Herbal plants traded at the Kaili medicinal market, Guizhou, China

BACKGROUND: Marketplaces reflect not only the commerce of an area, but also its culture. In Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture with Kaili as its capital, Guizhou Province, China, traditional medicine is thriving in both rural and urban areas. The local people rely extensively on plants for traditional medicines, and these are commonly sold in local specialized markets. The Kaili medicinal market is the biggest in the prefecture. However, ethnobotanical study on herbal plants traded in the traditional market in Kaili has not been performed. The aims of this study are: (1) to document medicinal plants traded in the Kaili traditional market and the associated traditional knowledge; and (2) to analyze the level of agreement among vendors in the purported uses of medicinal plants by using informant consensus (FIC) and the fidelity level (FL). METHODS: Market surveys were conducted in 2014–2019 to collect information about medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Information including vernacular names, preparation methods, and plant uses was obtained by interviewing 116 vendors of herbal plants. Specimens of fresh and dried herbs, collected as vouchers, were identified by the authors and other botanists at the Minzu University of China, and deposited in the herbarium at Minzu University of China. The level of agreement among information provided by different vendors was assessed using the FIC, and the percentage of vendors claiming the use of a certain medicinal plant for the same indication was assessed with the FL. RESULTS: The Miao people comprise 53.4% of all informants in this study of medicinal plants. In total, 237 medicinal plant species traded in the Kaili traditional market were recorded. They belong to 219 genera and 107 families. These plants have been categorized into their purported treatments for 20 medical conditions. The inflammation category showed the highest FIC value of 0.95, showing the best agreement among market vendors claiming its usefulness to treat this condition. The FL index helped to identify 15 culturally important medicinal plant species based on the reported uses by 20 or more vendors in the market. Three medicinal plant species, Eleutherococcus gracilistylus, Sargentodoxa cuneata, and Stephania cepharantha, had an FL > 90%, being used to treat sprains/traumas, rheumatism, and heat/toxins. CONCLUSIONS: The medicinal plants sold in the Kaili market are highly diverse and have unique medicinal characteristics. The Miao people often use traditional herbal plants for disease prevention and thereby prioritize the use of medicinal plants in everyday life. The future of this medicinal marketplace, however, is uncertain since few young people (< 30 years old) are vendors or customers. Therefore, it is urgent to conserve traditional ethnomedicinal culture in local communities and pass on the associated traditional knowledge to future generations in this prefecture. And the next step should include further studies on FL > 90% plants’ chemistry, pharmacology, biological activity, and toxicity for potentially developing functional foods or pharmaceutical products.