formaleducation

Park stafffarmer









































5 The wild















4 The wild




Table 2 Continued














Fatigue Root




others













Table 2 Continued







cooked


2 The wild






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of











































5 The wild















4 The wild




Table 2 Continued














Fatigue Root




others













Table 2 Continued







cooked


2 The wild






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of

















Table 2 Continued














Fatigue Root




others













Table 2 Continued







cooked


2 The wild






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of

















Table 2 Continued







cooked


2 The wild






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of






















Time














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of














































4 Conclusions





Acknowledgments



References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of

















References































































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of










































of






Disease Markers



OncologyJournal of





PPAR Research



Journal of

ObesityJournal of
















ethnomedical knowledge of plants used for the treatment of

Documents