Traditional Medicines
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GLOBAL / MULTI-REGIONAL
Traditional Medicine
| World Health Organization | WHO | 11/28/25
Traditional medicine is defined here as health knowledge and practice rooted in cultural history and often centered on nature-based remedies. The page explains how traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine includes herbal medicine and remains widely used across many countries.
Traditional Medicine Has a Long History of Contributing to Conventional Medicine and Continues to Hold Promise
| World Health Organization | WHO | 8/10/23
This WHO feature explains how traditional healers, home remedies, and long-standing medicinal knowledge continue to shape health practices around the world. It also frames local herbal knowledge as both cultural heritage and a possible source of future therapies.
Traditional Indigenous Medicine in North America: A Scoping Review
| Nadine R. Caron Redvers et al. | PLOS One / PMC | 2020
This scoping review maps published research on traditional Indigenous medicine in North America. It provides a broad framework for understanding how plant-based remedies fit within larger Indigenous healing systems in the United States and Canada.
Traditional Herbal Medicine in Mesoamerica: Toward Its Evidence Base and a Mesoamerican Medicinal Plant Database
| M.S. Geck et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology / PMC | 2020
This critical review synthesizes survey literature on botanical drugs used across Mesoamerica. It helps place local Mexican and Central American remedies into a larger regional herbal tradition.
Medicinal Plant Knowledge in the Caribbean Basin: Cultural Intermixing and Local Primary Health Care
| W. Torres-Avilez et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2015
This article compares medicinal plant knowledge among groups in the Caribbean Basin. It highlights both shared remedies and important differences created by migration, local history, and cultural intermixing.
A U.S. Pharmacopeia Overview of Pan American Botanicals Used in Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines
| R. Upton et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology / PMC | 2024
This overview surveys the herbal medicine landscape across the Pan American region, including North America and the Caribbean. It is broader than a single community study, but it helps place local herbal traditions into a continental regulatory and research context.
AFRICA
Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Medicinal Plants Used by the Local Gamo People in Boreda Abaya District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia
| J. Zemede et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2024
This article describes the long history of traditional herbal medicine among the Gamo people of southern Ethiopia. It documents indigenous medicinal plants and presents them as part of a still-living local knowledge system used for primary health care.
Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used by the People of Mosop, Nandi County in Kenya
| Z.C. Maiyo et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2024
This paper documents medicinal plants used by the Mosop community in Nandi County, Kenya. It records how traditional medicine practitioners use specific plant parts and preparation methods to treat different disease categories.
Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Indigenous Knowledge Holders to Manage and Treat Childhood Diseases in North West Province, South Africa
| P.T. Ndhlovu et al. | PLOS One | 2023
This study focuses on medicinal plants used by indigenous knowledge holders in South Africa to manage childhood diseases. It highlights the continuing importance of traditional medicine in local primary care and the need to document knowledge that is often passed down orally.
Traditional Plants Used for Medicinal Purposes by Local Communities around the Northern Sector of Kibale National Park, Uganda
| Author not clearly exposed in tool | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2024
This study documents medicinal plants used by communities near Kibale National Park in Uganda. It focuses on local herbal knowledge, plant preparation, and the role of traditional remedies in community health.
Ethnobotanical Study on Medicinal Plants Used in the Aseer Province, Southwestern Saudi Arabia
| Manal A. Alshaqhaa et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 5/31/25
This open-access study records medicinal plants and traditional healing knowledge in the Aseer region. It emphasizes that this knowledge has largely been passed down orally and needed documentation.
Ethnobotanical Investigation of Medicinal Plants Utilized by Indigenous Communities in the Fofa and Toaba Sub-Districts of the Yem Zone, Central Ethiopian Region
This paper documents medicinal plants, local names, plant parts, and preparation methods used by indigenous communities in central Ethiopia. It also looks at how traditional knowledge is transmitted and how these remedies support public health and food security.
Ethnopharmacological Study of Traditional Medicinal Plants Used in the Metema District, Northwestern Ethiopia
| D. Tadesse et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2025
This study documents medicinal plant use and associated traditional knowledge in Metema District. It presents traditional medicine as deeply tied to local culture and everyday healthcare.
Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Addi Arkay District, Northwestern Ethiopia
| W. Misganaw et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2025
This article documents 112 medicinal plant species used in local primary healthcare. It shows how one knowledge system can serve both human and livestock care within the same community.
Traditionally Used Phytomedicines and Their Associated Threats in Bita District, Southwestern Ethiopia
| A. Awoke et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2025
This paper records 122 traditional medicinal plant species and discusses threats to the knowledge and plant resources behind them. It highlights the importance of conservation alongside documentation.
Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Medicinal Plants Used by the Indigenous Communities of West Shoa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia
| T.B. Beressa et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2024
This paper identifies and documents plants used in ethno-pharmacological practice in West Shoa. It presents local herbal knowledge as a long-standing source of community care.
Ethnopharmocological Study of Medicinal Plants Used for Treatment of Skin Diseases by Herbalists in Northwestern Region of Algeria
| R. Hantour et al. | PLOS One | 2/27/26
This recent article documents herbalists’ knowledge of medicinal plants used for skin diseases in northwestern Algeria. It also notes the cultural importance of preserving women’s traditional roles in medicinal practice and passing that knowledge forward.
ASIA
An Ethnobotanical Study on the Medicinal Herb Practices of the Gelao Ethnic Minority in North Guizhou, China: An Exploration of Traditional Knowledge
| F. Liu et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2023
This study documents the medicinal herb knowledge of the Gelao people in northern Guizhou, China. It focuses on wild plants used in local healing traditions and shows how community knowledge is preserved through interviews and participatory fieldwork.
Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used by Various Ethnic Tribes of Mizoram, India
| L. Ralte et al. | PLOS One | 2024
This survey records ethnomedicinal knowledge from multiple tribal communities in Mizoram, India. It draws on interviews across 17 villages and shows how medicinal plants remain embedded in local practice, healer knowledge, and community life.
Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal and Ritual Plants Utilized by the Indigenous Communities of Benguet Province, Philippines
| J.R. Andalan et al. | Tropical Medicine and Health | 2024
This study preserves medicinal and ritual plant knowledge from indigenous communities in Benguet, Philippines. It details the plant parts used, common preparation methods such as decoction, and the ailments these remedies are intended to treat.
Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants in the Southern Mountain Area of Kunyu Mountain, China
| Z. Wang et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2025
This survey documents plants and associated traditional medicinal knowledge held by residents in the southern mountain area of Kunyu Mountain. It also notes concern about the loss of oral knowledge as the elderly population declines.
Ethnobotanical Heritage of Edible Plants Species in Mueang District, Yasothon Province, Northeastern Thailand
| P. Saensouk et al. | Biology (MDPI) | 2025
This article documents edible plants that also serve medicinal and cultural roles in northeastern Thailand. It shows how food and healing knowledge often overlap in local practice.
A Case Study from Guizhou, China
| M. Yang et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2025
This study documents the medicinal and edible uses of Lamiaceae plants in a Dong community in Guizhou. It focuses on plant knowledge as an element of intangible cultural heritage at risk of being lost.
Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Medicinal Plants Used by the Miao People in Hainan, China
| S. Huang et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 6/16/25
This article records the medicinal knowledge of the Miao people in Hainan. It emphasizes the distinct ecological and cultural context shaping their healing practices.
Ethnobotanical Survey and Quantitative Assessment of Medicinal Plants in Landlocked Communities of San Fernando, La Union, Philippines
| R.J.V. Flores et al. | Frontiers in Pharmacology | 2025
This survey documents how medicinal plant knowledge varies across Philippine communities. It argues that local isolation, modernization, and community history all shape herbal practice.
Medicinal Plants Traded in Hakka Communities of Southeastern Guangxi, China
| Y. Liufu et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2025
This article examines medicinal plants sold in Hakka community markets in southeastern Guangxi. It shows how local herbal knowledge is expressed not only in households but also through trade networks.
An Ethnobotanical Study on Medicinal Food Plants Used by the Kazakh People in China
| Y. Zhao et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2025
This study focuses on medicinal food plants used by Kazakh communities in northern Xinjiang. It illustrates how food and remedy traditions are intertwined in daily life.
Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used by the Indigenous Community of the Western Region of Mizoram, India
| L. Ralte, H. Sailo, and Y.T. Singh | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2024
This study documents medicinal plants used by indigenous communities in western Mizoram. It adds detail to the larger record of tribal herbal practice in northeastern India.
Ethnobotanical Plants Used as Traditional Medicine in Pantar, Lanao del Norte, Philippines
This ethnomedicinal survey documents traditional plant knowledge among the Maranao community in Pantar. It highlights the role of elders, especially older women, in preserving remedy knowledge.
Quantitative Approach to Unveiling Indigenous Knowledge on Medicinal Plants of Tea Tribes of Dhubri District, Assam, India
| Author not clearly exposed in tool | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 5/3/25
This article focuses on medicinal plant knowledge among tea-tribe communities in Assam. It uses quantitative ethnobotanical methods to document remedy knowledge and community practice.
Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used by the Yi People in Mile, Yunnan, China
| H.R. Li et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2024
This paper documents medicinal plants used by the Yi people in Yunnan. It adds to the growing record of regionally distinct herbal practices among China’s ethnic communities.
An Ethnobotanical Survey on the Medicinal and Edible Plants Used by the Daur People in China
| Y.Q. Bi et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2024
This article records medicinal and edible plants used by the Daur people. It shows how healing knowledge is embedded in local food systems and ecological knowledge.
Qualitative and Quantitative Ethnobotanical Study of the Pangkhua Indigenous Community of Bangladesh
| M.O. Faruque et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2019
This study documents ethnomedicinal knowledge among traditional healers and elders in the Pangkhua community. It was designed specifically to preserve plant-use knowledge for future generations.
EUROPE
Ethnobotanical Inventory of Plants Used by Mountainous Rural Communities in NW Portugal
| A. Sá et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2024
This inventory records plant knowledge from rural mountain communities in northwest Portugal. It treats these communities as hotspots of ecological knowledge and documents how locally known plants support everyday needs, including medicinal uses.
Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants for Symptom Relief During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bulgaria
| D. Cherneva et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2025
This ethnobotanical study records medicinal plants used in Bulgarian traditional phytotherapy during the pandemic. It shows how local herbal knowledge adapted to a modern public health crisis.
An Ethnobotanical Study in Kırşehir (Türkiye)
| G. Emre et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2024
This study examines ethnobotanical knowledge in Kırşehir and places medicinal plant use within traditional ecological knowledge. It treats local plant knowledge as culturally and ecologically valuable.
Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century
| N. Sulaiman et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2023
This article documents ethnobotanical knowledge in the Susa Valley of the northwestern Italian Alps. It compares current medicinal and food-medicine knowledge with records from 1970 to show change over time.
Cultural Use and the Knowledge of Ethnomedicinal Plants in a Sacred Province of Türkiye
| A. Dogan et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2024
This paper catalogs traditional medicinal uses of plants in a province where sacred landscapes and local culture strongly shape practice. It frames ethnobotanical knowledge as both spiritual and practical.
LATIN AMERICA
Ethnobotanical Surveys of Plants Used by Quilombola Communities in Brazil: A Scoping Review
| L.F.S. Ramos et al. | Life (MDPI) | 2024
This review highlights the medicinal plant knowledge held by Quilombola communities in Brazil. It emphasizes that remedies, plant selection, and preparation methods vary by region, reflecting both shared heritage and local adaptation.
Ethnobotanical Insights: Qualitative Analysis of Medicinal Plants in Colón Putumayo for Traditional Knowledge Preservation
| M.A. Bastidas-Bacca et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2023
This article systematizes ethnomedicinal knowledge in Colón Putumayo, Colombia. It shows how ancestral plant knowledge is used as an alternative for treating illnesses and preserving community knowledge.
Agrobiodiversity as a Reservoir of Medicinal Resources: Ethnobotanical Insights from Aymara Communities in the Bolivian Andean Altiplano
| S. Cocarico et al. | Horticulturae (MDPI) | 2025
This study shows how cultivated plants and weeds in Aymara farming systems also function as medicinal resources. It highlights the close relationship between agriculture and traditional healing.
NORTH AMERICA
Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in the Boreal Forest of Canada
| N.P. Uprety et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2012
This review documents the medicinal plants used by Aboriginal peoples across the Canadian boreal forest. It emphasizes the depth of orally transmitted herbal knowledge and the risk of losing it through cultural change.
Plants of the USA: Recordings on Native North American Useful Plants in Humboldt’s “Plantae des États-Unis” Manuscript
| L.C. Baratto et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2024
This article recovers historical ethnobotanical information on useful plants in the United States and reconnects those records to Native North American Indigenous knowledge. It also discusses how Indigenous plant knowledge was often erased in later literature.
Exchange of Medicinal Plant Information in California Missions
| J.R. McBride | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2020
This paper examines how medicinal plant knowledge moved among Native Californians, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Californios during the California mission period. It highlights both continuity and exchange in regional herbal practice.
The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants
| William N. Setzer and colleagues | Medicines / PMC | 2018
This review summarizes traditional Cherokee uses of aromatic medicinal plants and links them to phytochemical and biological research. It offers a focused North American example of local herbal knowledge carried into modern scientific study.
The Volatile Phytochemistry of Seven Native American Medicinal Plants
| S.K. Lawson et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2021
This article studies seven medicinal plants associated with Native American herbal traditions. It combines ethnobotanical context with chemical analysis while preserving attention to traditional North American uses.
Volatile Compositions and Antifungal Activities of Native American Medicinal Plants: Focus on North American Herbal Legacy
| S.K. Lawson et al. | Plants (MDPI) | 2020
This paper situates several native medicinal species within the broader history of North American Indigenous herbal medicine. It also connects traditional use to laboratory analysis of plant activity.
A Review and Survey of Local Eastern Kentucky Medicinal Plants
| P. Veldhi et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2025
This recent study surveys medicinal plants known and used in Pike County, Kentucky. It documents local Appalachian herbal knowledge and shows how regional remedy traditions remain active at the community level.
Gitksan Medicinal Plants—Cultural Choice and Efficacy
| Leslie Main Johnson | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2006
This article explores medicinal plant choice among the Gitksan of northwestern Canada. It treats plant selection as culturally meaningful rather than purely pharmacological, offering a classic ethnobotanical case study.
Antibacterial Activity of Traditional Medicinal Plants Used by Haudenosaunee Peoples of North America
| F.M. Frey and colleagues | BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine / PMC | 2010
This study tests the antibacterial activity of plants used in Haudenosaunee traditional medicine. It is useful because it begins from documented Indigenous plant use and then examines those remedies in a laboratory setting.
Antidiabetic Potential of Cree Traditional Medicines: A Case Study from Canadian Eastern James Bay Cree Knowledge
| Pierre S. Haddad et al. | Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine / PMC | 2011
This article presents a case study of medicinal plants selected through Cree knowledge for symptoms related to diabetes. It shows how community-guided ethnobotanical approaches can shape modern biomedical research.
Actualized Inventory of Medicinal Plants Used in Traditional Medicine in Oaxaca, Mexico
| C.P.A. Lucía et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2021
This inventory compiles medicinal plant use in Oaxaca and shows the extraordinary diversity of traditional herbal knowledge in southern Mexico. It is especially valuable for documenting locally used species across a major biocultural region.
An Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used in the Veracruz Area of Mexico
| E.A.L. Reimers et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2019
This survey documents medicinal plants used in Veracruz and details preparation methods such as infusions and decoctions. It provides a strong example of living community herbal practice in Mexico.
Medicinal Plants in the Southern Region of the State of Nuevo León, Mexico
| E. Estrada-Castillón et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2012
This ethnobotanical study records medicinal plants used in scrubland and oak-pine forest communities of southern Nuevo León. It highlights both ecological diversity and local knowledge transmission.
Factors Affecting Ethnobotanical Knowledge in a Mestizo Community of Mexico
| L. Beltrán-Rodríguez et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2014
This article examines how gender, livelihood, and other social variables affect medicinal plant knowledge in a mestizo community. It is useful for understanding how herbal knowledge is distributed inside North American communities.
Domestication of Aromatic Medicinal Plants in Mexico: Agastache mexicana and Relatives
| G. Carrillo-Galván et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | 2020
This paper explores how aromatic medicinal plants in Mexico have been managed and domesticated over time. It connects traditional medicine to cultivation, selection, and long-term human-plant relationships.
Ethnobotany in a Modern City: The Persistence of Medicinal Plant Knowledge in Urban Mexico
| R.E. Martínez-González et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2025
This recent paper shows that medicinal plant knowledge persists even in urban settings in Mexico. It is helpful for understanding how traditional remedies adapt rather than simply disappearing in modern cities.
Mexican Plants and Derivate Compounds as Alternatives for Pain Treatment
| G.N. Quiñonez-Bastidas et al. | Molecules / PMC | 2021
This review documents Mexican medicinal plants traditionally used for inflammatory and neuropathic pain. It links local ethnomedical use to pharmacological evidence and safety questions.
Knowledge Distribution of Medicinal Plant Use in the Southeast Region of Puerto Rico
This survey documents medicinal plants used in southeastern Puerto Rico and examines how herbal remedy knowledge is distributed socially. It also connects the work to the long-running TRAMIL network in the Caribbean.
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on the Use of Botanical Medicines in Barbados
| T. Vujicic et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2021
This study documents how botanical medicines are understood and used in Barbados. It contributes to preserving Caribbean medicinal plant practices and shows how herbal knowledge remains part of everyday health behavior.
An Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants in Trinidad
| Yvette N. Clement et al. | Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / PMC | 2015
This survey identifies medicinal plants commonly used in traditional medicine on the island of Trinidad. It provides one of the clearer island-scale records of Caribbean remedy practice.
Survey on the Traditional Use of Medicinal Herbs in Haiti
| V. Thesnor et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2024
This recent study documents Haitian family knowledge and use of medicinal herbs for respiratory and related illnesses. It helps preserve a body of herbal knowledge that is still actively used in households.
Caribbean Women’s Health and Transnational Ethnobotany
| E. Vardeman et al. | Open-access journal article / PMC | 2021
This article examines women’s health remedies used by Dominicans and Haitians across the Caribbean and New York City. It shows how ethnobotanical knowledge travels across borders while remaining rooted in local traditions.
A potential treasure trove’: World Health Organization to explore benefits of traditional medicines
by Kat Lay 20/12/25 The Guardian
From herbalists in Africa gathering plants to use as poultices to acupuncturists in China using needles to cure migraines, or Indian yogis practising meditation, traditional remedies have increasingly being shown to work, and deserve more attention and research, according to a World Health Organization official.
A historical lack of evidence, which has seen traditional practices dismissed by many, could change with more investment and the use of modern technology, according to Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, who leads the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre.
