Nutritional analysis of foodmedicinal plants used by Haitian women to treat the symptoms anemia

• Main Author: Jean-Baptiste, Johanne
• Other Authors: Johns, Timothy (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 1994
• Subjects: Anemia > Treatment > Haiti.; Medicinal plants > Haiti.; Anemia > Nutritional aspects.; Amaranthus dubius
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=68186

Ethnobotanical and dietary questionnaires were used to assess the utilization of plants to treat the signs and symptoms of anemia by women in La Chapelle, Haiti. The usual diet of respondents was found to be low to intermediate in iron bioavailability. The ethnobotanical questionnaire showed that most respondents (82%) used plant-based home remedies to treat anemia Amaranthus dubius, Citrus aurantium, Corchorus olitorius, Moringa oleifera, Phaseolus vulgaris and Portulaca oleracea used in the diet and as remedies for anemia were analyzed. Amaranthus dubius was found to have the higher in availability by in-vitro dialysis, 30%. The intra species variation in iron availability was influenced by storage and cooking times. The interspecies variation in iron availability was explained by the acidity of the plant species' cooked homogenate (r = 0.4168, p = 0.007).