Pudoc Elementary Schoolchildren Join Study Tour with Their Parents and Teachers

 Pudoc Elementary  Schoolchildren Join Study Tour with Their Parents and Teachers 

Living with Nature Center

San Vicente Ilocos Sur, February 10, 2024 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Host and Study Tour Guide 

School children from Pudoc Elementary School (San Vicente, Ilocos Sur) join an educational tour at the Living with Nature Center, an on-site and lecture-demonstration learning experience. They were accompanied by their parents and teachers, who find the experience a kind of continuing and integrated learning, which educators term as open-school, distance learning, school-without-walls, continuing education, and the like.   

Top photos: A visit to the Living with Nature Center's museum, and an 18th century Basi wine cellar.  Lower photos: Author gives briefing at the start of the tour; parents and teachers pose with a wooden head of Philippine deer now a threatened wildlife.

Left: Author plays traditional Ilocano compositions like No Duadua-em Pay (If You Doubt Me), and O, Naraniag a Bulan (Oh, Bright Moon) to instill the importance of  classical Ilocano music revival.  Right, group picture of study tour members - school children from Pudoc Elementary School, with their parents and teachers.

    

   

Arboretum (mini forest) is dominated by heritage trees of 

three generations (native mango, macopa, santol, caimito, 

anahaw, and other trees) at the Living with Nature Center

Childhood with Nature Lives On, acrylic painting by AV Rotor, 2024.

Painting with accompanying poem is donated to Pudoc Elementary 

School, compliments of the Dr AV Rotor and Family* 

 

 

Closeup views showing Nature's unity and harmony with children.

Childhood with Nature Lives On

To us grownups in our golden years reminisce

this childhood scene beautiful, young and fresh,

for we have kept Nature deep in our hearts,

her pristine beauty we nurtured to our best.

The trees now heritage for three generations,

from seeds we sowed now high rise in the sky,

singing with the breeze and birds in their nests,

sweetly taking care of their young 'til they fly.

They come back the next season, now a flock,

year after year in the same scene and order,

searching for their friends once in their prime,

but they've grown up, and are no longer there.

We wonder where have all the children now,

and where is this place once called Paradise?

Like us they followed the stream to the sea,

in search of the Good Life's grandeur and prize.

They too, shall listen to Mother Nature calling,

like birds migrating from afar returning

before the sun sets, its rays golden in the sky;

childhood lives on, listen to the trees singing. ~

* Through the kindness of the teachers and parents who accompanied the schoolchildren in a study tour at the Living with Nature Center, February 10, 2024. 

Oh, God, there’s no mistake!

Oh, God, there’s no mistake!
Dr Abe V Rotor

I dreamt I asked God something trivial -

Why so small are the duhat fruits;

When the watermelon, frail and crawling,

Bears the biggest fruit on earth.

“There must be some mistake,” I said

And waited for any response.

“There must be reason in faith,” I implored.

But only silence that I heard.

All of a sudden I woke up in a jolt,

A berry had fallen on my head,

Whether by Sir Newton’s law that it fell,

Or a Darwin’s finch came to tell.

I raised my hands to the sky and cried

In atonement and in praise,

“Oh God, there’s no mistake,

There’s no mistake.” ~

It’s difficult to profess loyalty, patriotism, nay not even reverence, to someone, to your organization or country for that matter, when you are critical to the point of questioning the wisdom of the Creator. ~

Apostles for the Environment: 25 Tenets

Apostles for the Environment

Dr Abe V Rotor


Graduate students in Environmental Science pose with their professor ( second from right) on a field lecture on the university campus.

UST Botanical Garden is the oldest plant sanctuary in Manila, originally specializing in pharmaceutical plants.


University of Santo Tomas – The Graduate School First Semester, 2012-2013
Environmental Science – Professor: Dr Abe V Rotor

1. ADIVOSO, Angelica Cyril Cruz “AC” Faculty, College of San Benildo, Cainta, Rizal,

2. ARENAS, Minerva C “Mines” Faculty, Nueva Ecija High School, Cabanatuan City

3. CALIPJO, Arleen M “Arlene” Faculty, Cavite State University, Silang, Cavite

4. CHAO, George Y “George” Faculty, College of Engineering, UST

5. DE GUZMAN, Romualdo B Jr “Jun” Faculty, Bataan Peninsular State University

6. DELIMA, Precila C “Precy” Faculty, Isabela State University, Cauayan City, Isabela

7. DEMAUSA, Mary Joy C “Mary Joy” Staff Laboratory, University of the East, Caloocan

8. MANUBAY, Frederick Ray A “Fred” Faculty, High School, UST

9. ORDOñEZ, Maria Manuela P “Marie” Faculty, San Sebastian College, Recoletos,

    Cavite City

10. PANGANIBAN, Citadel Faculty, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Batangas

11. SANTOS, Hetdiliza A “Hydie” Faculty, Navotas National High School

12. VILLANUEVA, Laarni M “Lani” Faculty, Lyceum of the Phil U, Batangas

Apostles for the Environment Tenets

1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone that herald the new season, and the new beginning of life.

2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño, a cyclical phenomenon.

3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming in order to avert losses and hunger, and to save the ecosystem.

4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.

5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.

6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.

7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, and fireflies at night, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them in preserving it.

8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.

9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow. And promote natural or organic farming, too.

10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, and the like. These natural processes and cycles have been taking place even before the arrival of the human species.

11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamin in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.

12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.

13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.

14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake. Be alert to face possible consequences, and to extend assistance.

15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, hepatitis, dengue, cholera, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to arrest the spread of these diseases.

16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role in maintaining a balanced environment.

17. When there is a worthy movement to save the environment, such as Clean and Green, Piso sa Pasig, or any local campaign, lead and extend your full support.

18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.

19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with herbals, through pet therapy, aromatherapy, and other proven remedies, in consultation with your doctor.

20. When in doubt if civilization is disguised evil, which is the root of war, poverty, environmental degradation, and the like, remember that it is also civilization that is responsible in building the great institutions of mankind, so that it is the obligation of each member of society to maintain the integrity of these institutions – indeed a noble mission to lead.

21. When appreciating the vastness of creation such as the seas, valleys, mountains, and entertain the idea that their resources are unlimited, view these in their microcosm like a pond or hill - for what can happen to this minuscule could be the same on a larger scale and proportion – be the prophet, but not of doom.

22. When you shall have found success in scholarship, wealth, power, family, etc., the task of integrating all these for the purpose of sharing with those in dire need, and for posterity and sustainability, becomes a greater challenge, indeed this is the price of success.

23. When devoting your time and energy and talents to the service of community and environment as dictated by your profession and as a good citizen, do not neglect your obligation to yourself and family, and by so doing, build a model on which you are looked up to by those you serve.

24. When hope dims in this troubled world, with continued disregard to protect Mother Earth, human abuse and indifference in pursuit of economic gains and affluence, violation of order and harmony of society, degradation of values, “don’t go gentle into the night” – be the sentinel ever vigilant, the guardian ever righteous, for opportunity awaits you in your greatest hour.

25. When on a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants blooming, say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving in music and verse, painting, or simply through reflection of the magnificence of creation. ~

NOTE: To my students in particular, please recruit twelve (12) followers from your family, community and organization, who believe and are willing to carry on the tasks we have set. These 25 tenets serve as guide in your recruitment and selection. This invitation is open to all viewers here and abroad.

Allergy, the Silent Epidemic of Our Times: In observance of the World Day of the Sick, February 11, 2024

World Day of the Sick, February 11, 2024

Allergy, the Silent Epidemic of Our Times

Balanced Environment - Key to Allergy Control

Dr. Abe V. Rotor

LIVING with NATURE CENTER

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

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Dr. Arturo B. Rotor Memorial Lecture 11^th Biennial Convention,  Sept 9, 2008, Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Theme: Understanding Allergies Across Specialties.  Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Manila

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Allergy, the Silent Epidemic of our times is masked by the Good Life.  It is surreptitiously leading millions of people all over the world into various complications and diseases that may even lead to death.  

Dr Arturo B Rotor (1907-1988)

To bring medicine to the understanding of the people, to make themselves well in their own capacity is perhaps the biggest challenge of medicine today.  Thus, the three contending areas of medicine should work together like a tripod. 

1. Conventional medicine from which modern medicine grew and developed well into  computerization and genetic engineering.

2. Alternative medicine, being part of Filipino culture and closest to local remedies, time-tested and practical remedies - the mainstay of folk medicine which caters to the grassroots.

3. Environmental Medicine,  the most practical and original to the point of being primeval, if I may say so. Its rules are universal and as natural as Nature’s laws.  It is dependent on ecological principles in the conservation of a clean and balance environment

Environmental medicine was born out of  the rush of modernization and apparent lack of concern on our deteriorating environment.   As we prosper economically we seem to have forgotten a basic equation of weighing the deleterious by-products of progress, and keeping them out of harm’s way.  Basic as it is, we have forgotten the equation of oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange that keep the biosphere in balance, energy-matter relationship that maintains steady energy supply, organism-habitat balance that protects species and ecosystems, acid-alkaline balance that prevents formation of acid rain, and the like.

In fact we have grown too progressive – we call our era Postmodernism, as if we are living in the future.  It has become difficult for us to distinguish – much more to separate – our needs from our wants. There seems to be no end of affluence.   We want power, wealth, pleasure, in a materialistic way.  But we have homogenized them too, with pollution, allergy, acid rain, AIDS, diabetes and many other sources that destroy our health and our environment.   Through globalization we heat the atmosphere a frying pan, warming it up to spawn hurricanes, floods, cyclones – even tsunamis.  We pierced a hole through the ozone layer as if the amount of sunlight entering the earth is not enough.

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How little would one give importance to ailments and discomforts, while fighting for survival, and loneliness and despair.  People who are placed in such a dilemma may not even care, and they may not even know the difference between being healthy or sick, much less between colds and allergy rhinitis, simple indigestion from candidiasis, rashes developed from different causes.  Phobia, anxiety, disease, malnutrition, loneliness, are difficult to decipher and separate when one is suffering of physical, mental and emotional distress. AVR

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Indeed our world has changed a lot in the past century, and continues to accelerate as towns grow into cities, cities into megapolises, opening settlements to an exponentially growing population. There could be no better conditions for allergy to flourish - modern living in the city.  It is Pandora’s box. 

It is the microcosm of many other cases, perhaps in lesser degree or worst, older or more recent, that prevail in many cities around the world where the same recipe of allergy is supplied by the by-products of industrialization, high-rise buildings, affluent living style, that characterize progress, and exacerbated by lack or inefficient Governance.

But this is the pulse beat of trade and commerce that has taken over the healthy and vigorous biological clock; it is the signature of modernity that capitalism has brought into the life of modern man.  This is the circulatory flow of money and goods, men and ideas, survival and affluence reaching all levels, nurturing the organism, determining what we gauge as growth and development.

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Dr. Arturo B. Rotor, the first Filipino Allergist, tells us that the human being should be regarded holistically, therefore too, when it comes to attending to his health  – body and spirit, psyche and intellect. And we realize that man is truly divine with these attributes:  Man the Thinker (Homo sapiens), Man the Maker (Homo faber), Man the Player (Homo ludens) and the Man the Reverent (Homo spiritus).  

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At this point allow me to cite the case of Germany, considered a classical case about allergy.  For 45 years Germany was divided by a wall. Economic wise, West Germany was very progressive, while East Germany was poor. The West Germans enjoyed one of the world’s highest standards of living. They live in luxurious homes, drive Mercedes-Benz as they pleased.

 The East Germans on the other hand, were living under extreme poor living condition, with housing and consumer goods always in short supply.  They had to wait years to be able to buy a second hand automobile. In short West Germany was a capitalist Utopia, while East Germany was a socialist Third World country. It was a case of one people living on separate and unequal planets. Then in 1990 Germany was reunited. The Cold War was over.

Now, what has this historical event to do with allergy?

Scientists compared the two extreme environments and came up with startling results. 

The Robert Koch Institute came up with a revealing finding: allergies were far more common among Germans from the affluent West. West German baby boomers were up to 83 % more likely than their East German counterparts to have allergic rhinitis (hay fever) and asthma. Since there was no such differences in allergy rates were found in German born before World War II, the researches suspected that West Germany’s postwar lifestyles had somehow sensitized its children to pollen, mold, dust mites, and other types of allergens.

West Germany represents a microcosm of a global Silent Epidemic, and countries that adopted the same lifestyle have more allergy cases than countries, which like East Germany, have remained, for one reason or another, underdeveloped.

What makes an affluent society have more allergy cases as compared to a marginal society?

Let me present twenty (20) scenarios of our changing environment.  Which of these fall under West Germany’s condition?  And which ones fit East Germany’s?

1. As the growth of industrialization increases, so with the amount of pollution. Pollution is the by-product of industrialization.  Industrialization is key to modern living; pollution is its   scourge.  Pollution has no boundaries; it rides on water and wind, it moves on land. It contributes to  global warming, stirs climatic change and severe weather disturbances, not to mention the thinning of the ozone layer, worsening effect of acid rain and many others.

Pollution allergy cases arise directly from garbage, smoke from factories and vehicles, acid rain contact, sudden changes in temperature and humidity, ultraviolet rays below and near ozone hole.

2. Modernization brought about affluence, first in industrialized countries, now in countries, which followed the path of development of Western economic formula. People want goods and services beyond what they actually need.

Living above and beyond necessity has tremendous impact on the environment in the form of depletion of natural resources and pollution. Affluence is wasteful living. 

3. Population increases geometrically, it is now 8 billion. At its present trend, another billion people will be added in the next 25 years. New settlements, crowded cities, increasing population density predispose people to various forms of allergy.

4. As exodus to cities continues, the ratio of city dwellers to rural dwellers will soon reach equal proportion, and will favor the former thereafter. Already there are metropolises and megapolises, each containing as many as 20 million people ensconced under crowded condition. Meantime villages grow into towns and towns into cities.

People crowd subdivisions, condominiums, malls, schools, churches, parks, in great numbers sharing common lifestyles and socio-economic conditions.  Thus predisposing them to common health problems and vulnerability to disruptions (brownout, water interruptions, force majeure).    

5. Destruction of the environment as a consequence of increasing population and affluence, leads to loss of not only the productivity of farms, but loss of farmlands to industry and settlements, ultimately resulting in the irreversible destruction of ecosystems like lakes, rivers, forest, and coral reefs.

                                 

Loss of health of environment is loss of health of living things. Loss of environment is loss of life itself.

6. The ecosystems bear the brunt of development and progress. Wildlife is reduced in size and in biodiversity.  Species are threatened to extinction as they are driven out of their natural habitats.  The worse is when their habitats are lost forever.

Our existence and quality of our life depends on a complex interrelationship of the living world.  Disturbing the balance of this interrelationship also disturbs the balance of biotic and abiotic components of the biosphere, thus affecting not only humans, but all members of the living world. 

7. As wildlife shrinks, species are threatened or endangered. They need shelter, a new home.

Wee are adopting wildlife species, sharing with our homes, backyards and farms.  Unaware they are transmitting deadly diseases like SARS, HIV-AIDS, Mad-Cow, FMDE, Ebola, and Bird Flu which can now infect humans, allergies notwithstanding.

8. “Good Life” has spawned obesity and other overweight conditions to millions of people around the world with USA the most hit. The spawning ground of obesity is the city.

Victims suffer of complications in their health and difficulty in adjusting to a different life style. Because of their conditions they are merely spectators, rather than being participants, in games and other physical activities. Many are virtually immobilized by their condition.

9. Global warming is changing the face of the earth.  As sea level rises shorelines are pushed inland, islands sink, lowlands turn to swamps, icecaps disappear, polar ice melts.  In fact, there is need to re-draw local maps, and the map of the world as sea level continues to increase, and glaciers are disappearing. More importantly there will be need to review and modify land use policy, settlement plans and relocation.

Adaptation is key to allergy resistance and immunity. Displacement of settlements and change in living conditions predispose people to ailments and allergies.

10. Globalization is the name of the game in practically all aspects of human activity – trade, commerce and industry, agriculture, the arts, education, politics, religion and the like.

The world travels on two feet- communications and transportation. The world has shrunk, so to speak. Traveling from one place to another across latitudes and longitudes predispose one to unimaginable kinds of ailments, allergies, and discomforts.

11. Homogenization involves pooling of genes through inter-racial and inter-cultural marriages resulting in various “mestizos” like Eurasian, Afro-Asian, Afro-American, Amerasian, and the like.  Mélange of races is fast increasing in complexity as East and West continue to weld genetically.

Native genes provide resistance to pest diseases, adverse conditions of the environment. Native genes through intermarriage is beneficial, but the benefit they carry may be thinned out in the gene pool. Mestizos of subsequent generations are likely affected. 

12. Science and Technology as the prime mover of progress and development has also brought doubt and fear to human’s future. The first breakthrough created the nuclear bomb, the second brought the globe to the size of a village with the microchip, and the third, Genetic Engineering now enables man to tinker with life itself.

  A. Splitting of the atom - nuclear energy and nuclear bomb

  B.  Microchip - modern communication and transportation

  C.  Genetic Engineering – Genetically Modified Organisms, cloning, Gene Therapy, biological  warfare.

Human conditions too, have vastly changed. Radiation related death still occurs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, more time is spent by our children with the computer than with nature, Gene Therapy – curing gene-link diseases before they are expressed – will revolutionized medicine. Naturally all these have repercussions on human health and welfare.

13. Pioneer industries are born out of these breakthroughs and related discoveries linking them with the business world and society, giving rise to in vitro fertilization or test tube babies, surrogate motherhood, Human Genome Project (HGP or gene mapping), multiple childbirth, DNA mapping, etc.

The prototype human robot is born, and he is not defect-free.  In fact he is more dependent on medicine and could not possibly withstand the conditions of the natural environment as we do to the extent of pampering him. Indeed he will lead a very dependent life.

14. Globalization is changing the concept of nationalism dissolving rigid walls to give way to regional and international cooperation such as European Union, ASEAN, APEC, CGIAR with seven members such as ICRISAT, CYMMIT, IRRI and the expansion of the United Nations to include WTO, ILO, and others.

Fighting global diseases – so with asthma and allergy -  needs cooperation on all levels. In the same way a community fights Dengue, so with whole continents arresting the spread of COV-19, HIV-AIDS, SARS, Bird’s Flu.    

15. Green Revolution opened up non-conventional frontiers intruding the seas, deserts, watersheds, highlands, swamps. GR pioneered in Genetic Engineering, the splicing of genetic materials between and among organisms that may not be at all related, pooling desired traits. Thus the growth of GMOs and Frankenfood, and cloning experiments.

Aerophonics (farming rooftops), hydroponics, urban greening, reforestation, organic farming, are among the measures to bring nature nearer to settlements, and insuring people the bounty of nature.
  

16. Agriculture today depends heavily on Post Harvest Technology. To bridge the production source with the consumption end, the farm and the market, is no easy task, especially with perishable goods. Thus the proliferation of processed goods, supermarket, fast food chains, ready-to-eat packs, sophisticated culinary art.

Many food additives and adjuncts are allergenic, from salitre in longganiza to pesticide residue in vegetables, MSG in noodles to Aspartame in fruit juice, formalin in fish to dioxin in plastics. 

17. Modern medical science is responsible in reducing mortality and in increasing longevity.  But it is also responsible for many ills today, from genetically linked abnormalities to senility related ailments. It made possible the exchange of organs and tissues through transplantation, and soon tissue cloning. 

Evolution culls out the unfit in any stage of life.  This is true to all organisms.  Only man, or his influence on other living things, can modify Darwinism. 

18. Exploration has brought man into the fringes of our world – the depth of the sea and expanse of our Solar System, ushering the birth of inner and outer space science, and preparation of man for interplanetary travel.

We are learning to live outside of the confines of our planet earth.  We have succeeded in probing the bottom of the ocean. We have put up a city in space - the Skylab.  Now we are aiming at conquering another planet – a long distant goal of assuring the continuity of mankind after the demise of the earth. (Meantime we have yet to know the cure of the common colds.) 

Let me present some cases of allergy that are commonly encountered. These were gathered from our radio listeners on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid. 

1. Smoking. Drivers, office workers, mechanics, farmers, writers, teachers, name it, and the habit is widespread. I know one whose only bisyo is paninigarillo. He didn’t live long. 

2. “Canned entertainment” such as parties in fastfoods predisposes kids to various ailments and psychological trauma, and to certain kinds of allergy.  It is devoid of the natural environment that builds resistance to allergy as the children grow up.

3. Some common allergens are pollen from flowers of trees and annuals - kasoy, kupkupyes, macopa, and tapilan. Lipang Kalabao, a very itchy plant that grows into a tree.  The sap of aldelfa and yellow bell may cause paralysis of the pharynx leading to asphyxiation. 

5. Mushroom Allergy. There are spores of fungi like Auricularia or “tainga ng daga” and wild tree mushroom even when they have dried up. 

6. Fowls and wild birds are common causes of allergy, from their feathers and parasites, to their droppings. The filthiest bird second to the vulture is the crow carries vermin from carcasses of animals and garbage.  Allergy from reptiles –  from skin casting to vermin attracted by their food and droppings. 

7. Don’t play with spiders. Spiders cause allergy with the hair coverings of their body, and web or silk of certain species.  The Black Widow is one of the few poisonous species. 

8. Allergic to trees like Ipil-ipil?  It’s due to “plant lice” like Psylla, a minute insect pest that wiped out ipil-ipil plantations in the seventies and eighties. They build dense colonies on a single tree, sapping its vitality until it dies. 

9. Mealybugs and scale insects (Order Homoptera) produce waxy covering layer for protection and camouflage, as well as casing of their eggs and young. Cottony mealybug (Pseudococcos) on guava leaf; the insect without waxy covering. 

10. Pesticide Residue in fruits. Fruits may carry pesticide  residues of dangerous chemicals like Folidol, BHC and Malathion. 
11. Pesticide residues on vegetables, particularly on crucifers – cabbage, lettuce, pechay, cauliflower – register above allowable levels. Lack of monitoring may predispose consumers to the effects of pesticides.  

12. Kapok or Cotton Tree (Ceiba pentandra L) releases seeds covered with lint from the mature pod  The fiber is gathered mainly for pillow. It is cool and preferred over synthetic fills. Dehiscence period is towards the end of the year.  

13. Fire Tree (Delonix regia) Both flowers and caterpillars attacking the tree may cause allergy. Higad or the hairy caterpillar of Tussock moth causes irritation of the skin which may last for days.  A common remedy is to apply vinegar on the affected skin. If the sharp hairs are imbedded, apply candle drops and  allow to solidify. Then peel off with the encased hair. Mosses, algae, ferns and short growing annuals may cause allergy, including their substrates that undergo transformation by weathering. 

14. Allergic to Termites? It may be the termite or the mushroom in farms in its chamber - or both - that cause the allergy. Termites work with lignin-breaking fungi that soften the wood. Inside their guts are protozoa that break up cellulose, aiding digestion – a classical case of symbiosis. 

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 Global Warming and Climate Change increase incidence 

of Asthma and Allergy cases around the world.

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15. Pesticide Residues.  Poisonous hydrocarbon and phosphate compounds find their way through the food chain – in the case of frog from sprayed insects that serve as its prey. Pesticide residues accumulate in its tissues and transferred to the its predators, including man.   

16. Are you allergic to native delicacies?
17. Sinanglaw (left) is a favorite Ilocano dish from internal organs of carabao or cattle cooked in slow fire and heavily spiced with hot pepper, paminta and ginger. Pinapaitan and kilawin prepared from goat’s meat are a native delicacy in many parts of the country. Other delicacies include kaldereta and soup “number 5.”  

18. Tulingan or Tanggigiis a common cause of allergy to many people. It is a practice to drain the blood by cutting the tail, and carefully removing the entrails before the fish is cut and served raw or cooked. The danger worsens when the fish is no longer fresh. There People who are also allergic to tuna.  

19. Shellfish – tahong, talaba and halaan may harbor the red tide dinoflagellate is large quantity that may lead to Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) in man.
20. PSP symptoms may first appear as allergy, and may be lethal if not treated immediately. 

21. Allergy is caused by insects
22. Banana and mabolo (left) attacked by fruit fly (Dacus dorsalis/cucurbitae). It attacks dozens of popular fruits and vegetables, including mango, citrus, guava, macopa, cucumber, ampalaya.

23. The domesticated honeybee (Apis melifera) normally does not sting unless provoked, unlike the notorious African honeybee which threatens the US honeybee industry today. There are as many deaths due to bee sting as snake bites. People vary in reaction to bee sting, from swelling to difficulty in breathing.   

24. Millipedes (Class Diplopods) exude Cyanide gas to stun their prey as well as repel their predators. Thus children should warned not to play with the “diken-diken,” playing      possum by curling its body into a tight ring. 

25. Off! Avoid obnoxious and annoying insects - all kinds of bugs, plant lice,  aggressive Insects such as wasp and hantik ant.  Hemipterans- the bugs – exude an obnoxious odor which is caustic to the skin and eyes, a chemical offensive that wards off would-be  predators attracted by their brilliant colors and attractive designs. 

26. Perfectly camouflaged, these insects lie surreptitious to their prey and predator and people may be unwary of them. Lepidopterans – butterflies, moths and skippers – are covered with scales of of chitin, a very resistant cellulose-like compound. The practice of releasing butterflies in place of throwing rice on a newly married couple has been discouraged because of the danger the chitinous scales cause such as irritation of the skin and eyes. 

27. There are various allergic reactions to fowls and birds,  not only for their feathers, but mites and lice belonging to two Orders Anoplura (sucling lice) and Mallophaga (chewing lice) - that reside in their bodies and nests. 

28. Ngarusangis is a very small bivalve that occurs in colonies in estuaries. The shells are gathered for food and for ducks in raising balot.  Allergy cases have been reported by eating this favorite soup of the Ilocanos. Below, increasing lead pollution has forced the shutdown of many salt beds in the country.  Salt made near cities and industrial sites may pose danger to health.  
29. Does radiation cause allergy? Radiation emitted by radio transmitters have been found to be the cause of a number of ailments from insomnia to sterility. It is also associated with cancer, abnormal blood levels and heart conditions which may be related to allergy or allergy symptoms.

30. Danger lurks in murky water – diseases, vermin, etc. Heavily polluted waterways such as the Pasig River contain high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide, Ammonia, Methane, other gases, and toxic metals. 

31. Allergy to plastics and other synthetic materials. Stuffed toys may cause allergy, so with many things put into the mouth. 

32. Aflatoxin in peanut, corn and others go unnoticed with the preserved food. 

33. Believe it or not – kapre lives in old balete tree. Naan-annongan is different from nakasagsagid , but the symptoms are quite similar -  profuse sweating and feeling of general weakness. 

34. Allergy from yeast and young wine. 

35. Are you allergic to fireworks, and on New Year’s Eve?

To what extent does nature provide immunity? Fortunately as children grow to maturity, particularly so under natural environment, they acquire the defense the body systems need against a host of health problems from allergy to physiologic and pathological diseases, albeit adaptation to emotional and psychological stress. 

Homogenization is likened to Globalization – one economy, one media, one culture, one car, one MRT, one computer, one bank. There’s one thing we are missing – the environment.   In fact we are missing Nature in our lives.  Our children are now spending more and more waking hours with the computer as if it were man’s best friend.  Come to think of the computer as the root of allergy and many ailments.  Spending more time with the computer deprives millions especially children of participating in health promoting games and resistance-building exposure to nature.

It is a scenario that we see everywhere, a scenario of our own making. And yet, like artists before the canvas we have the power to create one that is beautiful and conducive to our well being. But we do not or we refuse to do so, although we are aware that a healthy environment is primordial to good health and a happy life. 

Ever wonder what it means to enjoy childhood outside of the confines of  air conditioned  room?  Many children look forward to the first rain in May. Boy scouts and girl scouts do.  To the athlete, the naturalist.  And many boys and girls wishing to play outdoor.

But our children are no longer children of nature; they are captives of education and media, of malls and cafes. They like to think that the mind is like the computer, that the more information it acquires the better of is the individual. This is not so. Not when it pertains to health, not with the ability to arrive at correct decisions, not when and where survival is the name of the game.  And not when it comes to matters of love.

Which reminds me a story of a young man who was in love.  So he asked the computer,  “What is love?”

Whereupon, came a prompt answer – not only one or two, but in many definitions, technical and literary.

“How does it feel to be in love?” the young man continued. 

This time the computer did not respond.  He entered his query once more, and again, but still there was no response. After several attempts, the computer finally gave up. “I cannot feel.”

And here are our children spending most of their waking hours with an “intelligent” thing in the shape of a box, a thing that has no feeling at all! Even when the computer can tell us of all kinds of the sickness in the world, it cannot comfort you. Because a robot has no feeling.
xxx

ETHNOBOTANY: Natural Relationship of Man and Plants - A Revival in 14 Articles

        Ethnobotany

Natural Relationship of Man and Plants

- A Revival in 14 Articles

Superstitious beliefs and ethnobotany are closely associated. On closer examination such beliefs have greatly enhanced the relationship of man and the unseen that shapes his life, drawing from it a rich collection of folklore, songs and prayers. Indirectly such relationship has helped in the preservation of his environment.

1. Growing Applications of Ethnobotany

2. Herbals as First-Aid and Home Remedy

3. Ethnobotany and Economic Botany

4. Ethnobotanical Researches at UST Graduate School

5. Plant Introduction and Wild Food Plants

6. Viewpoints on Pharmacology

7. Plants and Ethnic Beliefs and Superstition

8. Ethnobotany and Gene Piracy

9. Age of Natural Medicine

10. Ethnobotany of Seaweeds

11. Thirteen (13) practical researches on ethnobotany you can try

      at home and in your community

12. Ethnobotany and Nata de Coco as leather substitute

13. Self-Administered test on Ethnobotany.

      Can you identify these indigenous plants?

14. Outlook of Ethnobotany

1. Growing Applications of Ethnobotany

In rural areas, there are wild and cultivated plants used as home remedies against common ailments, a time-honored ethnic practice associated with customs, beliefs and tradition. This is the field of ethnobotany – the study of the natural relationship of man and plants through evolutionary time.

Dr Romualdo M Del Rosario (left) foremost Filipino ethnobotanist poses with author 

But as people move to towns and cities, and development continues to spread to remote areas, ethonobotanical studies may become just documents for future archives. The irony is that we have barely scratched the surface, in discovering the many uses of plants for medicine, agriculture and industry - sociology and art, notwithstanding.

Whole forest and ecosystems are natural gene banks. But with the fast shrinking wildlife, a technology in gene banking has been developed. Today genes can be banked and patented. This was pioneered by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Center for Wheat and Maiz Research (CIMMYT).

On the viewpoint of pharmacology, ethnobotany has paved the discovery of potent drugs and medicine, validating ethnic practices while leading into the formulation of new drugs. The trend today is that more and more people are going for natural medicine and food. There is a blossoming industry of herbal medicine and organically grown food. And people are willing to pay the price so long as they are assured of good health and a long and happy life. In many ways ethnobotany is helping pave the way toward this direction.

2. Herbals as First-Aid and Home Remedy
There is always oregano (Coleus amboinicus) at home, ready to ease cough and sore throat. I imagine myself wearing a handkerchief wrapped around my forehead, advising my family and neighbors not to take cough drops or antibiotics for simple colds.I tell them to pick a young leaf of Oregano, chew it with fruit juice or soft drink. Or blanch it, extract the juice, and add sugar and warm water. It is practical and there are no side effects. And what a feeling! No wonder the plant’s name comes from the Greek words, Ore/Oros which means mountain, and ganos joy. “Joy on a mountain.”

Pliny the Elder used oregano to ease bad digestion. To Italians, it is the secret of their cooking and pizza, just as the Mexicans added it to chili con carne. Dinuguan tastes best with this aromatic herb.

On the other hand, I found out that Oregano is an insect repellant. Notice that mosquitoes, flies, fleas and roaches are kept away by its aromatic scent. It can be prepared as a natural pesticide, by simply crushing a few leaves in water, and applying the solution on the plants to control common garden pest. Oregano has essential oil and thymol, which is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant.
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Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for many aspects of life, such as plants as medicines, foods, and clothing. Internet

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I have observed many rural homes surrounded by other useful plants such as soro-soro, a species of Euphorbia, used to control ringworm. It is also an excellent meat tenderizer and vegetable. The leaves are chopped and stuffed in lechon and relyeno. Lagundi is good for fever and flu, alovera (Aloe vera) for burns, pandakaki (Tabernamontana pandacaqui) for minor cuts. Tanglad is a condiment for kuhol. Young leaves of native bayabas (Psidium guajava) are good for skin infection and allergy. Ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata) and sampaguita (Jasminium sambac) are natural air fresheners in the surroundings. A home garden is very useful indeed as it provides fresh vegetables and herbals as home remedies. 

3. Ethnobotany and Economic Botany

The uses of plants have expanded and more and more species are placed under cultivation for their uses. When they become commodities of commerce, the place of these plants are no longer under ethnobotany but Economic Botany. As ethnic communities gave in to larger, invading cultures, the original man-plant has changed into one that is economic in nature. The practice of kaingin and overpopulation also contribute to the decline of an ethnic community. Ethnic members become integrated into the more progressive society which would offer them better chances of survival, and possibly better life. Because of this ethnobotany has become one of the sciences that records the inevitable and dynamic changes our world has been undergoing, more so during this age of accelerated industrialization and modernization.

It is a race time, before we lose the opportunity to record the shrinking ethnic communities, and the knowledge about the plants that shaped lives and culture through countless generations. Ethnobotanical studies at the UST Graduate School, point out that there is no longer a “pure ethnic community.” Immigration, marriages with lowlanders and exposure to the latter’s way of life through the influence of media and school, have contributed to the modification and subsequent loss of ethnic identity. Apparently such loss is irreversible because the cultural base which largely consists of ancestral lands are opened to development and other forms of exploitation. 

4. Ethnobotanical Researches at UST Graduate School 

Let me cite some studies in ethnobotany conducted at the UST Graduate School with Dr. Romulado M. Del Rosario as professor and thesis adviser. Dr. Del Rosario introduced me into this field, and with him I worked on the Ethnobotany of Maguey in the Ilocos Region, and the Ethnic Practices of Basi Wine Making in the Ilocos Region.


Old camphor trees at UST campus Manila

One of the pioneering works is Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a dissertation by Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC, which was published by the National Museum in 1982. Ethnozoology soon followed. Ethnozoology of the Itawes by Generosa Balubal. (MS Biology 1996) is a pioneer research in our country.

Wilfredo Vendivil (1994) worked on Ethnomedicinal Plants in Ilocos Norte along the borders of Cordillera and Cagayan. He reported 141 species of plants, 58 percent of which grow in the wild, while the 42 percent are cultivated, mainly on the backyard. The study reported 228 uses of these plants on 56 kinds of diseases and ailments, which include fever and flu, diarrhea, stomachache, boils, toothache, colic, dysmenorrhea, and rheumatism. The list also includes anemia, general weakness, numbness, gall bladder trouble, convulsion, paralysis, tuberculosis, intestinal worms, heart problem, poisonous bites, scabies, lumbago, beri-beri, and fungal and bacterial infections.

Vendivil reported that the local residents believe there is no plant growing in their area that does not have any importance. This implies that there is a wealth of knowledge these people have on plants, and their belief in the curative power of plants - which brings to mind that healing and faith go hand on hand.

Lolita O. Uy (1994) worked on the Ethnobotany of the Ilongots in Nueva Viscaya. She described 141 species of plants belonging to 136 genera and 108 families, of which 42 species are for food, 9 for construction, 10 for animal feeds. The rest are used for cleaning, making toys, preservative, masticatory, soap and shampoo, ripening agent, perfume, fish poison, insect repellant and ornamental purposes. The tribe’s local economy is centered in the forest and there are 9,000 hectares of virgin forest they claim as their ancestral land. Like other ethnic tribes, they feel threatened by lowlander intruding into their territory.

Reny Casanan (1997) conducted a similar study with the Gaddangs of Isabela. Among the 167 plant species she studied, 88 are food to the natives, 47 as medicine, 18 for construction, handicraft, furniture and the like, and 56 for various uses from toys to perfumes, rituals and ceremonies. The Gaddangs are now a heterogeneous group through inter-marriage and cultural integration with the nearby population centers.

Alma Poblete (1999) worked on Ethnobotany of Bamboo among the Aetas in Orion, Bataan. There are four important species of bamboo for their edible shoot, and two species as an occasional source of drinking water (water is stored in the internodes). The leaves of Bambusa blumeana is used in curing kidney disorder, while Schizostachyum lumampao is used to bring a patient from relapse, and as cure of fever and malaria. It is this species that the Aetas use in cooking rice and other food. Three species are used in making flute, toys and different kinds of basket that they sell on the lowland. Bamboo is indispensable to the Aetas. Aside from the uses mentioned they depend on bamboo for transport, weapon, fish trap and even riprapping river banks. Because of this they have learned to propagate bamboo, intercropping it with bananas, thus indicating a departure from fundamental ethnobotany.

Meet Maria Dulce Pototoy-Bunquin who worked on Wild Food Plant Resources of the Batak Tribe in Palawan and lived with these natives during her study to learn their culture and dialect. There are 24 uncultivated plant species belonging to 15 families utilized by the Bataks as food, the most important is Arecaceae or the Palm Family. But the use of wild food plants has become infrequent in the presence of cultivated crops in the settlement. The utilization of wild plants and their method of kaingin farming are part of their indigenous culture. The Bataks are no longer a homogeneous ethnic group, although they are still very much dependent on the forest for their subsistence.

5. Plant Introduction and Wild Food Plants

Let me turn back the hands of time. Many of the plants that give us food today, from cereals to fruits and vegetables, fibers we make into clothes, and hundreds of products, are not indigenous. These include the popular coffee, cacao and tea. Drugs and medicine, derived from plants, were once growing in the wild. The primordial turning point of human society is in the discovery and subsequent development of useful plants by our primitive ancestors. As communities grew, demand increased and many of these plants became important items of agriculture and commerce.

Remember Mutiny on the Bounty? A shipload of breadfruit or rimas (Artocarpus communis) seedlings was being transported to England’s prison-islands in the Pacific when the mission was foiled by the uprising. Breadfruit could be a cheap and ready source of staple for the convicts.

Similarly, many plants were actually introduced into the places they are growing today. Grapes, apricot, grapes, oranges and the like, were introduced into the United States continent from the Middle East and Europe, Mexico and South America by the colonizers and pioneers. Before the Europeans found the Orient, many plants of Asian and Pacific origin were already growing throughout the region, an indication that they were introduced by earlier cultures. 

6. Viewpoints on Pharmacology 

Only about 20 percent of the population in developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Ocean benefit from modern drugs. People in these areas generally use traditional and natural remedies in curing ailments. Even in the next millennium, it is believed that plants will remain as the main source of materials in the manufacture of drugs and medicine.

Rhodora Escalada-Gonzales worked on the anti-inflammatory properties of three common weeds - parol-parolan (Cardiospermum halicacabum), vanatnid (Indigofera tinctoria) and tahebteb (Vitex trifolia). She found out that these plants are a potential dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase based on their strong anti-inflammatory activity. The significance of this finding is that it confirms the reported effectiveness extracts by herbolarios. Having identified the active principles, the essential chemical moieties can lead into the manufacture of a new drug.

7. Plants and Ethnic Beliefs and Superstition

Superstitious beliefs and ethnobotany are closely associated. I still remember many of these beliefs learned from old folks, the curious boy that I was, surrounded by fields and woodlands. While passing through a thicket where no path is visible you should utter repeatedly, bari-bari, an apology for trespassing into a place guarded by the unseen.

The following superstitious beliefs were selected from Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a doctoral research of Sister Mamerta Rocero, SPC. These beliefs are not only confined among the Itawes of Cagayan Valley but are shared by other cultures as well. These are translations from the Itawes dialect.

1. A conceiving mother should never pick fruits from a tree otherwise the tree will die.

2. A papaya plant in front of a house brings bad luck.

3. A pregnant mother who eats twin bananas might give birth to twins.

4. A tree surrounded by fireflies during the night brings good luck.

5. Plant coconuts during starry nights so they will yield abundant fruits.

6. Plant coconuts during moonlight nights so they will produce big nuts.

7. Hang empty bottles on the trellises of upo (white squash) so that it will bear more fruits.

8. Eating from stocks intended for seeds will bring poor harvest.

9. Burying a little sugar with the seeds of ampalaya (bitter gourd) will prevent the fruits from becoming bitter.

10. Anyone dreaming of something tragic, such as death in the family should, upon waking up, strike the trunk of any tree with a bolo so that the dream will not become a reality.

11. If a Fortune plant received as a gift bears flower, it is a sign of good luck; if it dies it is an omen of bad luck.

12. The balete (Ficus benjamina) is the home of bad spirits which cause those who go near the tree to become sick.

White lady haunts balete tree on Balete Drive QC, a popular ghost story

13. A woman on her menstrual period should not visit a garden or orchard otherwise the plants will become sick and ultimately die.

14. Avoid laughing while planting kamote (sweet potato) otherwise the roots will become liplike.

15. One who has incomplete teeth (bungal) should keep his mouth closed when planting corn, otherwise the plant will bear empty or poorly filled cobs.

16. Stoop when planting coconuts so they will not grow very tall.

17. When planting a tree seedling, avoid looking up so that the plant will not grow very tall.

18. Place the first fruits harvested from a plant in a large container and pretend to carry them as if they were very heavy so that the plant will be heavy with fruits.

19. A spiny cactus inside the house drives the witch away.

20. Someone will die if the fire tree blooms.

21. Talking while preparing gabi (taro) for cooking will make the it itchy when eaten.

22. Eating chicken cooked with squash will cause leprosy.

23. A person who eats any ripe fruit that is partly eaten by a bird will become talkative.

24. Bringing salt under a sour-fruit-bearing tree will cause the fruits to fall.

25. When planting sitao (long bean), place a comb on your hair to induce the production of abundant long fruits.

One of the common beliefs among rural folk is maan-anungan, a case when a person suddenly becomes indisposed, characterized by cold sweating and general weakness, often accompanied with stomach cramp, because “a spirit might have chanced upon person.” This is attributed to somebody who has been dead, or a living person who has the power to mangan-annung. Relief is sought by brushing or lightly whipping on his or her body with branches or leaves of malunggay (horse radish tree), atis (sweetsop), guyabano (soursop), or dayap (sour orange). Or let him or her be touched by the suspected mangan-annung, or wiped him with any clothing of the suspected dead person.

Then there is the belief that garlic cloves hung above the door will ward off the mananangal, a vampire who hovers around dwellings and attacks unwary victims. Then there are stories of the duwende (dwarfs) who bring either luck or misfortune, depending on the world they belong to. Next time you answer the call of nature under a tree, say, bari-bari, and don’t forget to spit on the spot after your relief.

Reny Casanan, in a similar study, relates these beliefs which are found among the Gaddangs of Isabela. The first items to carry with when moving into a new house are rice, a bundle of fuel, salt, sugar and coffee so that family will not run out of basic needs. Another belief is that, if harvest has been good, offer atang which consists of rice, viand, wined and palaspas (palm) as an offering, so that next year’s harvest will be as bountiful.

8. Ethnobotany and Gene Piracy
Sound the alarm. The pirates are coming! These pirates are armed with the latest tools of genetic engineering, and shielded by patent laws in their country Across the world, prospectors are sampling the local flora and fauna, and the genes of ethnic peoples, in search of new miracle drugs. An ethnical battle rages as prospectors scour the globe to find - and profit from - organisms that could cure the world’s worst diseases. According to Time, some ecologists are sounding dark warnings of a coming “gene war” between industrialized and emerging nations.

The idea is not really new. It started with IRRI when it put up a Gene Bank which houses today some 100,000 cultivars and varieties of rice. IRRI’s counterpart, CIMMYT in Mexico has a similar gene bank for wheat and corn. With genetic engineering today, genes banking and patenting have become mighty political and economic weapons of highly developed nations and giant trans-national corporations.

I had the opportunity to review and comment on a proposed bill to patent plants in the Philippines, under the title Plant Patent. The Senate of the Philippines remained firm to this date not to allow the passage of this bill. It believes that it is not only a matter that involves moral turpitude, but that the new law will adversely affect small farmers - millions of them, say in planting a patent-covered variety without paying the corresponding obligation to the patent holder.

This is the reported modus operandi of gene pirates. Foreign scientists disguised as tourists or volunteer workers, steal indigenous plants and animals - even human genes - develop useful products out of them which they then patent in their own country. According to Isidro Shia, a pharmacologist at UP, scientists posing as anthropologists have been gathering tissue samples from ethnic communities in the country known for their immunity to cancer and diabetes. The late Senator Juan Flavier called this exploitation a form of piracy and is rampantly committed in many parts of the world. Drug companies and agribusiness firms have been tapping genetic resources without even paying anything to countries where these genes are found.

Here are some examples of drugs manufactured from pirated plants. Taxol came from bark of a tree from a tropical rainforest, a cancer preventer. Jeevani is a drug from Kanis’ berries. It is a rich energy source, an anti-fatigue drug. “Old man’s cure” came from an African Pygeum tree. Sales of the bark reached $ 220 million a year. Sandeimmum/Neoral (Cyclosporin) another drug came from Kava plant, a Dioscorea species, which is a tranquilizer safer than Valium.

Actually we have just started for a long search because only one percent of the world’s flowering plants has been tested of their curative powers. But prospectors are all over like in a gold rush. Pirating is pocketing a gift God gave to all, and patenting is putting a tag on an act of God. There must be something to be done before these pirates loot our natural resources and heritage.

9. Age of Natural Medicine

According to Time, the sale of herbal and botanical supplements in the US in 1994 was $2 billion. It doubled in 1998, and by the following year it rose to $6 billion. There are 7.3 million Americans who swallow capsule made from Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), a purple petalled daisy particularly during the cold and flu season. Some 7.5 million more take Prosac, an extract from a bright yellow flower called St. John’s wort. And there are 10.8 million people who are worried of fading memory so that they remind themselves to take regularly Gingko (Gingko biloba), a tree with fan-like leaves, and the only survivor of a large Family (Gingkokales). PHOTO

 

Millions of people are now taking in dose routinely, from various preparations of herbs, to stave off disease, brighten their moods, rev up their sex life or retain their youth. In the US alone the annual value of natural supplements amounts to more than $12 billion. This blossoming market is all over the world. People simply go for natural – natural food, pest- and fertilizer-free products, organically grown crops, native animals and fowls. Awareness is growing high against pesticide-treated fruits and vegetables, and high level of antibiotics in poultry and livestock products. People shy away from irradiated food, microwave-cooked food, and products of genetically engineered plants and animals (GMOs). And they are willing to pay the premium as long as they are certain the food and medicine they are taking are free from adulterants and other substances that are deleterious to health.

People today make more visits to non-traditional physicians, including faith healers, herbolarios, and naturopaths, who claim expertise in herbs and other natural therapies. In the Philippines, more and more people seek natural remedies, and a proof to this is the sudden emergence of apatot (Morinda citrifolia), a locally growing wild plant found to be the source of Morinda, a health drink among the Tahitians. The fruit is sold in the market and made into fruit juice. Recently, the Bureau of Food and Drug banned the taking of seeds of mahogany (Swietenia macroloba) as cure of rheumatism, arthritis and heart problem. Senator Juan Flavier warned the public that the seed contains cyanide which can cause damage to the brain, kidney and liver.

Because of this trend many pharmaceutical companies are changing their products and strategies. There has been a proliferation in the market of various health food and natural medicinal preparations, many of which are exaggerated. Laws and regulations on drugs are being reviewed. The sudden revival of thousand-year-old remedies focuses the importance of ethnobotany. It buoys the sagging faith of people in conventional medicine, and kindle and hope quaintness of healing using time- tested remedies, remedies instilled in the live and culture of our forebears. The perceived coldness and remoteness of sophisticated, computerized, and red-taped medicine, are driving people away to look for a humane, practical, community-oriented alternative - a kind of healing that touches the human spirit.

10. Ethnobotany of Seaweeds

Scientists point out to the importance of algae; they produce more oxygen than all land plants combined. And their use as food to augment limited food supply opens a new field of farming, including future space travel. Algae hold the key in cleaning up our wastes, a process called bioremediation.

Dr Abe V Rotor

   

Understanding the living world of minutiae. Summer Workshop 

for kids conducted by the author. Lagro, QC.

 

Volvox a colonial alga; Spirulina Farm

Algae such as Nostoc, Spirolina, Anabaena Ocillatoria grow into communities; they form into mass rich in nutrients for plant growth (eg Nostoc), grow in association with plants (Anabaena in symbiosis with Azolla fern), or form composite communities. 

Algae being the first photosynthetic organisms, did not only provide the food base of a prototype food chain, but increased the oxygen level of the air vital to animals under the principles of Oxygen-Carbon Dioxide Cycle, and Organic-Inorganic Cycle as well.

Algae of the protist group or the green algae, populate the lighted layer of the ocean comprising the phytoplankton, that feed the zooplankton (microscopic animals), which feed the small fish, the large fish in this order, onto our dining table. Since 70 percent of the earth's surface is water, more food and oxygen are produced than on land. 

Algae are soil builders, agents of weathering of rocks, pioneers in converting wastelands, setting favorable conditions for the growth and development of plants and other organisms, leading to the formation of ecosystems. 

Algae comprise the base of food pyramids in ponds, lakes and oceans.  They are the link of the inorganic and the organic world, capturing the sun's energy through photosynthesis.  From hereon, different organisms depend for their food on the main and by-products. 

Algae in their macroscopic forms - the seaweeds - make the forests of the sea. They grow into enormous size and volume on coral reefs, these are the counterparts of the forests on land, particularly the rainforest.

Marine algae or seaweeds are divided into three groups: Brown Algae (Phaeophyta, eg Sargassum), Green Algae (Chlorophyta eg Caulerpa, Codium). Red Algae (Rhodophyta, eg Porphyra). Seaweed farming has developed into a major industry for their many uses in food, medicine, agriculture and industry.  (PHOTO: Euchema, Chlorophyta)

Fossil of diatoms (PHOTO), a division of algae under Chrysophyta, called diatomaceous earth is mined for many uses particularly as filters and ingredients of toothpaste, cosmetics, pesticide, etc. It is important in the food web since many organisms need the element for their development. Diatoms have excellent patterns and designs that inspire artists and builders.

Algae form thick mats and layers on land, fertilizing the land in the process, and protecting it from destructive elements such as sudden changes in temperature, erosion, desiccation and the like, vital in keeping environmental balance. 

11. Thirteen (13) practical researches on ethnobotany you can try at home and in your community

Dr Abe V Rotor

This article is reprinted in memory of the late Professor Eduardo de Leon of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas. These 13 researches were conducted during his administration as head of the Department of Botany, with the author as thesis adviser. This post is also dedicated to the thesis students who are now professionals in the fields of medicine, education, business, science and technology.

  

                                         UST Pharmacy Garden

These researches explore the vast uses of plants as food and source of useful products for pharmacology and industry. They offer alternatives to natural healing as well as in tapping the hidden wealth of plants as antibiotics, elixir and many other uses.

1. Yes, you can grow pechay and tilapia in an aquarium.  Del Rosario L, De La Calzada GR, Javillonar C, and V Roquero
This research is based on palay-isdaan, an indigenous practice in low lying ricelands where rice and fish naturally grow together during the monsoon months. Thus, the researchers experimented on growing pechay (Brassica chinensis) in an aquarium medium, which can at the same time sustain the normal growth of tilapia (Tilapia nilotica). The result promises another aspect of urban green revolution where hobbyists can combine the growing of fish in home aquarium with the production of vegetables. The idea may be the answer to having fresh and safe food supply for the home and neighborhood, and in maintaining a balance aquarium with lesser cost.

2. Beware of Ganoderma food supplement
Africa MA, Abulencia HM, Bautista A and AM Bebanco

This shelf fungus comes as food supplement, mainly as pre-packed coffee and tea, and advertised in several names. White mice fed freely with the raw fungus died after a few days. Even those given with limited amounts showed adverse physiologic effects like loss in weight, thinning of hair, and progressive weakness. Many died after two or three weeks. The results indicate that the fungus has toxic effect. It will be recalled that among the most poisonous materials occurring in nature come from fungi, the classical example is the Amanita mushroom which when mistakenly eaten by humans can cause instant death. There is no known antidote of mushroom poisoning. At minimal dosage however, not exceeding 10 mg per 1 kg body weight, the test animals gained weight faster than those not given with Ganoderma. Thus the researchers recommend judicious use of the food supplement, as it may be deleterious to health contrary to the claims of its manufacturers and distributors.

3. Make your own Marker Ink from Mayana.  Galang E, Cu MV, Constantino A and C Flores.  Marker inks or colorants come in bright green, pink, blue and in different hues and shades. They are used to highlight keywords and sentences, terms or simply for arts and graphics. Commercial highlighters as these markers are commonly called, are imported from Japan, US, Germany and China. Local brands make use of imported colorants. Mayana (Coleus blumei) is a colorful annual plant, dominantly red, maroon, green pink, yellow in various patterns and combinations. The researchers extracted the pigment using volatile solvents. Comparing the different cultivars of mayana, they came up with two dominant colors. Flesh to brown color appeared to be the best among the colors tested. Drying time compared to the commercial brands is the same. The researchers recommend other possible plant colorants such as Carissa, duhat (Syzygium) and bright petalled plants like Hibiscus.

4. Is it true that Caulerpa seaweed eaters live healthier and longer lives?
Chua AG, Fancubit AL, Flores F and MR Liwag

Caulepa racemosa

Ilocanos in particular, who love to eat lato or ar-arusip are known to enjoy healthy and long lives. Is it a myth? The researchers found out that this green seaweed sold commercially in two species, C. lentelifera and C. racemosa, possess antibiotic properties. Raw extract has been found effective in destroying bacteria, such as Pseudococcus and Escherischia coli, common pathogens causing human ailments. Aside from this property, Caulerpa contains caulerpine that to many people has relaxing effect, but excessive intake of the vegetable may cause dizziness. It is the only known edible seaweed that causes this symptom. This active principle may be tapped for its tranquilizing effect.

5. Alginate from Sargassum can increase the shelf life of fruits.  Tumambing K, Santok G, Seares A and V Verzola
If you happen to be walking along the beach those dry brown seaweeds washed ashore could bring in a lot of profit, not only as source of algin and alginic acid which are extracted for food conditioner and for industrial use. The researchers found out that by extracting the alginate substance by ordinary means, the extract is effective in delaying the spoilage of fruits such as mango, papaya and banana. The extract is diluted 5 to 10 percent with water before the ripe or ripening fruits are immersed, then allowed to dry. The alginate compound leaves a coating on the fruit that delays ripening from two to four days, at the same time protects it from microorganisms that cause rotting and spoilage.

6. Makabuhay and Neem tree extracts are effective in control cockroach (Periplaneta Americana) Tenorio RW, Nudo L, Roxas R and AC Uichanco
Neem tree

 

Makabuhay and Neem

Macabuhay (Tinospora rhumphii) is a liana that grows in the wild. Previous experiments proved that its extract is effective in controlling common rice insect pest and the golden kuhol. Could it be effective in controlling the tough and elusive cockroach? The same question was raised on Neem (Aziderachta asiatica), known as insecticide tree that was introduced into the country from India in the sixties. According to the researchers, extracts of both plants proved effective as direct spray on cockroach. Comparative effectiveness showed that the diluted extract of makabuhay gave a higher mortality that the pure extract, indicating the synergistic effect of water solvent, but only for makabuhay. Neem extract at low level dilution is more effective than that of makabuhay at the same level. While synthetic chemical sprays are more effective than these herbal extracts, the advantage of the latter is their being safe to humans and the environment and does not leave toxic residues.

7. Rat Poison from the Seed of Botong (Barringtona asiatica)
Perez R, Dela Cruz K, Rivera M and J Santos
If botong (Barringtona asiatica) is effective as fish poison, could it be effective as rat poison just as well? The researchers found it to be effective, but the problem to lure the rodents to eating the bait is a problem. This is because of the shy nature of rats and their oliphagous characteristic that is they eat a wide range of food under natural field condition. When starved rats may consume any available food and this may include poison baits. The advantage of using plant poison is its safe nature to humans and the environment. Presently used compounds include arsenicals, anticoagulants under the brand names Dethmor, Racumin, Dora, and the deadly “1081” a zinc phosphide compound which is now banned in the market.

8. Botong (B. asiatica) is safer poison against fish pest.  Dequina MJ, Castro JC, Limtin R and J Patawaran
This is the rational of the experiment: Is there a safer compound than synthetic pesticides to clean up fishponds in order to eliminate fish predators at seeding time? It is a known practice among fishpond owners to use Malathion, Endrin, and other chlorinated hydrocarbon, as well as phosphate compounds to eliminate fish such as tilapia, dalag, and Poecillia after harvesting a fishpond. These remaining fish pose danger as predator of bangus fries raised in the next season. The researchers found out that the extract of botong seeds (Barringtona asiatica) is an effective substitute. Like other plant extract, it is environment friendly and leaves non-toxic residue to the incoming fries and fingerlings.

9. Antibiotics from papaya seeds
Casas JM, Cadiz RI, Calvelo AM and MC Cremen.  With the increasing resistance of bacteria to the group of Penncilium antibiotics, scientists are looking into more potent antibiotics. Modern antibiotics however, are expensive and are not readily available particularly in the countryside. But natural antibiotics abound in nature. One such source is the ordinary papaya, specifically the native or solo variety. The researchers claim that the papain in papaya has an antibiotic property and the most likely part where the active compound is concentrated is the seeds, which are thrown away for no use except as propagation material. The seed oil is potent against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus. . This explains why papaya is a health food. Although the oil has also shown anti-fungal effects, the researchers recommend further studies in this aspect. They also recommend further studies in the preparation of the seed oil as antibiotic drop or ointment.

10. Mosquito repellant from bottle brush (Salix sp)
Clemente R, Landan RP Luquinario MI and P Padua
If there is a way to rid mosquitoes from attacking us without net or special paraphernalia, it is that advertised “Off” mosquito repellant. But the commercial products are synthetic compounds and reports claim that they are carcinogenic affecting not only the skin but internal organs as well since poison can be absorbed by the skin and into the blood stream and other tissue of the body. The researchers collected the volatile oil of the weeping willow which is also known as bottle brush for the formation and shape of the leaves. With ethyl alcohol as solvent, the preparation was tested against house mosquitoes (Culex pipens) in the same manner as the advertised commercial product is used. The results are positive.

11. How good are commercial organic fertilizers as claimed by their manufacturers? Olivenza CR, King A, Reyes CJ and A YoungThere are a number of organic fertilizers in the market manufactured from various raw materials. As such there is no standard set particularly for their nutrient content. They are advertised with various advantages which the researchers in this study say only by experimentation on at least one plant indicator can resolve – pechay (Brassica chinensis). The results of the experiment are varied and therefore support the theory that organic fertilizers in the market do not have standard effects on the growth and development patterns on the test plant. The researchers believe that fortification of organic fertilizers with chemical fertilizers improves the formula and helps solve nutrient deficiency.

12. Bunga de Jolo is a potential bactericide.
Villaluz MC, Enebrad K, Garcia R and V Guzman.  Vetchia merillii, a palm relative of the bunga (Areca catechu) was found to have a unique potency against the bacterium, Bacillus proteus as well as others pathogens causing infection. Direct extract from the seed showed potent inhibition against the test organisms, a feat the control (Penicillium type) failed to show. This explains the usefulness of bunga de jolo as a substitute of Areca in the absence of the latter. Both produce nuts, which are used by older people for mastication with or without the betel leaf and the occasional lime that goes with the preparation.

13. Common moss as a practical source of antibiotics. Nabong W, Aquino M, Orlino C Ramos J and H Sumabit
The common moss often used in its dried form as substrate for orchids has a puzzling characteristic. It resists rotting and does not arbor the breeding of microorganisms that are pathogenic to the orchid. From this observation coupled by the fact that indigenous people use dried moss to cover wounds and skin diseases, led the researches to conduct an experiment on the antibiotic properties of mosses. The results are positive to bacteria causing skin infection, but the range of antibiosis has yet to be determined. The researchers recommend that further studies be conducted on methods of extraction, other than the use of ethanol, in isolating the active principle which is the key to the antibiotic property of mosses. ~

 

Graduate students study the uses of Banaba Tree (Lagerstroma speciosa), and Selaginella as antibiotics. ~

 12. Ethnobotany and Nata de Coco as leather substitute 

Nata de coco shoes, surgical thread, and wallet, too.

Bacterial cellulose as substitute of leather and plastic is the brainchild of Filipino scientist, Dr Anselmo S Cabigan former Director for Research, National Food Authority, and professor in biological science at St Paul University QC. Nata de coco shoes is first of its kind in the world, one for the Book of Guinness Record.

Nata is a culture of Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a bacterium that forms a mass of gelatinous material from a medium of sugar and acetic acid. When thick enough, this layer is harvested for dessert or fruit salad mix. This time it is made into laminate, a leather-like material.

At St. Paul University QC, Dr. Anselmo S. Cabigan and his thesis advisee, the late Miss Amparo Arambulo, developed shoes made from nata laminate. The laminate is actually compressed nata de coco, dried and layered like plywood, then subjected to standard tanning procedure. It is cut and made into shoes. The nata "leather" is produced by gradual pressure and drying until a leather-like consistency is attained. This undergoes curing and tanning, and dyeing like leather. Which is then made as uppers of shoes and slippers, cut into belt, surgical thread, and even fabric substitute. Nata laminate is stronger than leather, according to results of a test conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It also gives a good finish like real leather.

Nata laminate is also a healthy and environment-friendly packaging material. It easily decomposes without leaving any trace of harmful residue - unlike plastic, which in the first place is synthetic and non-biodegradable. Nata offers a solution to plastic materials accumulating in garbage, and scattered all around.

The author is shown with the late Amparo Arambulo who  conducted a thesis in BS Biology, Nata de Coco as Substitute of Leather. Note nata de coco leather sheets at the foreground.

In another thesis research, nata was made into surgical thread. Again, since nata is a natural product, it is soluble and absorbed in our system without any harmful effect to health. Thus, it is a good substitute for expensive commercial surgical threads.

"You can have nata shoes and eat them, too." I said jokingly to my friend. "You can have nata for writing and reading," my friend Dr Cabigan added to my joke. Nata is used to make drums, speakers, wallets. The list continues with other possible uses: belt, diploma sheepskin, parchment paper, thread and rope."

It's true - nata is a versatile material that can save animals, especially those in the endangered list. And save the world from being buried by a mountain of plastic wastes. 

The technology of nata growing in culture medium is ancient and universal in process. It is a microbial process, a kind of farming with a bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and a complex of other microorganisms, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Acetobacter aceti. It is Nature's microbiological chemistry which man has learned to produce useful materials, vinegar, herbal tea, and of course, nata as food. The innocula grow on a wide range of substrates. If it is pineapple, the product is nata de piña. It is possible that other countries have nata products from their indigenous fruits and nuts. Biologically, the process is nature's way of disposing organic residues by converting them into more stable forms preparatory to their final degradation, ultimately returning to their elemental forms ready for the next cycle.

The encapsulated bacterium is the main agent in the process, leaving its gelatin or cellulose shell to form layers and thick mass which is the nata. This is made into mats and when finally cured becomes laminate, firm and soft (even after a few years), cool to the feet, and other tests for leather. There are yet many other tests were not done or completed.
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This work is ahead by more than ten years of one of Time magazine's featured of inventions in 50 Best Inventions of 2010 (November 22, 2010, page 53, Invention No. 15 BioCouture).

13. Self-Administered test on Ethnobotany

Can you identify these indigenous plants?  

Dr Abe V Rotor

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

(21)

(22)

(23)

 

 (24)

 (25)

(26)

(27)

 (28)

 

 (29)

(30)

Answers

1. Chayote - Sechium edule

2. Papait (cultured) - Mollugo oppositifolia

3. Bagbagkong - Telosma procumbens

4. Saluyot - Corchorus olitorius 

5. Alugbati - Basella alba 

6. Dampalit (wild) - Sesuvium portulacastrum

7. Kamias - Averrhoa bilimbi

8. Kuchay - Allium ramosum

9. Pandan Mabango - Pandanus amaryllifolius

10. Papait (wild) - Mollugo oppositifolia

11. Siling Labuyo - Capsicum annuum
12. Karimbuaya - Euphorbia neriifolia
13. Talinum - Talinum tiangulare
14. Tanglad - Cymbopogon citratus
15. Ar-arusip - Caulerpa racemosa

16. Pokpoklo - Codium edule
17. Squash Flower (male) - Cucurbita maxima
18. Dampalit (cultured) - Sesuvium portulacastrum
19. Pako' (edible fern) - Diplazium esculentum
20. Himbaba-o (alokong Ilk) - Allaeanthus luzonicus

21. Ulasiman (ngalog Ilk) - Portulaca oleracea
22. Wax gourd (tangkoy Ilk) - Benincasa hispida
23. Tainga ng daga mushroom - Auricularia 
24. Kutchay flower - Allium tuberosum
25. Sinkamas - Pachyrhisus erosus

26. Native ampalaya (Momordica charantia) and upo (Lagenaria leucantha)  

27. Malunggay - Moringa oleifera
28. Red ginger - Alpinia purpurata,
29. Bignay - Antidesma bunius
30. Achuete - Bixa orellana

14. Outlook of Ethnobotany 

These viewpoints present a Janus’ vantage point from where we stand today. Ethnobotany is besieged by advancing culture, seen on the screen of a computer, serving the needs of modern medicine, and globalization in terms of commerce and intercultural exchanges. On the other hand, ethnobotany offers us an opportunity to turn back to an unspoiled landscape where we study, even under extreme pressure of time and change, the drama which has been taking place many, many years ago, an enduring natural man-plant relationship vital to our success as a species, to be what we are today, our lifestyle and society. In our approach to the subject we may undermine the wealth of indigenous knowledge about the subject, which we must admit, we know so little about.

We should take time out and beat a path out there, bidding the unseen with whispers of bari-bari, as we seek and enter the Shang-rila of health and plenty, a place, a natural order of things, where our ancestors must have lived a full life.