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A Comparative Review on 50 Herbal Plants found in New Zealand and Taiwan

Lin-Huang Huang, Wen-Hong Chang,Yu-Hwei Tseng and Chung-Hua Hsu

Background: Austronesian-speaking peoples in Taiwan and New Zealand share similarities in terms of culture and traditional knowledge but the climate and natural resources are considerably different. This study intends to scientifically compare 50 similar plants found in New Zealand and Taiwan.

Material and methods: This literature review is conducted by thorough database searches, field visits to New Zealand and Taiwan, and discussions with indigenous people who are knowledgeable with herbal plants.

Discussion: After a thorough comparison of the herbal plants found in New Zealand and Taiwan, the same or similar plants have different traditional usuages, with possible reasons: descriptions of their medicinal purpose is vague and broad, often being passed down by word of mouth with no evidence base. This leads to room for subjective conclusion. Through scientific articles and field visits, evidence based biological activities of the compared herbal plants are provided.

Conclusion: Even though there are similarities between the herbal plants in Maori and Taiwan, they have different usuages.