The medicinal plants of Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia

This paper describes an ethnopharmacological study of two remote settlements in Indonesia. Interviews with practitioners of traditional medicine (dukuns) were carried out to determine the vernacular names of plants used for medicinal purposes. Parts used, methods of preparation and the medicinal uses of 158 species are presented in an inventory. Samples from several species are currently undergoing chemical analysis.     

Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants at Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

An ethnobotanical study on veterinary medicinal plants of Bale Mountains National Park and adjacent areas was conducted from July 2003 to June 2004. Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to generate ethnoveterinary data from traditional healers residing in the park and buffer zones. A total of 25 animal ailments were reported, of which blackleg, Darissaa and hepatitis were the most frequently reported ailments. Seventy four veterinary medicinal plant species that were distributed among 64 genera and 37 families were recorded. The most utilized growth forms were herbs (35 species, 47.3%) followed by shrubs (28 species, 37.84%). Roots (54 species, 41.54%) followed by leaves (47 species, 36.15%) were the most frequently used plant parts for ethnoveterinary medicine. Usually, fresh materials (53 species, 43.44%) were preferred for medicine preparations. The most frequently used route of drug administration was oral (65 species, 42.76%) followed by dermal (55 species, 36.18%). Indigenous knowledge was mostly transferred to an elect of a family member in word of mouth indicating that it was prone to fragmentation or loss.     

Biologically active traditional medicinal herbs from Balochistan, Pakistan

The biological activities of the following four important medicinal plants of Balochistan, Pakistan were checked; Grewia erythraea Schwein f. (Tiliaceae), Hymenocrater sessilifolius Fisch. and C.A. Mey (Lamiaceae), Vincetoxicum stocksii Ali and Khatoon (Asclepiadaceae) and Zygophyllum fabago L. (Zygophyllaceae). The methanolic extracts were fractionated into hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, butanol and water. The antifungal and antibacterial activities of these plants were determined against 12 fungal and 12 bacterial strains by agar well diffusion and disk diffusion assays. The extract of Zygophyllum fabago was found to be highly effective against Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. The extract of Vincetoxicum stocksii was also found to be significantly active against Candida albicans, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus. Extracts of Hymenocrater sessilifolius and Grewia erythraea showed good activity only against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.     

Determination of toxic heavy metals in indigenous medicinal plants used in Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities,Pakistan

Ethnopharmacological relevance

History of medicinal plants used in local healthcare systems dates back centuries as the user considers them safe from toxic effects. Present study was aimed to document the commonly used indigenous medicinal plants and to investigate the metal toxicity and impact of pollution load in most frequently used medicinal plants from study area.

Material and methods

Semi-structured interviews and rapid appraisal approach were employed to record the ethnomedicinal information and toxic metals were analyzed through flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Results and discussion

A total of 21 wild medicinal plants was reported, and 7 were screened for toxic metal analysis. Oral mode of application (93%) was the chief route of herbal remedy administration, and leaves were found to be used as major plant part against different diseases. Main sources of remedies were wild herb (68%) followed by wild trees (18%), wild spiny shrubs (09%) and wild shrubs (5%). Trend of metal concentration was found as Fe>Ni>Cr>Pb>Cu>Zn>Mn>Cd. Indigenous medicinal plants of both cities posed the toxicity risk for Ni, Cu, Fe and crossed the safety limits set by WHO.

Conclusion

Medicinal plants of Rawalpindi were more toxic compared to the medicinal plants of Islamabad. Prolonged intake or over dose of these medicinal plants may lead to chronic accumulation of various elements that may cause severe hazardous effect upon human health.     

Why Surinamese migrants in the Netherlands continue to use medicinal herbs from their home country

Aim of the study

When people migrate, they tend to bring along their medicinal plants. In order to improve migrant health, we need information on their traditional health beliefs and practices. This paper investigates medicinal plant use among Surinamese migrants in the Netherlands.

Materials and methods

Data from 210 semi-structured interviews among 1st and 2nd generation Surinamese migrants were analysed to determine which medicinal plants were used, for what purposes, which demographic, socio-economic or psycho-social factors play a role in the choice for traditional medicine and to clarify people's personal motives to use herbs. Variables associated with medicinal plant use were identified by using the Pearson γ2 test and the two-sample t-test. After selecting significant variables by means of bivariate analyses, multinomial logistic regression with stepwise forward selection was used to assess whether medicinal plant use could be explained by a combination of these variables.

Results

More than 75% of the respondents used herbal medicine, and 66% did so in the past year. Herbs were more frequently employed for health promotion (39%) than for disease prevention or cure (both 27%). Almost half of the respondents who had been ill the last year had used herbal medicine. More than 140 herb species were mentioned during the interviews. Plant use was often related to certain culture-bound health beliefs. Spiritual baths were the most popular traditional practice, followed by genital steam baths, bitter tonics, and the consumption of bitter vegetables. Afro-Surinamers more frequently used herbal medicine than Hindustani. The WINTI belief strongly influenced plant use, as well as the occurrence of an illness in the past year, and frequent visits to Suriname. Age, gender, income and education had no significant effect on the use of traditional medicine. Surinamers stated that they used medicinal herbs because they grew up with them; herbs were more effective and had fewer side effects than conventional therapies.

Conclusions

As long as certain culture-bound beliefs and health concepts remain prevalent among Surinamese migrants, and ties with their home country remain strong, they will continue using medicinal herbs from their country of origin. More research is needed on the health effects of frequently used medicinal plants by migrants in the Netherlands.     

Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal herbs in Jordan, the Ajloun Heights region

The study of local knowledge about natural resources is becoming increasingly important in defining strategies and actions for conservation of medicinal plants. This study therefore sought to collect information from local population concerning the use of Ajloun Heights region medicinal plants; identify the most important species used; determine the relative importance of the species surveyed and calculate the informant consensus factor (ICF) in relation to medicinal plant use. Data collection relied predominantly on qualitative tools to record the interviewee's personal information and topics related to the medicinal use of specific plants. Our results revealed that 46 plant species grown in the study region are still in use in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Most of the locals interviewed dealt with well-known safe medicinal plants such as Achillea falcata, Matricaria aurea, Majorana syriaca, Allium sativum and Allium cepa. The use of moderately unsafe or toxic plants was noted to be practiced by practitioners and herbalists rather than the locals. These plants include Ecballium elaterium, Euphorbia hierosolymitana, Mandragora autumnalis and Citrullus colocynthis. Kidney problems scored the highest ICF while Crocus hyemalis was the plant of highest use value. Searching the literature evidenced some concordance with the solicited plant uses mentioned by the informants.     

Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal herbs in Jordan, the Northern Badia region

Aim of the study

This study sought to gather information from aboriginal Bedouins in North Badia region of Jordan about used medicinal herbs besides their folk uses.

Materials and methods

The data were collected from 40 practitioners who utilized medicinal plants and who were regarded as professional. Subsequently, the uses were compared with the reported ones in the literature. The informant consensus factor (Fic) and use value (UV) have been calculated to those herbs and the managed illnesses.

Results

The data of 73 species were collected; the vast majority of them are safe such as Achillea falcata, Tamarix aphylla and Teucrium polium. Treatment of inflammation and pain presented the major targeted use of these herbs. While, the herbs used for delivery and female problems were limited. This might be due to the culture conservations about the talk of feminine issues. Diseases of kidney, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems as well as diabetes depicted the largest Fic values. Artemisia herba-alba possessed the highest UV value among the studied herbs.     

In vitro antidiabetic activities of five medicinal herbs used in Chinese medicinal formulae

Fructus Corni, Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Poria, Rhizoma Alismatis and Rhizoma Dioscoreae are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for diabetes treatment. They are also the component herbs of an antidiabetic foot ulcer formula with demonstrated clinical efficacy. Although some of these herbal extracts were previously shown to possess in vivo antidiabetic effects (i.e. lowering blood glucose levels), the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible antidiabetic mechanisms of these individual herbs, using a systematic study platform which includes four in vitro tissue models: glucose absorption into intestinal brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), gluconeogenesis by rat hepatoma cell line H4IIE, glucose uptake by human skin fibroblasts cell line Hs68 and mouse adipocytes 3T3-L1. All tested herbs showed significant in vitro antidiabetic effects in at least two models. Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Poria, Rhizoma Alismatis and Rhizoma Dioscoreae showed significant inhibitory effects in the BBMV glucose uptake assay. All tested herbs showed significant stimulatory effects to the glucose uptake of Hs68 and 3T3-L1 cells, except Poria and Rhizoma Dioscoreae which were not effective to Hs68 and 3T3-L1 respectively. However, none of the tested herbs inhibited hepatic gluconeogenesis. In conclusion, the five herbs exhibited distinct antidiabetic mechanisms in vitro and hence our investigations provided scientific evidence to support the traditional usage of these herbs for diabetic treatment in medicinal formulae.