Indigenous Knowledge, morphological variation and genetic diversity of Kava (Piper methysticum Forst.) in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Papua Province harbors a very rich biodiversity yet to be discovered entirely for research. Various plants serve as a drug and are traditionally used by the community. The Marind tribe is located in the district of Merauke in Southern Papua. Based on the geographical conditions, the society of the Marind tribe is divided into three groups, namely Marind pantai (or Marind dufh), Marind rawa (or Marind bob) and Marind darat (or Marind degh). One of the most important traditionally used plant species is Piper methysticum, the so-called “Wati”. Wati leaves contain active substances which have a sedative effect and cause enduring sleep. The pharmacological effects are known by the indigenous people of the tribes for long. The species is used as traditional medicine and as a beverage. Hence, it is important for social interaction between individuals and community groups. In addition, Wati growing in the region of the Marind tribe shows a high diversity in morphology. The indigenous people have specific local names for each variety or cultivar. Because of the importance of Wati the plant species is widely used in ethno-botanical studies. They can be carried out based on the knowledge of the three ethnic groups in terms of morphological characterization, utilization, cultivation and preservation of Wati. Methods in the present study included survey methods and participatory observations. The locations of research were chosen from 32 villages. Informants were selected by using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected mainly by semi-structural and open interviews with more than 100 people of the community. This research used two primary approaches which were the emic approach and ethnic approaches. The emic approach is a method based on ethnological research to get a description about the perception and the concept of tribal people or the location of the object to be studied. The ethnic approach is used to analyze the perception and concept of traditional knowledge of local people on evidence based on scientific taxonomy and genetics. Methods in the botanical study aimed at clarifying the taxonomy by analysis of the collected field data from the survey methods and observation. This methodology is used for inventories of the Wati plant gardens and all types of varieties of the Wati plant in each village. The observation method is used for identifying the specific character of the Wati plant morphology in the gardens and to find out how local people use the plant in their daily life. Stems, leaves and flowers were taken from Wati plants for building dry herbarium specimens for identification purposes at the Bogoriense herbarium laboratory in Bogor, Indonesia, and compared to literature, if necessary. The world-wide distribution of Piper methysticum is presented based on the data of herbarium collections of different institutions. It was looked at the genetic diversity in order to align it with morphologic and anatomic data of the Wati plant. Genetic studies were conducted in respect of each laboratory involved. For these genetic analyses nuclear microsatellite markers (nSSRs) and chloroplast microsatellite markers (cpSSRs) were used. The samples from the different plant populations were taken according to the geographical distribution of Marind society as there are Marind Land, Marind Beach and Marind Swamp. The fresh leaves of the Wati plants were taken from three populations. Each population 137 consisted of 30 individual plants per cultivar as a sample. The total number of samples was 172. This research used nine nuclear microsatellite markers or primers (nSSRs) and three chloroplast microsatellite markers or primers (cpSSRs), but only four primers were amplified: PN B5, PN D10, PN G11 and ccmp2. The results of ethno-botanical research show that Wati is considered as sacred and the species is included in every ritual ceremony. Hence, Wati is strongly linked with the culture of the Marind tribe. Procedures of processing rituals and cultivation of the Wati plant among the three groups of the Marind tribe differ but the purpose of utilization is the same throughout the groups. The knowledge of the Marind tribe how to use it as a beverage, for ritual ceremonies and how to cultivate it is similar to the knowledge of other people in the South Pacific region. In general, there is a different practice for utilization, identification and classification, cultivation and handling practice of the Wati plant among the three groups of the Marind tribe. This research also investigates the Wati cultivars under the aspects of morphology (growth form), anatomy (trichoma and stomata features) and genetics. It resulted that morphological variations show no variations in genetics (no corresponding differences). The different morphology of the cultivars is used for classification in respect of habitus (life form) (shrub size ± 1 m, 2 m, compared to P.wichimannii with 4 m, looking like a small tree), stem color (green, brownish to red color), lenght of stem internodes (1-2 cm, 2-11 cm, 4-14 cm, compared to P.wichimannii, >15cm), leaf thickness (rather thick, thick; P.wichimannii with thin leaves), leaf softness (rather soft, rather stiff; P. wichimannii as soft). Anatomically, methysticum differs at species level from other Piper species like P.wichimannii and Piper gibilimbum by different types of trichoma. The differences are also confirmed by genetics: Genetic diversity did not reveal any variation in the allelic richness between cultivars of Piper methysticum species in Merauke area, as no different alleles could be found, only outside of Piper methysticum species. The following alleles could be found in cultivars of Piper methysticum: (Cultivar Babid: 7 alleles of nSSRs and 1 allele of cpSSRs), (Cultivar Safurawe: 8 alleles of nSSRs and 1 allele of cpSSRs), (Cultivar Munana: 8 alleles of nSSRs and 1 allele of cpSSRs), (Cultivar Wati Kuning: 7 alleles of nSSRs and 1 allele of cpSSRs), Piper wichimannii (11 alleles of nSSRs and 1 allele of cpSSRs), Piper betle (17 alleles of nSSRs and 2 alleles of cpSSRs). The differences show a clear separation at species level methysticumwichimannii- betle. Within population diversity, the three polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers generated a total of 20 alleles for the 3 species. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 for PN G11 to 11 for PN D10. The highest polymorphic level found in Piper methysticum species on PN D10 locus are 9 alleles, Piper betle and Piper wichimannii on PN D10 and PN G11 locus are 7 alleles, Piper methysticum on PN G11 locus are 5 alleles. In genetic diversity among population the highest number of alleles per species per population were: Piper methysticum in Marind Swamp with 9 alleles, Marind Beach and Marind Land populations with 8 alleles, Piper wichimannii only in Marind Land with 11 alleles and Piper betle in Marind Swamp with 13 alleles, Marind Land with 11 alleles and the last is Marind Beach with 10 alleles. In order to identify Wati plant variants and to clarify the status of Wati plant in Merauke area based on indigenous knowledge as well as on the 138 morphological and genetic character it was found that Wati plant comprises the species Piper wichmannii and Piper methysticum. Piper methysticum comprises five cultivars, namely Babid, Wati Kuning, Safurawe, Palima and Munana. This Wati plant (Piper methysticum and Piper wichimannii) distribution is only found in Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia which are integral regions of Oceania. To clarify the taxonomic status of the Wati plant (Piper methysticum and Piper wichimannii) in Merauke genetic investigations need to be carried out to discover new haplotypes that are to be expected in other Wati plant samples from Papua and other islands.
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W162524846