Ethnobotanical survey of herbal medicines for anti-COVID-19 used by traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies in Taiwan.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) pharmacies in Taiwan have been a vital healthcare resource in Chinese communities, with generations of accumulated TCM knowledge playing a crucial role in infectious disease prevention and treatment. However, as proprietors age and the industry declines, this valuable ethnomedicinal knowledge faces the risk of being lost. Therefore, documenting and analyzing the knowledge used by Taiwanese TCM pharmacies in combating COVID-19 is essential for the preservation and application of ethnomedicine.

Methods

This study employed a stratified sampling method to survey 106 TCM pharmacies in Taiwan, collecting 61 TCM formulae against COVID-19. The medicinal materials were compiled, and analysis were conducted using relative frequency of ci

SUBMITTER: Chi MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12440865 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature