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Medicinal Plants and their Traditional Uses

Article · October 2018

DOI: 10.14302/issn.2638-4469.japb-18-2423

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JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN PLANT BIOLOGY
ISSN NO: 2638-4469

Editorial DOI : 10.14302/issn.2638-4469.japb-18-2423

Medicinal Plants and their Traditional Uses

Cumali Keskin1,*

1
Mardin Artuklu University, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health,
47100 Mardin, Turkey.

It is estimated that there is the number of seek solutions to problems such as obesity. Side
between 750,000 and 1,000,000 plant species on the effects may occur due to misuse of plant products,
world. The 500,000 of them have been identified and contamination, and interaction with other plants and
named. Around 2000 new flowering plant species are medicines. Therefore, it is necessary to be careful
identified and named in each year. The number of when using herbal products [4, 5].
plants which have been used for treatment since Traditional uses of Medicinal Plants
ancient times shows a steady increase. According to a Herbal drugs (herbal medicine raw materials)
report released by the World Health Organization can be prepared for use in different ways. The simplest
(WHO), the number of plants used for treatment is way is to take the drug as it is in powder form.
estimated to be around 20,000. The studies on However, in terms of taking it easier and determining
medicinal plants and active substances derived from the amount taken; Pills, infusions, decoctions and
them have increased the interest in these plants in ointments are commonly used methods.
recent years [1-3]. Plant products are generally
Powder (pulverise)
preferred and used by patients who have chronic
medical conditions including cancers (2%), liver It is obtained by pestling or milling the plant
diseases (21%), HIV (22%), asthma (24%) and pieces. The easiest way to use in powder form is to
rheumatologic disorders (26%). Many believe that pour the fine powder into half a glass of water and
natural treatment methods are harmless. Whereas, drink the mixture after mixing.
many recent scientific studies have pointed out the Pill (pilulae)
serious consequences of the side effects of herbal
It is obtained by turning the finely powdered
products such as giving other damages to patients who
form of drug into pill with the help of excipient.

Corresponding author: Cumali Keskin, Mardin Artuklu University, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics,
School of Health, 47100 Mardin, Turkey, Phone: +90 482 2134002/7202, Fax: +90 482 2134004, E-mail:
ckeskinoo@gmail.com
Received: Oct 12, 2018 Accepted: Oct 22, 2018 Published: Oct 24, 2018
Editor: zhongzhou chen, China agricultural university, China.

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Freely Available Online

Substances such as honey, sugar group, starch, roasted and vaseline. The substance or substances to be put into
chickpea flour, gum Arabic, liquorice honey which have the ointment are firstly powdered in the mortar in order
no treatment effect should be preferred. Drug powder is to prepare the ointment. It is then crushed with a small
pulped with the appropriate excipient material, a rod at amount of liquid oil, and then the excipient substance
suitable length is made by rotating this dough in the (usually an equal amount of lanolin and vaseline) is
palm, the rod is divided into pieces of appropriate size added slowly onto the active substance and thoroughly
by a knife and each piece is shaped as the pill by rolling. mixed in the mortar. Ointments are stored in closed
Liquorice powder or talc powder is placed between the containers and cool places [6-11].
pills to prevent them sticking to each other. The Place of Medicinal Plants in Treatment
Infusion The scientific, technological and social
It is the most commonly used method in the use development processes and correspondingly the
of drugs as medicine. Boiling water is poured on the historical development of the concept of health and
milled plant pieces for preparing the infusion, and the disease have led to the emergence of mystic,
mixture is kept by mixing in a closed container for 5 min. polypharmacy, aetiology, traditional and modern medical
After cooling, it is filtered through fine cheesecloth. The practices, respectively. It is frequently encountered to
amount of the drug to be used is usually 2 g drug for the traces of the early stages of the historical
100 g water. The quantities are shown as (2%), (5%) or development process of medical practice today.
(10%). Infusions are prepared as fresh at every turn. A Especially alternative medicines (natural or traditional
fine amount of honey or sugar can put into the mixture medicine) and its practices have caused the many
as a sweetener. different stages of this developmental period to be
Decoction conveyed to today's societies [12]. The fact that chronic
diseases are the main cause of disease and death, and
Sufficient amount of cold water is poured on the
that the natural course of these diseases cause the
crushed plant pieces for preparing the decoction and
patients and healthcare professionals to engage in
heated on a light fire for half an hour by stirring
different researches from time to time because of the
frequently, and it is filtered with fine cheesecloth while
reasons such as not achieving complete success in the
hot. The amount of the drug to be used is usually 2 g
known ways of protection and diagnosis. However,
drug for 100 g water. Different decoction and infusion
difficulties in accessing health services also increase
methods are used for different plants and plant pieces.
seeking these kinds of searching. For all these reasons,
(A) Drugs containing flower, thin leaf or essential oil: A
phytotherapy which is one of the alternative medicine
teaspoon coarsely powdered drug is poured into a water
practices has become basic subjects of many scientific
glass, and boiling water is poured on it. It is roofed with
studies about treatment with plants. Alternative
cover and left to rest for 5 minutes. At the end of this
medicine, defined in a variety of terms (complementary,
period, it is filtered by means of cotton. (B) Coarse-
supplemental, and non-traditional) includes treatment
grained leaf or soft fruits: a teaspoon plant material is
practices which are not found in traditional medicine.
boiled for 1-2 minutes in a container with a glass of
water, and left to rest for 5 minutes and then filtered Traditional medicine is spreading rapidly in all
with the help of cotton. (C) Root, bark, hard fruits and regions of the developing world and in industrialized
seed drugs: A teaspoon coarsely powdered material is countries. It was determined that more than 50% of the
boiled for 3-5 minutes in a pot with a cup of water, and population in Europe, North America and other
left to rest for 5 minutes and finally filtered by means of industrialized regions used at least one of
cotton. complementary or alternative medicine methods. It has
been reported that 75% of people with HIV / AIDS
Ointment (Unguenta)
especially in San Francisco, London and South Africa use
It is a kind of medicine which is made by oils traditional/alternative medicine [8-11]. Although the vast
such as saturated fat, oil (olive oil, almond oil), lanolin majority of medical practices in the United States are

www.openaccesspub.org | JAPB CC-license DOI : 10.14302/issn.2638-4469.japb-18-2423 Vol-1 Issue 2 Pg. no.- 9

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traditional, nearly 70% or 90% of health care services in pollution and whose creators also include the
the world is provided by alternative traditions and international pharmaceutical industry and threat posed
practices [13,14]. It was alleged that the term by many chronic diseases that are not yet curable and
phytotherapy which can be explained as an approach the idea that naturalness is always effective and free of
about treating patients by using plants, was firstly side effects, herbal treatment have become popular
mentioned in the journal of "La Presce Medical" by the again [22]. The most reflective indicators of this
French physician Henri Len who lived between 1870 and popularity are that the increase in sale of herbal
1953 [15]. However, we see that plants had been used medicines in the USA at the level of 59% in 1997
by every society in every period of history long before compared to the previous year, the 3 to 5% of patients
this date in order to protect or recover health. The receive only herbal treatment as basic treatment, the
Ninova tablets which are the first written document on 3.24 billion dollars only in the US and 40 million pounds
this subject and dating from 3.000 years B.C. prove the in the UK are spent for these treatments per year and
existence of treatments with herbal and animal drugs in the confidence of the World Health Organization's
the Sumerian, Akkad and Assyrian civilizations founded personnel in natural treatment at the level of 80% [23].
in Mesopotamia [14]. Rig Veda who is one of the The seven best-selling herbal medicines in the world
important representatives of Indian medicine developing during the last century are listed below: gingko (retail
in parallel with Chinese medicine [16], mentioned about sale price in large American markets is about $ 150
one thousand plants in his studies in 2500s B.C. Eskulap million dollars), St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum,
who is one of the important names of Greek medicine, 140 million dollars), ginseng ($ 96 million) garlic ($ 84
and Hippocrates who are accepted as the basis of million), echinacea ($ 70 million), saw palmetto ($ 32
modern medicine told about approximately 400 plant million) and cava ($ 17 million) [13,24]. Nonetheless,
products in their books [17,18]. In the period of Islamic according to the latest warnings from the German
civilization, Abu Rayhan who is the author of the book Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Plans and the
“Kitab-al Saydalafi al Medicine" mentioning 20 American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the
therapeutic plants and whose a copy is in the library of relationship between cava (Piper methysticum G.
Orhan Gazi and Ibn-i Sina and Al Gafini who wrote "The Forster) plant and liver injury was determined in three
Law of Medicine" which mentions about 800 animal and cases of liver transplantation and in a case that resulted
herbal treatments and which had been accepted as a in death [25]. The main problem at this point is that
reference book until the 1650s, released important millions of people trust plants so much, and this
studies on the field of herbal medicine [19]. unconscious widespread use as a result of this trust can
Phytotherapy in today and the developments in lead to many problems that endanger public health [26].
the chemistry and biochemistry sciences during Herbal products are often considered safe because they
nineteenth and twentieth century gave a great impetus are natural. But, natural is not always safe. According to
to the pharmaceutical industry, and thus many herbalists, the use of the unpurified plant reduces the
medicines were developed to respond to the needs of likelihood of side effects due to the ineffectiveness of
medicine in the laboratories by adopting the principles of the substances forming the plant [27]. Plants potentially
efficiency, harmlessness and quality, as a result of contain many active compounds, and therefore many
analytical, toxicological, pharmacological and clinical plants are highly toxic, and the phytotherapy in other
studies [20]. The 1/2 of the current medicines are complementary treatment modalities carries a much
herbal-based, and the active substance to be obtained higher risk of side effects and toxicity [28]. Very
from the plant in most of these is copied in the dangerous and fatal side effects caused by the use of
laboratory [21]. Due to many factors such as medical plant products have been reported. These side effects
and economic problems stemming from serious side may be due to several different mechanisms. For
effects of synthetic drugs in recent years, ecological example; direct toxic effects of the plant, allergic
approaches and acting which increase environmental reactions, effects due to contamination, interactions with
drugs and other plants [29]. Some studies have shown

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that the effect levels of current herbal products vary Iranian Journal of Public Health, 47(2), 188-197.
depending on their bioactive ingredients using in 5. Thooptianrat T, Chaveerach A, Sudmoon R, Tanee
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ginseng products commonly using in phytotherapy has phytochemicals and toxicity of medicinal plants,
shown that the concentration of two groups of Dillenia species, reveals potential natural product
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have biological activity may vary from 15 to 200 e12363.
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best-selling prescribed medicinal product in Germany, Nawarangpur district, Odisha, India. Asian Journal of
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