ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF PITALO, SAN FERNANDO, CEBU

A Research Project submitted to:

Ms. Mary Ann Dumdum

Cebu City National Science High School

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the subject

Research II

By:

Alegre, Maan Kyra

Dela Cruz, Jamaica

Famador, Eunice Irish

Regidor, Richard Dominic

 ABSTRACT

There have been several cases wherein people found themselves bewildered as to
what to do whenever we people become sick or whenever people encounter problems
with regards to their livelihood, or whenever people want the food they cook to become
tasty.
The project was done to (1) asses significance of the flora found in Pitalo, San
Fernando, Cebu through a statistical approach; (2) apply the information gathered for
future reference and public use; (3) evaluate how the inhabitants of Pitalo, San Fernando,
Cebu make use of their plant resources and; (4) Provide useful information for medical
practitioners and other ruralties.
Since the proponents aimed to gather Descriptive Data, they settled to do an open-
ended survey with the people of Pitalo as respondents. A questionnaire was then made
that asks of the community’s commonly (and mostly) used plants when it comes to
preparing food, to better our livelihood and to give information for medical treatment.
The inhabitants of Pitalo were given the questionnaires for the survey. The respondents
were chosen through Random Sampling Technique, having 75 people our answer the
survey. Ten-percent was our chosen percent error.
Results from tabulations had shown that most people in Pitalo choose Alugbati
frequently for food, Kapayas for livelihood production and Gabon for medicinal
purposes.
This project helped the proponents conclude that Alugbati, Kapayas and Gabon are
useful plants for people to be able to help them live their lives in betterment.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the completion of this project, the proponents would like to thank their parents

and families, their classmates and batchmates, USC-TC, CCNSHS, Sir Dexter Ontoy of

CNU, Ms. Mary Ann Dumdum (Research II teacher), the kind and understanding elders

of Brgy. Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu (that included our verifying agents and our guardians

during our stays at Brgy. Pitalo), the students of Pitalo National High School (for being

kind and cooperative), and most of all, to God the Almighty, for all their support,

inspiration and encouragement, and for giving the wonderful opportunity to be able to

pursue and complete the project that serves as proof of our being as scholars.

To all others left unmentioned, thank you very much!

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Ethnobotanical studies are often significant in revealing locally important plant

species especially for the discovery of new medicine. There have been many

Ethnobotanical Studies that were performed throughout the world; one of them was done

in Mana Angetu District (Southeastern Ethiopia).

The wide spread use of traditional medicine among both urban and rural population in

Ethiopia could be attributed to cultural acceptability, efficacy against certain type of

diseases, physical accessibility and economic affordability as compared to modern

medicine. Philippine traditional medical system is characterized by variation and is

shaped by the ecological diversities of the country, socio-cultural background of the

different ethnic groups as well as historical developments, which are related to migration,

introduction of foreign culture and religion. Previous studies showed the existence of

traditional medical pluralism in the country.

In the Philippines, though there has been some organized ethnomedicinal studies,

there is limited development of therapeutic products and the indigenous knowledge on

usage of medicinal plants as folk remedies are getting lost owing to migration from rural

to urban areas, industrialization, rapid loss of natural habitats and changes in life style.

Also, there is a lack of ethnobotanical survey carried out in most parts of the country. In

view of these, documentation of the traditional uses of medicinal plants is an urgent

matter and important to preserve the knowledge. Thus, the purpose of this study is to

investigate the traditional uses of medicinal plants by the ordinary people in Pitalo, San

Fernando, Cebu and to provide baseline data for future pharmacological and economical

studies.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

The study aims to:

• Assess the significance of the flora found in Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu through a

statistical approach.

• Evaluate how the inhabitants of Pitalo, make use of their plant resources.

• Provide useful information for medical practitioners and other rural areas.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Ethnobotanical Study
of
Pitalo, San Fernando

Conducted a Survey

Plants

Food Medicine

Livelihood

HYPOTHESES

The following statements are the hypotheses:

• The flora, found in Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu, have uses for medication to the

inhabitants of the area.

 • The significance of the flora in Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu is that it is highly

profitable.

• One of the most useful plants in Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu are those that the

locals use (examples: Kamunggay, Ampalaya, Gabon and Mangaggaw).

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Men and plants coexist. With this in mind, the proponents decided to conduct a study

that will show how people at a certain place make use of the plant life within their area.

Plants support our existence in every way possible. They could be used for food, they

have medicinal and anti-bacterial properties, and they are also good sources of income.

We humans have become very dependent on plants and the benefits they provide us

without even realizing it.

This study was created for three purposes: first is to raise awareness amongst the

inhabitants of the particular barrio about the very important role that the plants play in

their lives; second is to discover new and possibly much more effective ways of utilizing

the plants in the said vicinity and third is to provide important additional information

about the barrio, its residents, and the flora found in the place—especially to medical

practitioners—for future research, using the principles of Social Science.

SCOPES AND LIMITATIONS

This research study was conducted at Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu, and lasted for about

two to three weeks. The proponents interviewed random people and verified the

information they gathered through the help of four key informants. Due to time

constraints, the proponents only sampled 75 out of the 756 households in the place.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

• Ethnobotany- (from "ethno" - study of culture and "botany" - study of plants) is the

scientific study of the relationships that exist between people and plants.

• Respondents – refers to the random people of the small barrio who answered our

questions, guided by the survey

• Population – the number of people in a certain place; in statistics, population refers to

any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals being subjected to a statistical study.

• Flora – plant life; vegetation; also refers to flowers

• Percent error – these calculations are used to determine how close to the true values

(measure of accuracy) the experimental values really are.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

What is Ethnobotany? Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular

culture and region make of use of indigenous plants. Ethnobotanists explore

how plants are used for such things as food, shelter, medicine, clothing,

hunting, and religious ceremonies.

Who are Ethnobotanists? Ethnobotanists have helped us to understand the

frightening implications which loss of the rain forests would bring not only in

terms of consequent loss of knowledge about tropical plants, but the consequent

damage brought on by the loss of native cultures in their entirety, as well as the

damage to the earth's ecological health.

Ethnobotanists are usually botanists and/or biologists with additional graduate

training in such areas as: archeology, chemistry, ecology, anthropology, linguistics,

history, pharmacology, sociology, religion and mythology. With such broad training,

ethnobotanists raise many interesting questions quite different in scope from those of

previous generations of scientists trained in botany alone. For example, botanists with

anthropological and ecological training look at plants as an integral part of human

culture. Not only do they study the plants within the tropical forests, they also work

respectfully with shamans within the native culture, examining that culture's concepts of

disease.

Source: http://www.accessexcellence.org

History of ethnobotany

Though the term "ethnobotany" was not coined until 1895 by the US botanist John

William Harshberger, the history of the field begins long before that. In AD 77, the Greek

surgeon Dioscorides published "De Materia Medica", which was a catalog of about 600

plants in the Mediterranean. It also included information on how the Greeks used the

plants, especially for medicinal purposes. This illustrated herbal contained information on
how and when each plant was gathered, whether or not it was poisonous, its actual use,

and whether or not it was edible (it even provided recipes). Dioscorides stressed the

economic potential of plants. For generations, scholars learned from this herbal, but did

not actually venture into the field until after the Middle Ages.

In 1542 Leonhart Fuchs, a Renaissance artist, led the way back into the field. His "De

Historia Stirpium" cataloged 400 plants native to Germany and Austria.

John Ray (1686-1704) provided the first definition of "species" in his "Historia

Plantarum": a species is a set of individuals who give rise through reproduction to new

individuals similar to themselves.

In 1753 Carl Linnaeus wrote "Species Plantarum", which included information on

about 5,900 plants. Linnaeus is famous for inventing the binomial method of

nomenclature, in which all species get a two part name (genus, species).

The 19th century saw the peak of botanical exploration. Alexander von Humboldt

collected data from the new world, and the famous Captain Cook brought back

information on plants from the South Pacific. At this time major botanical gardens were

started, for instance the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Edward Palmer collected artifacts and botanical specimens from peoples in the North

American West (Great Basin) and Mexico from the 1860s to the 1890s.
 Once enough data existed, the field of "aboriginal botany" was founded. Aboriginal

botany is the study of all forms of the vegetable world which aboriginal peoples use for

food, medicine, textiles, ornaments, etc.

The first individual to study the emic perspective of the plant world was a German

physician working in Sarajevo at the end of 19th Century: Leopold Glueck. His published

work on traditional medical uses of plants done by rural people in Bosnia (1896) has to

be considered the first modern ethnobotanical work.

The term "ethnobotany" was first used by a botanist named John W. Harshberger in

1895 while he was teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. Although the term was not

used until 1895, practical interests in ethnobotany go back to the beginning of civilization

when people relied on plants as a way of survival.

Other scholars analysed uses of plants under an indigenous/local perspective in the

20th century: e.g. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, Zuni plants (1915); Frank Cushing, Zuni

foods (1920); Keewaydinoquay Peschel, Anishinaabe fungi (1998), and the team

approach of Wilfred Robbins, JP Harrington, and Barbara Freire-Marreco, Tewa pueblo

plants (1916).

In the beginning, ethonobotanical specimens and studies were not very reliable and

sometimes not helpful. This is because the botanists and the anthropologists did not come

together on their work. The botanists focused on identifying species and how the plants

were used instead of including how plants fit into people's lives. On the other hand,

anthropologists were interested in the cultural role of plants and not the scientific aspect.
Therefore, early ethnobotanical data does not really include both sides. In the early

twentieth century, botanists and anthropologists finally collaborated and the collection of

reliable, detailed data began.

Modern ethnobotany

Beginning in the 20th century, the field of ethnobotany experienced a shift from the

raw compilation of data to a greater methodological and conceptual reorientation. This is

also the beginning of academic ethnobotany. The founding father of this discipline is

Richard Evans Schultes.

Today the field of ethnobotany requires a variety of skills: botanical training for the

identification and preservation of plant specimens; anthropological training to understand

the cultural concepts around the perception of plants; linguistic training, at least enough

to transcribe local terms and understand native morphology, syntax, and semantics.

Native healers are often reluctant to accurately share their knowledge to outsiders.

Schultes actually apprenticed himself to an Amazonian shaman, which involves a long

term commitment and genuine relationship. In Wind in the Blood: Mayan Healing &

Chinese Medicine by Garcia et al. the visiting acupuncturists were able to access levels of

Mayan medicine that anthropologists could not because they had something to share in

exchange. Cherokee medicine priest David Winston describes how his uncle would

invent nonsense to satisfy visiting anthropologists.

Source: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany
METHODOLOGY

Barangay Pitalo, located at Southern Cebu, has seven hundred sixty-six households

and a population of six thousand three hundred and thirty-four (NSO, 2007). First, a

questionnaire was made that asks the respondents what barangay’s commonly (and

mostly) used plants when it comes to preparing food, livelihood, and medical treatment.

A copy of the questionnaire is attached to this research paper.

With the questionnaire, a survey was then conducted having the inhabitants of Brgy.

Pitalo, San Fernando, Cebu as our respondents last September 01-02, 2008. Seventy-five

Pitalo students of Pitalo National High School were randomly chosen as the repliers,

giving an estimated ten-percent to twelve-percent error. In order to have the results

accurate, there are people who we verified for the results. Two barangay tanods, one

barangay councilor and one key informant—all of whom residing at Brgy. Pitalo—were

interviewed.

Data was then acquired and tabulated. They were analyzed as well, in order to

provide a conclusion to the project.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

a. Findings

Table 1.1 Frequency of the Plants answered by Respondents used for Food.

FOOD
Plant ƒ % Plant ƒ % Plant ƒ %
1.96078 Talbos ng
Alugbati 52 14.56583 Mango 7 4 Kamote 2 0.560224
Kamunggay 44 12.32493 Sayote 5 1.40056 Orabyas 2 0.560224
1.12044 Horse
Kalabasa 35 9.803922 Ube 4 8 Radish 1 0.280112
Talong 27 7.563025 Humay 4 1.12044 Orange 1 0.280112
 8
1.12044
Okra 26 7.282913 Guava 4 8 Avocado 1 0.280112
1.12044
Mais 17 4.761905 Langka 4 8 Atis 1 0.280112
1.12044
Kangkong 16 4.481793 Tangad 4 8 Piña 1 0.280112
0.84033
Batong 14 3.921569 Carrot 3 6 Sili 1 0.280112
0.84033
Kapayas 14 3.921569 Kaimito 3 6 Bantiyong 1 0.280112
0.84033
Saging 12 3.361345 Sikwa 3 6 Tanokono 1 0.280112
0.84033
Gabi 10 2.80112 Repolyo 3 6 Mani 1 0.280112
0.56022
Petsay 9 2.521008 Gay 2 4 Mongos 1 0.280112
0.56022 Sibuyas-
Ampalaya 8 2.240896 Kamatis 2 4 dahon 1 0.280112
Siko- 0.56022
Camote 7 1.960784 Karabaw 2 4 Paminta 1 0.280112
Total (frequency) 357

Table 1.2 Frequency of the Plants answered by Respondents used for Livelihood.

LIVELIHOOD
Plantƒ % Plant ƒ % Plant ƒ %
3
Kamunggay 7 11.1111 Kangkong 7 2.1021 Caimito 2 0.6006
2
Saging 8 8.40841 Gabi 7 2.1021 Santol 2 0.6006
2
Kapayas 7 8.10811 Sikwa 7 2.1021 Tubo 2 0.6006
2
Lubi 3 6.90691 Petchay 5 1.5015 Arobias 2 0.6006
2
Okra 1 6.30631 Tambis 4 1.2012 Sineguelas 1 0.3003
2
Alugbati 0 6.00601 Lanzones 4 1.2012 Huimay 1 0.3003
1
Kalabasa 9 5.70571 Carrot 3 0.9009 Sili Spada 1 0.3003
1
Eba 8 5.40541 Atis 3 0.9009 Sambag 1 0.3003
Mais 1 4.8048 Batong 2 0.6006 Patatas 1 0.3003
 6
1
Talong 5 4.5045 Siko Karabaw 2 0.6006 Butig 1 0.3003
1
Tangad 4 4.2042 Jackfruit 2 0.6006 Bantiyong 1 0.3003
1
Mangga 0 3.003 Garnada 2 0.6006 Bisol 1 0.3003
1
Camote 0 3.003 Bayabas 2 0.6006
Paleya 7 2.1021 Langka 2 0.6006
Total (frequency) 333

Table 1.3 Frequency of the Plants answered by Respondents used for Medicinal

Purposes.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Plant ƒ % Plant ƒ % Plant ƒ %
3 10.422 0.8450
Gabon 7 5 Kataka-taka 3 7 Watchetaw 1 0.28169
3 9.8591 0.8450
Mangagaw 5 5 Sinaw-sinaw 3 7 Kakaw 1 0.28169
3 9.2957 0.8450
Bayabas 3 7 Lubi 3 7 Bugnay 1 0.28169
2 7.6056 0.8450
Kamunggay 7 3 Lagnub 3 7 Lagundi 1 0.28169
2 7.3239 0.8450
Alugbati 6 4 Mansanitas 3 7 Lagnum 1 0.28169
2 7.0422 0.8450
Kalabo 5 5 Sinegwelas 3 7 Saging 1 0.28169
2 6.4788 0.8450
Elepante 3 7 Ampalaya 3 7 Clayo 1 0.28169
2 6.4788 0.5633
Atis 3 7 Tangad 2 8 Sikwa 1 0.28169
1 3.6619 0.5633
Hagonuy 3 7 Taheebo 2 8 Aplaya 1 0.28169
1 3.6619 0.5633
Mayana 3 7 Buyo 2 8 Carrots 1 0.28169
Tuway- 3.0985 0.5633
tuway 11 9 Dila-dila 2 8 Mara 1 0.28169
2.2535 0.5633
Lemonsito 8 2 Asunting 2 8 Bugnay 1 0.28169
1.9718 0.5633
Ahos 7 3 Aloe vera 2 8 Panyawan 1 0.28169
 1.9718 0.2816
Avocado 7 3 Gay 1 9 Iba 1 0.28169
1.6901 0.2816
Luy-a 6 4 Ipil-ipil 1 9 Swangga 1 0.28169
1.1267 0.2816
Kaimito 4 6 Batong 1 9 Sung-gaay 1 0.28169
1.1267 0.2816
Oregano 4 6 Mahugani 1 9
Total (frequency) 355

b. Statistical Treatment

The results show that the Alugbati plant was commonly used by the residents of

Pitalo for Food—acquiring a frequency of 52 (14.57% of the total 357). Kamunggay

(44; 12.32%), Kalabasa (35; 9.80%), Talong (27; 7.56%), and Okra (26; 7.28%)

follow Alugbati in the Food Category.

For the Livelihood Category, Kamunggay ranked the highest with frequency of 37

and got 11.11% of the total 333 responses for the category. The four others that

followed were Saging (28; 8.41%), Kapayas (27; 8.11%), Lubi (23; 6.91%), and Okra

(21; 6.31%).

Lastly, for the medicinal properties, Gabon ranked the highest with a frequency of

37 (10.42% of 355). The four others that followed were Mangagaw (35; 9.86%),

Bayabas (33; 9.30%), Kamunggay (27; 7.61%), and Alugbati (26; 7.32%).

c. Analysis of Data

The data gathered show that Alugbati, Kamunggay, Kalabasa, Talong and Okra

are the most useful plants to the residents of Pitalo for making healthy and tasty food.

Kamunggay, Saging, Kapaya, Lubi and Okra are the most useful to them in

helping them improve their Livelihood status (which is more on trade).

 Lastly, Gabon, Mangagaw, Bayabas, Kamunggay, and Alugbati are the plants that

the residents mostly use for treating some illnesses, cuts, and wounds.

CONCLUSION

Results show that Alugbati and Kamunggay are plants useful for cooking nutritious

food; Kamunggay, Saging and Kapayas are plants useful for livelihood improvement; and

Gabon, Mangagaw and Bayabas are plants useful for medicinal purposes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

This study requires consistency. It is recommended to provide an improved open-

ended questionnaire and concise subjects. As this study’s results are due to opinions of

the respected respondents, it may change over time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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APPENDICES