Ragrario EM, Zayas CN, Obico JJA. Useful plants of selected Ayta communities from Porac, Pampanga, twenty years after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Phil J Sci 2013;142:169-181.
Useful plants of selected Ayta communities from Porac, Pampanga, twenty years after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo
ABSTRACT
A survey of useful food and medicinal plants was conducted among the Ayta from three barangays of Porac, Pampanga. Twenty years after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, the Ayta communities of Porac have experienced extensive changes in their life, culture and society. In the survey, 83 plants were used as food and 167 plants used as medicine. The most number of species are classified under the Fabaceae family. The food and medicinal plants used by the Ayta communities declined in number as compared to the study of Fox in 1952. A contributing factor to the decline may have been the dislocation of the communities and the loss of the forest after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Likewise, the acculturation and integration into prevailing society has affected the lives of the Ayta, but their botanical knowledge remains an important part of their culture.
Coordinates: 15.1241838, 120.45880590000002