The Indonesian Herbal Heritage Medicine during Covid-19 Pandemic

Kitchen spices and herbs remain a source of healthy drinks made by housewives in Kalitengah Village Tanggulangin during the Covid-19 pandemic. The making of healthy drinks uses recipes passed down from generation to generation from their parents, which is kept in the community’s collective memory. This study aimed to document the knowledge of the diversity of healthy drinks produced while the Covid-19 pandemic were still spreading. A survey was conducted by collecting information from housewives about a variety of drinks made from kitchen spices and herbs by means of individual in-depth interviews. Aged between 45 and 65 years old, the housewives as respondents provided information about spiced drinks that they made and that were consumed by all family members. Housewives were deliberately chosen to identify the kinds of drinks that encourage their independent care and to know the perceptions that underlie the making of spiced drinks. The findings suggest that housewives’ making of spiced drinks during the pandemic is linked to the cooking habits taught from childhood. Some housewives will still make their own spiced drinks even though some drinks can already be bought. The ingredients consist of kitchen spices (ginger, turmeric, sand ginger, finger root, lemongrass) mixed with boiled herbs (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon), which can be made into various kinds of healthy drinks.