A SURVEY OF INDIGENOUS PLANTS USED FOR FOOD AND MEDICINE BY THE KADAZANDUZUN ETHNIC IN TAMBUNAN, SABAH EAST MALAYSIA

By

JULIUS KULIP

Forestry Department Sabah

Research & Development Division

A paper presented at

Borneo Research Council

Fourth Biennial Conference of

The Borneo Research Council

10 - 15 June 1996

Universiti Brunei Darussalam

 ABSTRACT

A survey of indigenous plants by the Kadazandusun ethnic in Tambunan for food and medicine was conducted for the first time by the Forest Department Sabah.   The survey was started in early 1989 and terminated in 1991.   Four villages were visited, there was namely Kampung Timboi, Kampung Sunsuron, Kampung Rompon and Kampung Kaingaran.  Informations were obtained by interviews with adults (usually head of the village) recognised as having a high level of knowledge of the particular plants.  Voucher herbarium specimens were made, numbered, identified and were deposited in the FRC herbarium at Sanakan.  A total of 168 specimens were collected.   117 of them are useful for medicine and the rest were for food.

INTRODUCTION

The survey of useful plants for food and medicine among the KadazanDusun ethnic in Tambunan was started n early 1989.  Systematic survey on useful plants on this area has not been done thoroughly in this district eventhough some studies on Medicinal plants by Guntavid in 1992, Kulip in : 1995 and Bamboo utilization by Kulip in 1992 were conducted earlier on.  The present study intends to help conservation of indigeneous plant and the ethnobotanical knowledge among the ethnic concerned.   Traditonally, local communities world wide are extremely knowledgeable  about indigenous plant and this has no exceptance for the Kadazandusun in Tambunan.   Unfortunately, much of this wealth of knowledge is today becoming lost as traditional  clutteres become eroded.  Thus, this survey  of plants for food and medicine in Tambunan is very important not only for the conservation of the indigenous plants and environment but is also helping  to mantain a sense of pride in local cultural knowledge and practices before it is lost.

STUDY AREA

The surveyed area was located in the central west part of Sabah, Malaysia (Map No.1).  The Town Centre of this district is located about 90 km east of Kota Kinabalu by road.  The vegetation here mostly  consisted of hilly mixed dipterocarp forest.  Most of the flat land in the valley are cultivated with wet paddy where  else the slope is cultivated mostly with 'Poring' bamboo or Gigantochloa levis.

The mean annual rainfall ranges between 1603 to 1915 mm.   Rains are irregular both in season and location, but usually coincide with the monsoon.  There is a dry season from February to June and during this time the villagers took advantage to harvest their paddy and other plants.  Temperatures vary from 30 ºC to 32 ºC during day time and may fall to 20 ºC  at night time.

The locals in Tambunan are traditionally farmer where they planting wet and hill paddy as their staple food.  The population of this district is around   12 000 and majority of them are from the Kadazandusun ethic which speak Kadazandusun.  They usually go for hunting and gathering forest produce or fire wood from the forest nearby.  This was done when they were in free time, usually when they finished planting paddy, that was between February to June every year.

METHODS

Information were obtained by interviews with adults recognised as having of knowledge of their culture.  The head of village usually contracted first to get some informations on the knowledgeable adults and to get background informations about the village.  Usually the head of village knows a lot of useful plants.  In most cases, interviewees had spent about two weeks in the village to get informations.

Field works were carried out at the following villages: Kampung Tikolod (December  1988), Kampung Timbou (May 1989 and September 1993), Kampung Sunsuron (December 1989), Kampung Kirokot (May 1990) and Kampung Kaingaran (February 1991).   Plants specimens were either collected in the forest or from the village's gardens with the help of the informants.  Kadazandusun names and their uses(for food and medicinal purposes only)were documented for each specimen using Sandakan herbarium book collection.  The data were cross-checked with informants  in other villages.   Photographs were also taken.  Most of the works were carried out with the help of the following informants whose ages are shown in parentheses.   Mr. Gidam Gawandi (80 - 90), Mr. Gambun Sadaman (70 - 80), Mr. Guriban Masidang (70 - 80), Mr. Gundiba (70 - 80) and Mr. Nain (80 - 90).  Voucher herbarium specimens were deposited and identified in the State Forestry Department herbarium in Sandakan by the author and was help by Mr George Majawat, Mr. Patrick Lassan and Mr. Leopold Madani.

RESULTS

There are 168 indigenous species of medicinal (Table 1) and food (Table 2) plants collected during the survey.  117 of them are for medicinal purposes and the rest are for food.  Of the 168 specimens, there are about 168 species in 64 families of plants.

7 species of medicinal plants are considered to be 'usap tagayo' by the local s here and the rest are considered as 'usap toomod'.  'Usap tagayo' or powerful medicine means that the particular  plant can heals the symptom effectively where else 'usap toomod' or ordinary/regular medicine can heals many

 Table 1

Medicinal Plants

SD          =      Soejatmi Dransfield

SAN        =     Sandakan herbarium number

NMPS      =     Native Medicinal Plants of Sabah

*             =      'Usap Tagayo' or Powerful Medicine

NA         =       Not available]

 Table 2

Plants for food

symptoms temporarily but sometimes it heals. ‘Usap tagayo’ usually can be found in undisturbed forest where else the ‘ usap toomod’ can be found planted in home gardens or grow wildly surrounding. Mixture of plants for medicinal purposes is also observed used regularly by the locals. ‘Pantang’ or taboo is kept during harvesting the plants for example when collecting a particular plant, it is only being done during early morning before the sun rises. Most the plants for medicine are come from the family of Leguminosae, Euphorbiaceae, Zingirberaceae and Poaceae, where else the food plants mostly used from the family of Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae, Sapindaceae and Bambusoideae.

DISCUSSION

The knowledge of medicinal plants and food plants have been the key for the survival of the locals in Tambunan. The traditional plants for medical and edible know how have been inherited from ancestral experience among the locals here. Plants are very important for the local here not only for medical or food resources but as well as for the supply of construction materials or poison.

Today, eventhough the practice of modern medicine is widely spread, the traditional methods of healing using plants are still popular here because of either they cannot afford to buy them or they cannot afford to go to hospital due to expensive bus fare. But most of all the plants are still proven could be curing many diseases and are of great uses in primary health care in the district.

Indigenous food plants are still popular here in Tambunan. Regular indigenous food plants found in "Tamu" or local market are ground shoot of Gigantochloa levis (‘Poring bamboo’), Solanum so. (‘Tuton’), etlingera so. (Tuhau), Stenochalena palustris (‘Lemiding’) and Melastoma sp. (‘Komburiong’). The popularity of these plants eaten as vegetable still maintained among the locals here is because many of them not only eaten as vegetable, but the locals like it because the bitterness of the ‘Tutan’ can kill intestine worms in human body and can also reduces high blood preasure. The common and most popular vegetables are ‘Lemiding’, ‘Tuhau’, ‘Pakis’, ‘Poring shoot’, ‘Tayaan’ and ‘Tutan’. The most popular fruits are ‘Hansat’, ‘Kelibas’, ‘Manga’, ‘Punti’, and ‘Timadang’. There is only one plant used for meat preservative that is ‘pangi or Pangium edule.

CONCLUSION

The survey of the indigenous plants used for food and medicine y the Kadazandusun ethic in Tambunan has listed 168 plants in four villages. The need for this survey is not only for scientific curiosity but it is has practical aspects as the development of new local industries, the search for these plants for wider use in Sabah specifically and in the world generally.

Acknowledgement

This work is the result of coopertion of many people. Foremost, I would like to thank all the village people involved especially the informants for generously imparting their traditional knowledge of plants without which this documentation would not have been produced.

My deepest appreciation and gratitude goes especially to Datuk Miller Munang, former Forestry Department Sabah director for his encouragement.

I also wish to thank my colleagues at the forest Research Centre Herbarium in Sandakan for their assistance in the various fieldworks conducted in this district especially Mr. George Majawat.

Last but not least, my special thanks to the Borneo Research council for giving me this opportunity to share and present this paper.

1. Guntavid, J.P. (1992). Traditional Medicinal Plants: Their uses by the Dusun/Kadazan of Tambunan. Borneo Research Council second Biennial International Conference. 13 – 17 July 1992. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Kulip, J and C.A. Matunjau(1992). Utilization of Bamboo in Tambunan National Bamboo Seminar.

Proceedings of the Seminar, 2 – 4 Nov 1992. Wan Razali Wan Mohd and Aminuddin bin Mohamad (Eds). FRIM, Kepong, 52109, Kuala Lumpur. pp. 26 –45.

Kulip, J. (1995). Ethnobotanical aspects of medicinal plants of Sabah. Journal of Tropical forest Science. FRIM, Kepong, Manuscript accepted for publication. No. 35/95.

 

Martin, G.J. (1995). Ethnobotany. A people and Plants.Conservation manual, Chapman & Hall.