Evolutionary approaches in ethnobotany of medicinal plants and bioprospecting

Abstract

Evolution has originated high levels of biodiversity that provide essential actual benefits to humans and future option values. These resources are extracted and used to meet basic needs, such as traditional medicine, which is the result of human experience and its contact with nature over time. Traditional knowledge used as a guide for bioprospecting and ethnomedicinal research is the first step to protecting it and making it visible. The need to apply phylogenetic approaches and their importance for the development of ethnobotany in Mexico is discussed, as well as their implications for the discovery, use and conservation of medicinal resources for human well-being. This approaches, elucidating the evolutionary history of species, can improve bioprospecting practices since they point out related species which could produce useful chemical compounds, which is relevant to biotechnology and emphasizes the importance of preserving biocultural heritage.