Transcript Medicinal Plants - biodiversitylisacook

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Study of how people in traditional societies use
plants
The general pattern of ethnobotanical drug
discovery programs follows these broad steps [1]
◦ Interview indigenous healers to learn about their
specialized healing knowledge.
◦ Collect and identify the plant materials used by
indigenous healers.
◦ Screen these plant materials for pharmacological activity.
◦ Isolated molecular entities responsible for the observed
pharmacological activity using bioassay-guided
fractionation.
◦ Determine the structures of the purified materials.
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White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Canadian Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
[2]
White Pine- Pinus strobus
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American Indians used the twigs to make
tea to treat kidney and lung ailments
Pitch poulticed for rheumatism, broken
bones, sores, bruises, and inflammation
Bark and leaf tea used to treat coughs and
sore throats [2 & 3]
http://www.botany.wisc.edu/courses/botany_100/images/whitepine.jpg
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http://biology.missouristate.edu/herbarium/treesoncampus/images/Tsugacanadensis.jpg
American Indians used the
leafy twig tips to make tea
to treat kidney ailments and
in steam baths for
rheumatism, colds, and
coughs
The inner bark was used to
make a tea to treat colds,
fevers, diarrhea, and scurvy
[2 & 3]
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American Indians
◦ Chewed its nuts as a
worm repellent
◦ Used bark tea for lung
ailments
◦ Used leaf tea as a
wash for burns, frostbite, and poison-ivy
rash [2]
http://www.missouriplants.com/Greenalt/Fagus_grandifolia_plant.jpg
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Medicinal claims of the tree’s
uses include [2]
◦ Inner bark tea used as an
astringent and as a gargle for soar
throats and as a wash for skin
rashes and burns. The inner barks
is considered hemostatic (stops
bleeding)
◦ The red oak contains tannins.
Experimentally, tannic acid has
been show to have antiviral,
antiseptic, and anticancer
properties. Warning!!- Tannic acid
is potentially toxic
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/quru5752.jpg
Flowering Dogwood – Cornus florida
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Astringent root bark tea used
for malarial fevers and for
chronic diarrhea
Root bark poulticed onto
external ulcers
Scarlet berries soaked in
brandy as a bitter digestive
tonic and for stomach ailments
Twigs chewed as toothbrushes
[2 & 4]
http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/bio406d/images/pics/crn/cornus_florida.htm
http://lasonline.iastate.edu/isu_trees/CornusFlorida/CornusFlor_bark.html
Witch Hazel – Hamamelis virginiana
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American Indians drank the
leaf tea for colds and soar
throats
Twig tea rubbed on athlete’s
legs to keep muscles limber
Astringent bark tea used
internally for lung ailments and
externally for bruises [2]
http://www.sassiherbalist.co.uk/tips/spots-acne-skin-3
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There is a continual search for plants in
biological communities that could help fight
human disease – bioprospecting [5]
The US National Cancer Institute is testing
extracts of thousands of wild species for their
anti-cancer properties [5]
Screening of natural products is often done in
collaboration with local healers [2]
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It is essential to protect our local and global
biodiversity!!!
The tropical rain forests are home to about half of the
world’s plants and deforestation rates are alarmingly
high. If the destruction rate does not decrease,
almost all rainforests will be lost in the next few
decades [5]
Coupled with exploitation, this destruction is putting
plants at risk of decreased genetic variability and
even extinction [5]
Therefore, there is strong reason for broad sampling
of species across all taxonomic divisions and
identifying and preserving as many plant species as
possible [6]
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Do preliminary research to find additional
examples of plants that have anti-microbial
properties
Conduct an experiment to test for the
presence of the properties
Go back to ‘Medical Plants’ – Class Discussion
and Experiment for complete information
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6)
Cox, P. 1995. Shaman as scientist: indigenous knowledge
systems in pharmacological research and conservation. In
Phytochemistry of Plants Used in Traditional Medicine (eds. K.
Hostettman, et al), Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Foster, S. and Duke, J. 1990. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.
Dwyer, J. and Rattray, D. eds. 1986. Magic and Medicine of
Plants. Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, NY.
Duke, J. 1991. CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs. CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL.
Primack, R. 2010. Essentials of Conservation Biology. 5th
edition. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.
Cardellina II, J. and Boyd, M. 1995. Pursuit of new leads to
antitumor and anti-HIV agents from plants. In Phytochemistry
of Plants Used in Traditional Medicine (eds. K. Hostettman, et
al), Clarendon Press, Oxford.