Last year, Cognis, a French company, presented a patent application (in France – FR 2880278) based on traditional uses of sacha inchi (Plukenetia Volubilis L.), a native Peruvian Amazonian plant. The application sought to patent the use of oils and proteins extracted from seeds of sacha inchi for cosmetic and skin uses.
The cosmetic use of sacha inchi was well known by Amazonian communities in Peru in the distant past, and the patent would imply the misappropriation of indigenous people ancestral knowledge. There is no recognition nor regard to indigenous peoples interests and knowledge. Probably, the innovation would have been impossible without the knowledge input by communities.
There is no novelty in the patent claims: sacha inchi grows in the upper Amazon (Andean slope), especially in the San Martín Region. It is believed it was used ancestrally by communities as it is represented in arts and crafts. Its use and applications are widely known among Amazonian ethnic groups in Peru. Women of mayoruna, chayuhuitas, campas, huitotos, shipibos, yaguas and boras mix flour with sacha inchi oils to elaborate a cream which rejuvenates and revitalizes the skin.
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