A Living Bond Between Plants and People
For centuries, plants, especially medicinal plants, have been essential to human survival, offering nourishment, healing, and spiritual guidance. Their significance extends across continents and cultures, shaping lives, practices, and traditions. In Mauritius, the island’s rich multicultural heritage—shaped by African, Malagasy, Indian, Chinese, and European influences—has fostered a unique ethnobotanical narrative. From ancient healing practices to modern-day herbal remedies, the relationship between plants and people has been central to the island’s history and identity. Early settlers in Mauritius, facing isolation and limited access to modern medicine, turned to the island’s diverse flora for support. This knowledge, passed down orally through generations, remains a precious yet vulnerable legacy.
Planty embodies this deep connection, creating botanically inspired infusions that celebrate and protect Mauritius’ heritage. These blends revive ancestral wisdom while honoring the island’s rich history of herbal remedies, including the best medicinal plants, reflecting the universal significance of flora as essential companions to humanity’s well-being.
2. The Roots of Healing: The Historical Role of Plants in Mauritius
If we look back through history, plants were far more than a source of sustenance—they were central to health and well-being.
In traditional cultures, such as in nearby Madagascar, plants played a dual role: as tools for physical healing and as symbols of spiritual restoration. Malagasy healers, known as ombiasy (shamans or spiritual guides), used plants in rituals to cleanse, protect, and restore harmony, reflecting a deep understanding of nature’s healing properties. These ceremonies emphasized the belief that plants carried both medicinal and spiritual power.
When settlers arrived in Mauritius over 300 years ago, they discovered an island full of botanical treasures. The tropical environment offered fertile ground for both native flora and introduced species to flourish. With limited access to modern medicine, plants became essential for addressing everyday ailments, from minor wounds to serious illnesses. Early settlers and enslaved communities relied on the natural pharmacy around them, adapting knowledge from their homelands to make use of local resources.
Historical records, such as those by Bouton (1864) and Daruty (1886), document how isolation and a lack of formal healthcare pushed communities to develop extensive plant-based remedies. These practices not only met physical needs but also embedded plants deeply into the cultural fabric of the island.
The Crossroads of Cultures and Knowledge
Mauritius’ diverse population—shaped by African, Indian, Malagasy, Chinese, and European influences—created a rich tapestry of shared botanical wisdom. Each community brought unique traditions, healing practices, and an array of medicinal plants that expanded the island’s pharmacopeia. This exchange of knowledge birthed a holistic system of healing that blended traditions and philosophies, emphasizing the adaptability and versatility of plants in maintaining health.
– African Contributions: Plants like baobab (Adansonia digitata) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica) were used to treat fevers, digestive issues, and inflammation. These remedies reflected practices common in many African countries and became staples in Mauritian households.
– Indian Influence: Indian communities introduced powerful remedies such as turmeric (Curcuma longa) for its anti-inflammatory and detoxifying properties and neem (Azadirachta indica) as an antimicrobial and skin-healing agent. These plants remain popular in contemporary herbal medicine.
– Malagasy Heritage: Malagasy settlers brought their expertise in using native flora like ravintsara (Cinnamomum camphora) for respiratory ailments and infections.
– Chinese Practices: Chinese migrants integrated herbs like ginseng and goji berries into local diets, complementing the island’s existing medicinal traditions with elements of traditional Chinese medicine.
This blending of practices fostered a dynamic system of healing, where each plant carried both practical and symbolic significance. It wasn’t just about treating ailments; it was about respecting and understanding the role of plants in life, health, and community.
Medicinal Plants : A Living Legacy
Today, over 500 plant species in Mauritius are documented for their medicinal uses. This list of medicinal plants in Mauritius includes well-known names such as lemongrass, papaya leaves, and turmeric. Despite modernization, many practices persist, ensuring the continuity of a rich ethnobotanical heritage that connects Mauritians to their environment and ancestry.
3. Medicinal Plants and their uses : A Living Ethnobotanical Legacy
Medicinal Plants: A True Healing Ritual
In Mauritius, the use of medicinal plants purposes has remained a cornerstone of daily life for many communities, rooted in ancient traditions and passed down through generations. From simple remedies to complex practices, the island’s rich ethnobotanical legacy continues to thrive, particularly in rural areas where traditional knowledge is still highly valued.
Plants like lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) have long been used for their therapeutic properties, particularly in alleviating respiratory issues such as asthma and bronchitis. They have also served as natural remedies for fevers and colds. Traditionally, lemongrass infusions have been consumed to help ease digestive discomfort and soothe headaches, thanks to its calming properties.
Similarly, papaya leaves have been employed in local practices to treat a range of digestive issues and skin conditions. The sap of papaya leaves is often applied topically to aid in the healing of cuts and wounds, showcasing their versatile use in traditional remedies. These plants have been part of the island’s heritage, offering both nourishment and healing through generations.
The preparation of these medicinal plants typically involves traditional methods such as infusions and decoctions. These methods have been passed down from one generation to the next, reflecting a deep connection to nature and the wisdom of the environment.
The cultural practices surrounding the use of plants are also an important aspect of the island’s healing rituals. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), for example, has maintained a significant influence, particularly within the Sino-Mauritian community, where knowledge of medicinal plants has been carefully preserved. Older generations, particularly men over 50, have been instrumental in passing on their knowledge of herbal remedies through oral tradition, ensuring that the medicinal use of plants remains vital in daily life.(1)
The enduring reliance on plants for healing in Mauritius mirrors their broader significance in global medicine. While traditional practices remain vital, plants have also profoundly influenced the evolution of modern pharmacology, bridging ancient knowledge with cutting-edge scientific discovery.
Plants have long served as the backbone of drug development, offering compounds that have transformed modern medicine.
The reliance on plants for healing in Mauritius mirrors their broader significance in global medicine. Traditional practices not only endure but have also profoundly shaped modern pharmacology, bridging ancient wisdom with cutting-edge scientific discovery.
Medicinal plants have provided the foundation for many groundbreaking drugs. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 11% of essential medicines are derived exclusively from flowering plants (Newman & Cragg, 2012). Ethnopharmacology—the study of traditional plant use—has been instrumental in these discoveries. An estimated 80% of plant-based medicines are directly linked to their traditional medicinal applications, emphasizing the value of indigenous knowledge in modern drug development (Fabricant & Farnsworth, 2001).Over the last three decades, approximately 50% of new pharmaceuticals have been derived directly or indirectly from natural products. These contributions have been especially significant in oncology and treatments for infectious diseases (Newman & Cragg, 2012).
As science progresses, the combination of traditional knowledge with advanced research methods offers immense potential for uncovering novel medicines, ensuring that ancient practices remain relevant while advancing the frontiers of healthcare.
Plants Beyond Medicine
Plants hold a deep cultural significance, beyond their medicinal uses.
As Clifford (1988) and others have pointed out, the concept of “culture” originally referred to the cultivation of plants, symbolizing a deep connection between people and the land. Over time, this idea expanded to include the development of societies, further strengthening the bond between plants, people, and their heritage.
In Mauritius, plants are not just resources; they are symbols of identity, culture, and belonging.
For the Chagos islanders, the relationship with plants reflects their cultural survival.
Jeffery and Rotter (2011) note that Chagos islanders describe their displacement as “uprooting” (derasinman) and identify as an “uprooted people” (enn lepep derasine). As the authors explain,”Chagossians creatively use plants to meet the demands of the present: plants help to sustain valued cultural practices and knowledge; to nourish social relationships within an increasingly dispersed community; and to cultivate nostalgic links to and belonging in idealized homes and homelands.” (2)
In Mauritius, plants offer a similar link to the land, helping people stay connected to their history and identity.
4. The Decline of Traditional Knowledge
The decline of traditional knowledge in Mauritius is closely tied to modernization, urbanization, and habitat destruction. Expanding urban infrastructure has steadily replaced natural landscapes, directly impacting the availability of endemic plant species and the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with them. As noted by Suroowan and Mahomoodally (3), between 2005 and 2015, land clearing for development significantly reduced spaces previously used for sugarcane, tea plantations, and forests. This trend has endangered endemic and indigenous species, many of which are integral to traditional practices.
“Mauritius has suffered massive deforestation in less than 200 years (Vaughan and Wiehe, 1937), and today less than 5% of its original forest cover remains (Page and D’Argent, 1997; Hammond et al., 2015). In addition, the recent increase in international trade and purchasing power has led to easier access to modern medicine, paralleling a gradual decline in the use of traditional remedies” (Suroowan, Pynee, and Mahomoodally).
Globalization and modernization have shifted preferences toward convenience-driven, commercially available solutions, eroding the value placed on traditional knowledge systems. This decline is not just about losing access to plants but also the stories, rituals, and practices that form the heart of Mauritius’ cultural identity and heritage. Without action, these practices risk fading into obscurity.
Efforts to document and preserve this knowledge are critical to maintaining its legacy. By safeguarding the cultural and ecological significance of traditional practices, Mauritius can ensure that its rich heritage remains a vital part of its identity for future generations.
5. Planty’s Role: Reviving the Bond Between Plants and People
As modern life continues to unfold, the connection between people and the land that nourishes them is slowly eroding.
At Planty, we seek to gently rekindle that bond through simple yet meaningful infusions. Mauritius, with its rich ethnobotanical history, holds a wealth of plant knowledge passed down through generations. However, with the rapid pace of urbanization and the rise of globalized consumption, much of this wisdom risks fading into obscurity.
We believe in the power of plants to connect us to the land, to each other, and to our shared heritage.
“By rediscovering our roots, we not only heal ourselves but also nurture the land that sustains us.”
(1) Mohamad Fawzi Mahomoodally , Luviksha Drushilla Muthoorah. (2014) An ethnopharmacological survey of natural remedies used by the Chinese community in Mauritius.
(2) Jeffery, L., & Rotter, R. (2011). Sustenance, nourishment, and cultivation: Plants as living cultural heritage for dispersed Chagossians in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the UK. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 17(4), 736–753.
(3) S. Suroowan a, K.B. Pynee b, M.F. Mahomoodally. (2019) A comprehensive review of ethnopharmacologically important medicinal plant species from Mauritius.