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Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study

Received: 28 January 2020    Accepted: 25 February 2020    Published: 15 June 2020
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Abstract

Spices and condiments are substances added to foods to enhance aroma and taste. The aim of this study addresses the traditional preparation of spice and condiments and give value for indigenous knowledge in the local society. A community survey was conducted. One hundred sixty-nine informants were selected by using a random sampling technique. Semi-structured interviews, observation, in-depth interview and prepared questionnaires were employed to collect pertinent data on the local use of spice and condiments. The data obtained were analyzed by using analytical tools commonly ordered in ethnobiological studies like preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and pairwise compression. Twenty four species of spice were found in the market. Eight condiments were identified in routinely prepared dishes. From the result of the Paired comparison, Allium sativum scores the highest use-value in the preparation of spice and condiments. The preference ranking result also indicated that Red pepper is the most preferred condiment by the inhabitant of the local community. This study also indicated that the indigenous knowledge in the preparation of spice varies with age groups with the elder more knowledgeable than youngsters. The indigenous knowledge also under threat as the young are not interested in domestic activities. There is knowledge limitation (deterioration) in the younger generation. The younger generation strongly recommends to keep, learn, preserve and maintain their ancestral wisdom for the indigenous use of spice and condiments in the resident.

DOI 10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12
Published in Biomedical Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 2, June 2020)
Page(s) 25-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Spice, Indigenous Knowledge, Condiment, Ranking, Ethnophysiology

References
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  • APA Style

    Dessalegn Demeke, Biruk Getahun, Destaw Mulualem Atinafu. (2020). Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study. Biomedical Sciences, 6(2), 25-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12

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    ACS Style

    Dessalegn Demeke; Biruk Getahun; Destaw Mulualem Atinafu. Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study. Biomed. Sci. 2020, 6(2), 25-30. doi: 10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12

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    AMA Style

    Dessalegn Demeke, Biruk Getahun, Destaw Mulualem Atinafu. Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study. Biomed Sci. 2020;6(2):25-30. doi: 10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12,
      author = {Dessalegn Demeke and Biruk Getahun and Destaw Mulualem Atinafu},
      title = {Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study},
      journal = {Biomedical Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {25-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bs.20200602.12},
      abstract = {Spices and condiments are substances added to foods to enhance aroma and taste. The aim of this study addresses the traditional preparation of spice and condiments and give value for indigenous knowledge in the local society. A community survey was conducted. One hundred sixty-nine informants were selected by using a random sampling technique. Semi-structured interviews, observation, in-depth interview and prepared questionnaires were employed to collect pertinent data on the local use of spice and condiments. The data obtained were analyzed by using analytical tools commonly ordered in ethnobiological studies like preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and pairwise compression. Twenty four species of spice were found in the market. Eight condiments were identified in routinely prepared dishes. From the result of the Paired comparison, Allium sativum scores the highest use-value in the preparation of spice and condiments. The preference ranking result also indicated that Red pepper is the most preferred condiment by the inhabitant of the local community. This study also indicated that the indigenous knowledge in the preparation of spice varies with age groups with the elder more knowledgeable than youngsters. The indigenous knowledge also under threat as the young are not interested in domestic activities. There is knowledge limitation (deterioration) in the younger generation. The younger generation strongly recommends to keep, learn, preserve and maintain their ancestral wisdom for the indigenous use of spice and condiments in the resident.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessing Ethnophysiological Use of Spices and Condiments in Bahir Dar City Market, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia: Ethnophysiological Qualitative Study
    AU  - Dessalegn Demeke
    AU  - Biruk Getahun
    AU  - Destaw Mulualem Atinafu
    Y1  - 2020/06/15
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12
    T2  - Biomedical Sciences
    JF  - Biomedical Sciences
    JO  - Biomedical Sciences
    SP  - 25
    EP  - 30
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-3932
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bs.20200602.12
    AB  - Spices and condiments are substances added to foods to enhance aroma and taste. The aim of this study addresses the traditional preparation of spice and condiments and give value for indigenous knowledge in the local society. A community survey was conducted. One hundred sixty-nine informants were selected by using a random sampling technique. Semi-structured interviews, observation, in-depth interview and prepared questionnaires were employed to collect pertinent data on the local use of spice and condiments. The data obtained were analyzed by using analytical tools commonly ordered in ethnobiological studies like preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and pairwise compression. Twenty four species of spice were found in the market. Eight condiments were identified in routinely prepared dishes. From the result of the Paired comparison, Allium sativum scores the highest use-value in the preparation of spice and condiments. The preference ranking result also indicated that Red pepper is the most preferred condiment by the inhabitant of the local community. This study also indicated that the indigenous knowledge in the preparation of spice varies with age groups with the elder more knowledgeable than youngsters. The indigenous knowledge also under threat as the young are not interested in domestic activities. There is knowledge limitation (deterioration) in the younger generation. The younger generation strongly recommends to keep, learn, preserve and maintain their ancestral wisdom for the indigenous use of spice and condiments in the resident.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Biomedical Science (Unit of Physiology), College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

  • Department of Biomedical Science (Unit of Physiology), College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

  • Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational science, Injibara University, Injibara, Ethiopia

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