Documentation of the medicinal knowledge of Prosthechea karwinskii in a Mixtec community in Mexico

ABSTRACT

In Mexico, native orchids are appreciated for their ornamental value and traditional uses and in many indigenous communities they comprise part of a biocultural heritage. The orchid Prosthechea karwinskii (Mart.) J.M.H. Shaw, Orchidaceae, is particularly relevant in this context, although some of its traditional uses have been attributed to a very similar species, P. citrina. A recent study of P. karwinskii reported unknown medicinal and other traditional uses by the Mixtec community in Mexico. Unfortunately, increasing acculturation of indigenous communities has resulted in a loss of the community's traditional knowledge, thus, we herein documented the worldview and practices associated with the medicinal use of P. karwinskii as well as the socioeconomic aspects that characterize the holders of this knowledge. People with this knowledge are mainly indigenous women with little or no schooling, who learned the medicinal practices from family tradition. They use pseudobulbs, leaves, or flowers of the plant to treat coughs (infusions), wounds and burns (poultices), diabetes (tea or chewed), to prevent miscarriages and to assist in childbirth (infusions). These results show a promising future for ethnopharmacological research on P. karwinskii.