Ethnobotany of betangas by the malay community in Seberang, Jambi City

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants has been passed down from generation to generation, where some medicinal plants are vaporized to be used as traditional betangas ingredients. Betangas is a traditional steam bath tradition using herbs. The Malay community of Seberang, Jambi City still applies betangas tradition. This study aimed to determine the various plant species for betangas spices, the procession of betangas, the part used (Plant Part Value), and the cultural index value (Index of Cultural Significance) in the Malay Community of Seberang, Jambi City. Ethnobotanical data were collected using in-depth interviews based on snowball and purposive sampling of 47 respondents (5 key respondents and general respondents), participatory observation, documentation, plant sample collection, and specimen identification. Data are presented in graphs and tables and then analyzed descriptively. Cultural value is calculated using the Index of Culture Significance (ICS), and the value of the use of plant organs is computed using the Plant Part Value (PPV). This study obtained 31 plant species of 18 families used as betangas spices. Plant families that are commonly used are Zingiberaceae, Rutaceae, and Poaceae. The series of betangas activities include the preparation of spices and equipment and the implementation of betangas. The most used part of the plant is the leaves. The highest ICS value is presented by citronella (Cymbopogon nardus (L.) Rendle).