Harnessing traditional knowledge to release the potential of MAPs.

 

There’s a species of cinnamon tree only found on the small Micronesian island Pohnpei, not found anywhere else in the world, and the people use it to treat back pain. They make a tea out of it. Researchers at the New York Botanical Garden were puzzled by the widespread use of this tea, given then Pohnpei’s cinnamon contains a cancer-causing agent called saffrol, which is also found in Sassafras tea. They wondered why people were not getting tumours from drinking so much of this tea. After further research, it was discovered that the heat of the tea removed the harmful chemical from the cinnamon. This optimal way of preparing this natural pain reliever had likely been discovered by island natives after generations of trial and error. While numerous plants freely grow all over the island where there is a lot of traditional knowledge about how to use them, the elders who have this knowledge are not teaching it to, or able to pass it on, to the younger generations. Perhaps globalization and the draw of urban life are to blame for that, but in this scenario everyone loses out.