Table 3: a Transnational Comparison of Health Conditions Treated by Popular Food Plants

Appendix 1 (Electronic Supplementary Material)

A transnational comparison of health conditions treated by popular food plants. Values represent the percentage of times a plant was mentioned to treat a specific health condition. For example, in NYC interviews, lime was mentioned 330 times in total (Nlime) and 83 times to treat flu, which corresponds with 25.2%.

Lime (Citrus aurantiifolia)
NYC (Nlime=330) / DR
(Nlime=273) / Z–value / P–value
Flu / 25.2 / 24.2 / 0.19 / Ns
Common cold / 11.8 / 9.5 / 0.78 / Ns
Diarrhea / 11.8 / 14.7 / 0.93 / Ns
Cough / 6.7 / 7.3 / 0.13 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 6.1 / 1.5 / 2.24 / 0.025
Bruises / 5.8 / 15.4 / 3.52 / <0.001
Bronchitis / 5.2 / 4.0 / 0.50 / Ns
Wounds / 4.8 / 4.8 / –0.19 / Ns
Kidney problems and stones / 3.6 / 4.4 / 0.29 / Ns
Arthritis / 3.0 / 2.6 / 0.05 / Ns
Cholesterol / 2.4 / 0.7 / 1.32 / Ns
Diabetes / 1.5 / 0.7 / 0.54 / Ns
Sprains / 1.2 / 2.2 / 0.64 / Ns
Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)
NYC
(Nb. orange=210) / DR
(Nb. orange=181) / Z–value / P–value
Sinusitis / 24.8 / 12.7 / 2.90 / 0.004
Flu / 19.0 / 21.0 / 0.37 / Ns
Common cold / 8.1 / 8.3 / –0.11 / Ns
Hypertension / 7.1 / 8.8 / 0.43 / Ns
Diabetes / 5.7 / 1.1 / 2.17 / 0.030
Diarrhea / 4.3 / 8.8 / 1.61 / Ns
Headache / 3.3 / 1.1 / 1.11 / Ns
Cough / 2.9 / 1.7 / 0.45 / Ns
Bronchitis / 2.4 / 2.2 / –0.21 / Ns
Cholesterol / 2.4 / 1.7 / 0.13 / Ns
Burns / 1.4 / 2.8 / 0.62 / Ns
Shingles / 1.0 / 6.6 / 2.69 / 0.007
Wounds / 0.0 / 2.8 / 1.99 / 0.046
Asthma/chest congestion / 1.0 / 2.8 / 0.95 / Ns
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.)
NYC (Ncinnamon=184) / DR (Ncinnamon=171) / Z–value / P–value
Flu / 38.6 / 29.2 / 1.76 / Ns
Common cold / 14.1 / 7.6 / 1.79 / Ns
Hypotension / 5.4 / 5.8 / –0.07 / Ns
Menstrual pain / 4.9 / 3.5 / 0.39 / Ns
Kidney problems and stones / 4.3 / 7.6 / 1.09 / Ns
Cough / 3.3 / 9.9 / 2.31 / 0.021
Asthma/chest congestion / 3.8 / 2.3 / 0.51 / Ns
Bronchitis / 2.7 / 3.5 / 0.13 / Ns
Diabetes / 2.7 / 6.4 / 1.43 / Ns
Labor pain / 1.1 / 3.5 / 1.16 / Ns
Diarrhea / 0.5 / 2.9 / 1.35 / Ns
Garlic (Allium sativum)
NYC
(Ngarlic=155) / DR
(Ngarlic=91) / Z–value / P–value
Hypertension / 33.5 / 19.8 / 2.15 / 0.031
Diarrhea / 5.8 / 11.0 / 1.23 / Ns
Fungal skin infections / 5.2 / 3.3 / 0.38 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 5.2 / 2.2 / 0.81 / Ns
Diabetes / 4.5 / 1.1 / 1.08 / Ns
Hypotension / 4.5 / 3.3 / 0.13 / Ns
Stomachache / 4.5 / 2.2 / 0.58 / Ns
Arthritis / 3.9 / 4.4 / –0.14 / Ns
Bronchitis / 3.2 / 0.0 / 1.25 / Ns
Cholesterol / 3.2 / 9.9 / 1.91 / Ns
Parasitic infections / 0.0 / 7.7 / 3.11 / 0.002
Coconut (Cocos nucifera)
NYC
(Ncoconut=151) / DR
(Ncoconut=116) / Z–value / P–value
Kidney problems and stones / 37.7 / 40.5 / 0.34 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 12.6 / 14.7 / 0.32 / Ns
Burns / 6.6 / 5.2 / 0.22 / Ns
Common cold / 4.6 / 4.3 / –0.18 / Ns
Bronchitis / 4.0 / 3.5 / –0.11 / Ns
Parasitic infections / 3.3 / 3.5 / –0.25 / Ns
Infertility / 3.3 / 0.9 / 0.89 / Ns
Empacho* / 3.3 / 2.6 / –0.03 / Ns
Gonorrhea / 1.3 / 4.3 / 1.14 / Ns
Onion (Allium cepa) and shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum)
NYC
(NAllium=248) / DR
(NAllium=139) / Z–value / P–value
Flu / 22.6 / 28.8 / 1.23 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 19.8 / 17.3 / 0.47 / Ns
Common cold / 18.5 / 18.0 / –0.02 / Ns
Bronchitis / 18.1 / 15.1 / 0.61 / Ns
Cough / 12.9 / 7.2 / 1.56 / Ns
Kidney problems and stones / 2.0 / 3.6 / 0.62 / Ns
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)
NYC
(Nwatercress=118) / DR
(Nwatercress=37) / Z–value / P–value
Bronchitis/cough / 26.3 / 24.3 / 0.03 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 20.3 / 18.9 / –0.05 / Ns
Flu / 19.5 / 24.3 / 0.40 / Ns
Common cold / 15.3 / 24.3 / 1.01 / Ns
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
NYC
(Nginger=107) / DR
(Nginger=55) / Z–value / P–value
Flu / 24.3 / 18.2 / 0.69 / Ns
Labor pain / 15.0 / 18.2 / 0.30 / Ns
Arthritis / 13.1 / 20.0 / 0.92 / Ns
Common cold / 10.3 / 3.6 / 1.18 / Ns
Sinusitis / 7.5 / 9.1 / 0.05 / Ns
Hypotension / 4.7 / 10.9 / 1.16 / Ns
Cough / 4.7 / 0 / 1.16 / Ns
Radish (Raphanus sativus)
NYC
(Nradish=102) / DR
(Nradish=48) / Z–value / P–value
Asthma/chest congestion / 21.6 / 16.7 / 0.48 / Ns
Bronchitis / 20.6 / 16.7 / 0.34 / Ns
Flu / 20.6 / 27.1 / 0.68 / Ns
Cough / 12.7 / 4.2 / 1.33 / Ns
Common cold / 12.7 / 22.9 / 1.35 / Ns
Soursop (Annona muricata)
NYC
(Nsoursop=100) / DR
(Nsoursop=62) / Z–value / P–value
Flu / 41.0 / 38.7 / 0.13 / Ns
Common cold / 11.0 / 8.1 / 0.33 / Ns
Cough / 7.0 / 9.7 / 0.32 / Ns
Bronchitis / 7.0 / 4.8 / 0.23 / Ns
Sedative / 6.0 / 3.2 / 0.43 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 3.0 / 9.7 / 1.46 / Ns
Spanish thyme (Lippia micromera)
NYC
(NS. thyme=73) / DR
(NS. thyme=72) / Z–value / P–value
Diarrhea / 52.1 / 40.3 / 1.26 / Ns
Stomachache / 12.3 / 12.5 / –0.22 / Ns
Empacho* / 6.8 / 8.3 / 0.03 / Ns
Sinusitis / 6.8 / 6.9 / –0.31 / Ns
Asthma/chest congestion / 1.4 / 6.9 / 1.25 / Ns
Digestive gases / 0 / 6.9 / 1.83 / Ns
Guava (Psidium guajava)
NYC
(Nguava=30) / DR
(Nguava=55) / Z–value / P–value
Diarrhea / 86.7 / 78.2 / 0.67 / Ns
Flu / 0 / 7.3 / 0.98 / Ns

*Empacho is a folk illness that manifests itself as a gastrointestinal disorder and is believed to be caused by obstruction of food or something else in the stomach or intestines (Weller, S. C., L. M. Pachter, R. T. Trotter, and R. D. Baer. 1993. Empacho in four Latino groups: A study of intra– and inter–cultural variation in beliefs. Medical Anthropology 15:109–136); P–values > 0.05 are not significant (Ns). Underlined P–values remain significant after Bonferroni correction (conditions with expected absolute cell values for NYC or DR that were less than 5 were not taken into account for determining the correction factor).