Indian medicine, early

The traditional system of medicine of the Pacific Rim uses approx 80 species of Apiaceae, for instance, Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (Hydrocotyle asiatica L. centella, Indian Pharmaceutical Codex, 1955). The plant has been used in India since early times for skin diseases and as a diuretic. It has long been a popular remedy in India for leprosy and syphilis. However, large doses are said to have narcotic action. The plant was used also by the surgeons of Napoleon s army. 

Small cardamom, known as the queen of spices , which belongs to the family of Zingiberaceae, is a rich spice obtained from the seeds of a perennial plant, Elettaria car-damomum Maton. It is one of the highly prized spices of the world and is the third most expensive spice after saffron and vanilla. Cardamom is one of those spices that cross the sweet/savoury boundary between desserts and main dishes. The original home of this precious spice is the mountains of the south-western parts of the Indian Peninsula. As early as the 4th century bc, cardamom was used in India as a medicinal herb and was an article of Greek and Roman trade. India had a virtual monopoly of cardamom until recently. Cardamom cultivation in India is confined to three states Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (Korikanthimath et al., 2002) However, now it is cultivated in Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico and Tanzania (Mehra, 2001). 

When the Conquistadores subdued the Aztecs, early chroniclers recorded that the Indians made religious and medicinal use of peyote, another psychoactive plant named tlitliltzin, and a small lentil-like seed called ololiuqui. The third, alleged to have been used also for purposes of divination, came from a vine known in the Ndhuatl language as coaxihuitl (or "snakeplant ). 

Much more than that, it is believed that the Indian peoples themselves contributed greatly to the early development of Greek medicine. India played a very early role in producing therapies that the ancient Greeks subsequently employed (the Greeks, however, were not content with borrowing they subjected new therapeutic measures to their own tests before they adopted them). The Muslims are said to still respect the Indian origin of a major aspect of... 

Some R. a. have valuable pharmacological properties. They may act centrally (e.g. see Reserpine) or peripherally (e g. see Yohimbine, Ajmaline). In addition to the pure alkaloids or their synthetic analogs, extracts of the drug Radix Rauwolfiae and combination preparations are also used. The drug has been known since early times in Indian folk medicine, and its systematic investigation began in 1930. 

Echinacea was first used as a medicinal plant by North American Indians for a large range of indications. In the late 19th century it became very popular also among the non-Indian North American population and was widely used until the early nineteen-thirties. While its use then declined in North America, the interest in Europe rose [5]. 

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