- Email: [email protected]
Medicinal Plants of the World. An Illustrated Scientific Guide to Important Medicinal Plants and their Uses
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 91 (2004) 371–373
Book reviews
Evaluación de Recursos Vegetales no Maderables en la Amazon´ıa Noroccidental Joost F. Duivenvoorden (Ed.), with H. Balslev, J. Cavalier, C. Grandez, H. Tuomisto and R. Valencia, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (IBED)—Paleo-ActuoEcology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2001, 486 pp., bibliography, nine appendices including two inserted maps, including an English and Spanish summary, no price given, ISBN 90-76894-02-7 (hardcover) Non-forest timber products have been of great interest in the field of conservation biology, ethnobiology and related disciplines for more than a decade now. The book by Duivenvoorden and co-workers is the result of the collaborative research effort of three South American and three European universities funded through the INCO programme of the European Union (Fourth Framework Programme): Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Universidad Católica de Ecuador, Universidad Nacional de la Amazon´ıa Peruana, Universidad de Aarhus (Denmark), University of Turku (Finland), University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). According to the authors, the prime goal of this collaborative effort was to evaluate the availability of non-forest timber products (NFTP) in mature forests of the north-western Amazon focusing on the potential of different forest types. The three regions included are ones near the river Caquetá in Columbia, the Napo in Ecuador and the Amazonas in Perú. The book is divided into six sections with a total of 12 chapters: • A general introduction, highlighting the authors’ goals and the general context. • An introduction into the environment, the indigenous groups and the diversity of the forest in the three pilot regions. • An overview on the botanical diversity in each of the three regions. • One section exclusively dedicated to NFTP, their valorisation using ethnobotanical methods, and two comparative case studies—one each from Ecuador and Peru using a quantitative ethnobotanical method. • One section exclusively looking at the commercial potential of these NFTP. • Final synthesis of the data. Most of the information is summarised in nine appendices, which give, for example, the most biologically diverse fam-
ilies and genera in the three regions, the complete species lists, a table with 300 species and their trade names sold on four markets in Brazil, Peru and Columbia (only the latter one is based on the authors own study) and also include LANDSAT-maps of the regions and a map of the Caquetá region in Columbia. The book provides excellent data (both by reviewing published data and based on the authors’ own fieldwork) on biological aspects of conservation and on the potential of such forest products from an economic perspective, but is rather uninformed anthropologically. Some general ethnographic points are summarised in the introduction (Chapter 3), but these data are not used to discuss the consequences and importance of the commercial exploitation, for example, for local people. While the authors use elements of ethnobotanical methods, they do not seem to be interested in the relevance of the data they gathered for these people. The bibliography is very extensive and focuses heavily on agro-forestry and vegetation biology. However, works using an ethnobotanical methodology have been included far less systematically. Even the classical works by R.E. Schultes on this and neighbouring regions or theoretically important studies (e.g., D. Posey) have not been included, highlighting the very biocentric focus discussed above. The latter critical comments notwithstanding, this is an interesting book rich in relevant material and provides excellent data on the economico-botanical potential of Amazonian NFTP. Michael Heinrich Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1 AX, UK Tel.: +44-20-7753-5844; fax: +44-20-7753-5909 E-mail address: [email protected] doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.001
Medicinal Plants of the World. An Illustrated Scientific Guide to Important Medicinal Plants and their Uses Ben-Erik van Wyk, Michael Wink, Timber Pr., Portland, OR, USA, 2004, 812 pp., US$ 39.95, CAN$ 54.95 (hardcover), 793 colour photographs (mostly botanical illustrations), 3 tables, 137 diagrams, bibliography, index, ISBN 0-88192-602-7
0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
372
Book reviews
How many of the world’s 250 000–300 000 higher plants are used medicinally? It is impossible to establish this precisely, but from regional studies we know that often 10–20% of all species in a certain region have a traditional use. Therefore, an estimate of about 40 000–50 000 species with such medicinal uses seems to be reasonable. However, less than 1000 are used very widely and are an important element of international trade. This book is intended to be a ‘photographic guide to the most commonly used and best known medicinal plants of the world’ (p. 7). Core to the book are approximately 320 monographs of medicinal plants. Each monograph includes the following types of information: botanical name and family, names in English, French, German and sometimes other languages, a botanical description, its origin, the parts used, the therapeutic category, uses and properties, preparation and dosage, active ingredients, pharmacological effects, notes and its status. The later refers to the level of use the species receives, i.e. is it used in traditional medicine (locally), is it monographed in some of the major pharmacopoeias or collections of monographs (especially the famous Commission E monographs). Each monograph is illustrated with two or three colour photographs. These are mostly very good and provide a good idea of the habitus. Sometimes pictures of the botanical drugs used are included but normally detailed pictures of reproductive organs are not available. Each of these monographs is restricted to one page, half of which is needed for the photographs. Thus the information is very short and especially the pharmacological data is often very scanty. On the other hand the botanical information is excellent and concise. Unfortunately, it remains unclear how the authors decided which species to include and which not. For example, some of the well-known and widely used species of importance in traditional Chinese medicine (Schisandra sinensis, Salvia miltiorrhiza) or species commonly used and marketed in America south of the Rio Grande (Cecropia spp., Schinus molle, Tagetes spp.) are not represented in this selection. Of course, not all important species can be included, the authors had to select and I do not want to criticise the authors for their selection. However, it would have been essential to get a clearer idea how they selected the species for inclusion. In my opinion, there is a certain bias towards plants derived from European and African traditions, and this comes to now surprise, since one author is based in South Africa and the other in Germany. Other much shorter chapters deal with a variety of pharmaceutical aspects of such botanical drugs (constituents, quality control and safety). I found two chapters particularly useful. ‘Health disorders and medicinal plants’ gives a very short overview on how to treat a variety of illnesses using medicinal plants. This is not a therapeutic guide, but an overview of what is actually used to treat such conditions and for which species bioscientific information exists. The chapter ‘Overview of secondary metabolites and their effects’ uses a phytochemical approach and summarises the
main classes of natural products and their most relevant pharmacological effects. Both chapters are very short (20 and 23 pages, respectively) but this makes them particularly useful in highlighting the main properties of medicinal plants and selected constituents. Another chapter is entitled a ‘Quick guide to commercialised medicinal plants’. This is in fact a list with about 900 entries (including the 320 presented in the main section) in which the most commonly sold medicinal plants, their origin, plant part used, the active principles, the medical tradition they are derived from and the main uses (in traditional or other medical systems) are summarised. As pointed out above it would have been important to get a much clearer idea of the criteria the authors used for selecting these species. From an ethnopharmacological point of view the classification of the local medicinal system into seven regional traditions (e.g. TAUM—traditional Australian medicine) is interesting, but will at best be a geographical guide to the plants usage and each of these medical systems is in fact far to complex and diverse, to be subsumed under one heading. Also, the highly important Arabic traditions have been omitted (or submerged with the European traditions?). One other critical comment. In a book like this one it is very unfortunate that no information on the conservation status of the species is included. It would have been particularly useful to have a chapter which summarises this information for the 320 species selected and to analyse this information quantitatively (i.e. how many of these are procured from cultivation, how many are collected from the wild and how many are under threat, e.g. Drosera spp.). Overall, the authors have to be congratulated for having assembled such an impressive volume on many of the world’s important medicinal plants. This book provides an excellent desk reference for researchers in the field of pharmacognosy and phytopharmacy, but it also is useful for anyone involved in the public dissemination of this knowledge about medicinal plants (journalists, teachers, etc.). It also will be useful as a teaching aid helpful in making this exciting topic accessible to undergraduate students. Of particular note is the high quality of the illustrations and the book as a whole. It always is easy to suggest to expand a book in future editions, but I feel it would be particularly important in this case. Most notably I feel that it may be appropriate to strengthen the representation of the Americas, Asia and Australia, for example, by having two or three volumes of such a reference work covering the whole world each focusing one or two of the continents. Michael Heinrich Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29–39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1 AX, UK Tel.: +44-20-7753-5844; fax: +44-20-7753-5909
Book reviews
E-mail address: [email protected] doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.004
Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies Lakshmi Chandra Mishra (Ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, US$ 99.95, £ 66.99, ISBN 0-94931-366-X ‘Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies’ is a very ambitious attempt to put an ancient, non-scientific, philosophical system of medicine into a modern scientific context. It is a very comprehensive account of the practice and theory behind Ayurveda, with each chapter being written by an expert in the particular area. Although the scientific basis for Ayurveda itself is not, and cannot be, conclusively demonstrated, much of the practice has a firm base in common sense and general healthcare principles. Like other holistic therapies it is very difficult to carry out randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in Ayurveda, and in fact the authors suggest that these may not always constitute the best sort of evidence, despite being considered to be the ‘gold standard’ in western medicine. In RCTs, variables are eliminated as far as possible, and treatment must be standardized: the best treatment is that which is most effective in the greatest number of patients. However, in Ayurveda, treatment is highly individualized, and the best outcome is that, which is most effective for that particular patient, whose constitution is considered to be unique. This absence of RCT evidence gives some critics of alternative medicine an opportunity to dismiss such therapies as unproven, and there will always be a disagreement between some conventional and holistic practitioners as to what constitutes ‘proof.’ However, as far as possible ‘Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies’ makes a fair case for a scientific basis: by concentrating on the evidence to support the pharmacological activity of the herbs used, and citing results of those clinical trials which are available, the authors and editor have gone some way towards achieving their goal. Explaining the concepts of Ayurveda requires philosophical rather than scientific language, but although difficult, they can indeed be grasped from this book. It explains the history and development of Ayurveda and its theories: for example, the three ‘dosas,’ (together referred to as the ‘tridosa;’ sometimes written as ‘doshas’ and ‘tridosha’ in other publications) which ‘coexist in a predetermined proportion and function in a complementary manner.’ These ‘biomaterials’ or ‘bioenergies,’ are related by Ayurvedic theorists to solid material substrate (kapha), chemical activity (pitta) and energy of motion (vata). The editor states that ‘according to
373
tridosa theory the total human body consists of an intensive interplay’ between these, and ‘the existence of the dosas can be understood at both the macromolecular and micromolecular levels,’ statements which I do not consider would be at all ‘understood’ by conventional scientists. Some ideas, such as panchkarma therapy, a means of cleansing and purifying the body unique to Ayurveda, are exceptionally well discussed, although many of the techniques employed during panchkarma are harsh (emesis, bloodletting, purgation) and out of step with current western medical opinion. The references given to support the use of these procedures are unfortunately not from those peer-reviewed scientific journals which are deemed acceptable in western medicine. It is also difficult to imagine ethical approval being given for some of these, and finding a placebo for comparison would be virtually impossible. The main part of the book is devoted to specific disease conditions and how they are viewed and treated in Ayurveda: immunomodulation, diabetes mellitus, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, allergic reactions, asthma, gastrointestinal disease, Parkinson’s disease, ischaemic heart disease and many others are all covered. It is interesting to see how ancient Ayurvedic thought coincides so often with modern conventional medical opinion, and how the dietary and lifestyle changes advocated in Ayurveda are now accepted globally as contributing significantly to health. The data on the herbs used could have provided much more evidence for the efficacy of Ayurvedic remedies, but many more references are available than those cited, a considerable number of which are in highly respected journals. This is unfortunate: if the referencing had been done more comprehensively it would have given more force to the argument that Ayurveda is a scientific discipline. The authors and editors are obviously highly experienced and successful in their own clinical practices, and although I have outlined some flaws and omissions in their scientific arguments, it is still by far the best text I have seen on Ayurveda. It is also a very interesting book, and I anticipate referring to it frequently. Elizabeth M. Williamson Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29/39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.005
Book reviews
Evaluación de Recursos Vegetales no Maderables en la Amazon´ıa Noroccidental Joost F. Duivenvoorden (Ed.), with H. Balslev, J. Cavalier, C. Grandez, H. Tuomisto and R. Valencia, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (IBED)—Paleo-ActuoEcology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2001, 486 pp., bibliography, nine appendices including two inserted maps, including an English and Spanish summary, no price given, ISBN 90-76894-02-7 (hardcover) Non-forest timber products have been of great interest in the field of conservation biology, ethnobiology and related disciplines for more than a decade now. The book by Duivenvoorden and co-workers is the result of the collaborative research effort of three South American and three European universities funded through the INCO programme of the European Union (Fourth Framework Programme): Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Universidad Católica de Ecuador, Universidad Nacional de la Amazon´ıa Peruana, Universidad de Aarhus (Denmark), University of Turku (Finland), University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). According to the authors, the prime goal of this collaborative effort was to evaluate the availability of non-forest timber products (NFTP) in mature forests of the north-western Amazon focusing on the potential of different forest types. The three regions included are ones near the river Caquetá in Columbia, the Napo in Ecuador and the Amazonas in Perú. The book is divided into six sections with a total of 12 chapters: • A general introduction, highlighting the authors’ goals and the general context. • An introduction into the environment, the indigenous groups and the diversity of the forest in the three pilot regions. • An overview on the botanical diversity in each of the three regions. • One section exclusively dedicated to NFTP, their valorisation using ethnobotanical methods, and two comparative case studies—one each from Ecuador and Peru using a quantitative ethnobotanical method. • One section exclusively looking at the commercial potential of these NFTP. • Final synthesis of the data. Most of the information is summarised in nine appendices, which give, for example, the most biologically diverse fam-
ilies and genera in the three regions, the complete species lists, a table with 300 species and their trade names sold on four markets in Brazil, Peru and Columbia (only the latter one is based on the authors own study) and also include LANDSAT-maps of the regions and a map of the Caquetá region in Columbia. The book provides excellent data (both by reviewing published data and based on the authors’ own fieldwork) on biological aspects of conservation and on the potential of such forest products from an economic perspective, but is rather uninformed anthropologically. Some general ethnographic points are summarised in the introduction (Chapter 3), but these data are not used to discuss the consequences and importance of the commercial exploitation, for example, for local people. While the authors use elements of ethnobotanical methods, they do not seem to be interested in the relevance of the data they gathered for these people. The bibliography is very extensive and focuses heavily on agro-forestry and vegetation biology. However, works using an ethnobotanical methodology have been included far less systematically. Even the classical works by R.E. Schultes on this and neighbouring regions or theoretically important studies (e.g., D. Posey) have not been included, highlighting the very biocentric focus discussed above. The latter critical comments notwithstanding, this is an interesting book rich in relevant material and provides excellent data on the economico-botanical potential of Amazonian NFTP. Michael Heinrich Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1 AX, UK Tel.: +44-20-7753-5844; fax: +44-20-7753-5909 E-mail address: [email protected] doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.001
Medicinal Plants of the World. An Illustrated Scientific Guide to Important Medicinal Plants and their Uses Ben-Erik van Wyk, Michael Wink, Timber Pr., Portland, OR, USA, 2004, 812 pp., US$ 39.95, CAN$ 54.95 (hardcover), 793 colour photographs (mostly botanical illustrations), 3 tables, 137 diagrams, bibliography, index, ISBN 0-88192-602-7
0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
372
Book reviews
How many of the world’s 250 000–300 000 higher plants are used medicinally? It is impossible to establish this precisely, but from regional studies we know that often 10–20% of all species in a certain region have a traditional use. Therefore, an estimate of about 40 000–50 000 species with such medicinal uses seems to be reasonable. However, less than 1000 are used very widely and are an important element of international trade. This book is intended to be a ‘photographic guide to the most commonly used and best known medicinal plants of the world’ (p. 7). Core to the book are approximately 320 monographs of medicinal plants. Each monograph includes the following types of information: botanical name and family, names in English, French, German and sometimes other languages, a botanical description, its origin, the parts used, the therapeutic category, uses and properties, preparation and dosage, active ingredients, pharmacological effects, notes and its status. The later refers to the level of use the species receives, i.e. is it used in traditional medicine (locally), is it monographed in some of the major pharmacopoeias or collections of monographs (especially the famous Commission E monographs). Each monograph is illustrated with two or three colour photographs. These are mostly very good and provide a good idea of the habitus. Sometimes pictures of the botanical drugs used are included but normally detailed pictures of reproductive organs are not available. Each of these monographs is restricted to one page, half of which is needed for the photographs. Thus the information is very short and especially the pharmacological data is often very scanty. On the other hand the botanical information is excellent and concise. Unfortunately, it remains unclear how the authors decided which species to include and which not. For example, some of the well-known and widely used species of importance in traditional Chinese medicine (Schisandra sinensis, Salvia miltiorrhiza) or species commonly used and marketed in America south of the Rio Grande (Cecropia spp., Schinus molle, Tagetes spp.) are not represented in this selection. Of course, not all important species can be included, the authors had to select and I do not want to criticise the authors for their selection. However, it would have been essential to get a clearer idea how they selected the species for inclusion. In my opinion, there is a certain bias towards plants derived from European and African traditions, and this comes to now surprise, since one author is based in South Africa and the other in Germany. Other much shorter chapters deal with a variety of pharmaceutical aspects of such botanical drugs (constituents, quality control and safety). I found two chapters particularly useful. ‘Health disorders and medicinal plants’ gives a very short overview on how to treat a variety of illnesses using medicinal plants. This is not a therapeutic guide, but an overview of what is actually used to treat such conditions and for which species bioscientific information exists. The chapter ‘Overview of secondary metabolites and their effects’ uses a phytochemical approach and summarises the
main classes of natural products and their most relevant pharmacological effects. Both chapters are very short (20 and 23 pages, respectively) but this makes them particularly useful in highlighting the main properties of medicinal plants and selected constituents. Another chapter is entitled a ‘Quick guide to commercialised medicinal plants’. This is in fact a list with about 900 entries (including the 320 presented in the main section) in which the most commonly sold medicinal plants, their origin, plant part used, the active principles, the medical tradition they are derived from and the main uses (in traditional or other medical systems) are summarised. As pointed out above it would have been important to get a much clearer idea of the criteria the authors used for selecting these species. From an ethnopharmacological point of view the classification of the local medicinal system into seven regional traditions (e.g. TAUM—traditional Australian medicine) is interesting, but will at best be a geographical guide to the plants usage and each of these medical systems is in fact far to complex and diverse, to be subsumed under one heading. Also, the highly important Arabic traditions have been omitted (or submerged with the European traditions?). One other critical comment. In a book like this one it is very unfortunate that no information on the conservation status of the species is included. It would have been particularly useful to have a chapter which summarises this information for the 320 species selected and to analyse this information quantitatively (i.e. how many of these are procured from cultivation, how many are collected from the wild and how many are under threat, e.g. Drosera spp.). Overall, the authors have to be congratulated for having assembled such an impressive volume on many of the world’s important medicinal plants. This book provides an excellent desk reference for researchers in the field of pharmacognosy and phytopharmacy, but it also is useful for anyone involved in the public dissemination of this knowledge about medicinal plants (journalists, teachers, etc.). It also will be useful as a teaching aid helpful in making this exciting topic accessible to undergraduate students. Of particular note is the high quality of the illustrations and the book as a whole. It always is easy to suggest to expand a book in future editions, but I feel it would be particularly important in this case. Most notably I feel that it may be appropriate to strengthen the representation of the Americas, Asia and Australia, for example, by having two or three volumes of such a reference work covering the whole world each focusing one or two of the continents. Michael Heinrich Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29–39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1 AX, UK Tel.: +44-20-7753-5844; fax: +44-20-7753-5909
Book reviews
E-mail address: [email protected] doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.004
Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies Lakshmi Chandra Mishra (Ed.), CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA, US$ 99.95, £ 66.99, ISBN 0-94931-366-X ‘Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies’ is a very ambitious attempt to put an ancient, non-scientific, philosophical system of medicine into a modern scientific context. It is a very comprehensive account of the practice and theory behind Ayurveda, with each chapter being written by an expert in the particular area. Although the scientific basis for Ayurveda itself is not, and cannot be, conclusively demonstrated, much of the practice has a firm base in common sense and general healthcare principles. Like other holistic therapies it is very difficult to carry out randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in Ayurveda, and in fact the authors suggest that these may not always constitute the best sort of evidence, despite being considered to be the ‘gold standard’ in western medicine. In RCTs, variables are eliminated as far as possible, and treatment must be standardized: the best treatment is that which is most effective in the greatest number of patients. However, in Ayurveda, treatment is highly individualized, and the best outcome is that, which is most effective for that particular patient, whose constitution is considered to be unique. This absence of RCT evidence gives some critics of alternative medicine an opportunity to dismiss such therapies as unproven, and there will always be a disagreement between some conventional and holistic practitioners as to what constitutes ‘proof.’ However, as far as possible ‘Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies’ makes a fair case for a scientific basis: by concentrating on the evidence to support the pharmacological activity of the herbs used, and citing results of those clinical trials which are available, the authors and editor have gone some way towards achieving their goal. Explaining the concepts of Ayurveda requires philosophical rather than scientific language, but although difficult, they can indeed be grasped from this book. It explains the history and development of Ayurveda and its theories: for example, the three ‘dosas,’ (together referred to as the ‘tridosa;’ sometimes written as ‘doshas’ and ‘tridosha’ in other publications) which ‘coexist in a predetermined proportion and function in a complementary manner.’ These ‘biomaterials’ or ‘bioenergies,’ are related by Ayurvedic theorists to solid material substrate (kapha), chemical activity (pitta) and energy of motion (vata). The editor states that ‘according to
373
tridosa theory the total human body consists of an intensive interplay’ between these, and ‘the existence of the dosas can be understood at both the macromolecular and micromolecular levels,’ statements which I do not consider would be at all ‘understood’ by conventional scientists. Some ideas, such as panchkarma therapy, a means of cleansing and purifying the body unique to Ayurveda, are exceptionally well discussed, although many of the techniques employed during panchkarma are harsh (emesis, bloodletting, purgation) and out of step with current western medical opinion. The references given to support the use of these procedures are unfortunately not from those peer-reviewed scientific journals which are deemed acceptable in western medicine. It is also difficult to imagine ethical approval being given for some of these, and finding a placebo for comparison would be virtually impossible. The main part of the book is devoted to specific disease conditions and how they are viewed and treated in Ayurveda: immunomodulation, diabetes mellitus, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, allergic reactions, asthma, gastrointestinal disease, Parkinson’s disease, ischaemic heart disease and many others are all covered. It is interesting to see how ancient Ayurvedic thought coincides so often with modern conventional medical opinion, and how the dietary and lifestyle changes advocated in Ayurveda are now accepted globally as contributing significantly to health. The data on the herbs used could have provided much more evidence for the efficacy of Ayurvedic remedies, but many more references are available than those cited, a considerable number of which are in highly respected journals. This is unfortunate: if the referencing had been done more comprehensively it would have given more force to the argument that Ayurveda is a scientific discipline. The authors and editors are obviously highly experienced and successful in their own clinical practices, and although I have outlined some flaws and omissions in their scientific arguments, it is still by far the best text I have seen on Ayurveda. It is also a very interesting book, and I anticipate referring to it frequently. Elizabeth M. Williamson Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy The School of Pharmacy, University of London 29/39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, UK doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.01.005