The Madagascar periwinkle, native to Africa, is rich in medicinal properties and has been utilized in various traditional health practices worldwide. These delicate pink flowers are primarily known for treating diabetes, but also address malaria, asthma, and more. Research by Jamaican ethnopharmacologist Damian Cohall has isolated anti-diabetic compounds, affirming the validity of Indigenous knowledge predating Western science. However, the plant's medicinal properties have been exploited for profit, with little benefit returned to Indigenous communities, exemplifying a larger trend of marginalizing alternative knowledge systems throughout history.
'The fact that these anti-diabetic properties are known in traditional practices validates the Indigenous science that existed well before Western knowledge systems,' Cohall says.
'There has been for a long time, and there is still, a distrust of Indigenous knowledge among scientists,' says Mar.'
#madagascar-periwinkle #indigenous-knowledge #medicinal-plants #ethnopharmacology #traditional-medicine
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