February 8, 2011
The witchetty larva (Witjuti) was used by indigenous people to treat skin burns.
Image credit: David Dare Parker/Australian Geographic
From witch grubs to kangaroo apples, these indigenous medicines are used to cure illnesses in traditional ways.
The Chinese drank tea made from wormwood leaves to treat chills and fevers, the Egyptians used an herb from a plant called khella to help remove kidney stones, and all over the world leeches were placed on wounds to prevent blood from clotting.
Although these traditional methods of treatment are well-known natural remedies, Australian bush medicine, like the bush itself, still remains a mystery. “A lot of information is lost,” says Dr Evelin Tiralongo, a pharmacist and complementary medicine expert at Griffith University in Queensland. “(In indigenous culture), nothing is written; instead, it is transmitted through song and dance ceremonies, which are becoming increasingly rare.
According to Evelin, most indigenous medical treatments came from food. “A big part of maintaining their health was just eating well,” she says.
When Aboriginal people became ill, they used plants in a variety of ways to soothe their ailments. Some plants, such as goat’s paw, were ground, heated and applied to the skin. Others were boiled and inhaled, and sometimes drunk. There were also juices that were spread directly on the skin and bark that was smoked or burned.
Professor Joanne Jamie, a medicinal chemist from Macquarie University in Sydney, has compiled a database of Aboriginal plants. Many of these plants, she discovered, contained antibacterial and anti-inflammatory compounds known to Western medicine.
“When plants are used routinely, the success rate of their biological activity is much higher,” she says. “The plants used by indigenous people will most likely be useful to us. »
1. Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternifolia)
The Bundjalung Aboriginal people of coastal New South Wales crushed tea tree leaves (or paperbark) and applied the paste to sores and brewed it into a kind of tea for sore throats. In the 1920s, scientific experiments proved that the antiseptic power of tea tree oil was much stronger than that of the antiseptic commonly used at the time. Since then, the oil has been used to treat everything from fungal toenail infections to acne.
2. Eucalyptus oil (Eucalyptus sp.)
Eucalyptus leaves can be infused for body aches, fevers and chills. Today, the oil is used commercially in mouthwashes, throat lozenges, and cough suppressants.
3. Goat plum/Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana)
The world’s richest source of vitamin C is found in this fruit native to the forests of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The plum contains 50 times more vitamin C than oranges and was a major food source for the tribes in the regions where it grows.
4. Desert mushrooms (Pycnoporus sp..)
Some aborigines suck the bright orange desert mushroom to treat sore mouth or lips. It is known to be a kind of natural teether and is also useful for babies suffering from oral thrush.
5. Emu bush (Eremophila sp.)
Emu leaf concoctions were used by Aboriginal tribes in the Northern Territory to wash wounds and cuts; from time to time, we gargled. Over the past decade, the leaves of the plant have been found to have the same strength as some established antibiotics. South Australian scientists want to use the plant to sterilize implants, such as artificial hips.
6. Witchetty Larva (Witjuti) (Endoxyla leucomochla)
Witchetty (Witjuti) larvae, also a good source of bush tucker, were crushed into a paste, placed on burns and covered with a bandage to seal and soothe the skin by some people in Central Australia.
7. Snake Vine (Tinospora smilacina)
Central Australian communities crushed sections of the vine to treat headaches, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. The sap and leaves were sometimes used to treat sores and sores.
8. Fig Sandpaper (Ficus opposite) and the stinking Passionflower (Passionflower foetida)
The combination of the two plants was used in northern coastal communities to relieve itching. The rough leaves of the sandpaper fig tree were crushed and soaked in water, then rubbed on the itch until it bled. The pulped fruit of the stinking passionflower was then applied to the affected area. Sandpaper fig leaves have also been used to treat fungal skin infections such as ringworm, sometimes in combination with the milky sap.
9. Kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum And Avicular Solanum)
The fruit was used as a poultice on swollen joints. The plant contains a steroid important for cortisone production.
10. Goat’s foot (Ipomée pes-caprae)
To relieve pain from stingray and stonefish stings, crowds in northern Australia and parts of New South Wales crushed and heated the leaves of the plant, then applied them directly on the skin. The goat’s foot is common near the sandy shores of Australia.
