Indigenous medicines

In the construction of C=N bond-containing compounds, such as nitrogen heterocycles, the aza-Wittig methodology has received increased attention as the method of choice [7]. Thus, an easy access to optically active (-)-vasicinone (7-15), a pyr-rolo[2,l-fc]quinazoline alkaloid which is used in indigenous medicine [8], was... 

Many Erythrina alkaloids possess curare-like action. Alkaloidal extracts from different parts of Erythrina species have been used in indigenous medicine, particularly in India (176). Many pharmacological effects, including astringent, sedative, hypotensive, neuromuscular blocking, CNS depressant, laxative, and diuretic properties, have been recorded for total alkaloid extracts, although not all these properties can be associated with the ery-thrinane structure alone (38, 177, 178). 

Ajowan has long been used in indigenous medicines for the treatment of diarrhoea, dysentery, atonic dyspepsia, cholera, flatulence and indigestion. The oil has properties for using as an expectorant in emphysema, bronchial pneumonia and respiration ailments, and also possesses an anti diuretic effect. Alcoholic extract of ajowan exhibited... 

Mehrotra, S., Umashanker, Jawaharlal, Majumdar, A.C. and Agarwal, S.K. (2003) Effect of indigenous medicinal plants on onset of puberty in immature female rats. Indian Journal of Animal Reproduction 24(2) 1 31-1 33. 

This did not end medicinal plant activity in the South. By 1770 John Ellis produced a catalog of some fifty plants from the Orient and Tropics that he regarded as well suited for cultivation in the South. 2 The early botanical expeditions through the Southeast undertaken by scientific adventurists such as William Bartram, Mark Catesby, Johann David Schopf, and others established the South as an important source of indigenous medicinal plants early on. Although the South... 

W. T. Grant, Indigenous Medicinal Plants, Confederate States Medical and SurgicalJoumal 1 (1864) 85. 

Traditional or indigenous medicinal therapeutics has developed since before history in all societies. It comprises a mass of practices varying from the worthless to highly effective remedies, e.g. digitalis (England), quinine (South America), reserpine (India), atropine (various countries). It is the task of science to find the gems and to discard the dross, and at the same time to leave intact socially valuable supportive aspects of traditional medicine. 

The members of a family in India, in the business of preparing and manufacturing indigenous medicines... 

GOSL. (2004). Implementation Completion and Results Report. Sri Lanka - Conservation and Sustainable Use of Medicinal Plants Project. Ministry Health and Indigenous Medicine/ Provincial Councils. South Asia. Report No. 29629. 

Mander, M. (1998). Marketing of indigenous medicinal plants in South Africa - A Case Study in Kwazulu-Natal. FAO. Rome, Italy. 

Kofi-Tsekpo, W.M. (1997). Pharmaceutical applications of ethnobotany. Conservation and utilization of indigenous medicinal plants and wild relatives of food crops. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Nairobi. 

Achyranthes aspera (family Amaranthaceae) is an indigenous medicinal plant of Asia and is commonly used by traditional healers for the treatment of malarial fever, dysentery, asthma, hypertension and diabetes (Girach and Khan, 1992). A root extract is also used to treat scorpion and snake bites by Indian tribes. A typical yellows and small leaves symptoms... 

Practices of indigenous medicines occur in circumscribed parts of the world where traditional knowledge is still honored (Amazonia, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, etc.). Phytotherapy is very much a part of these customary practices, and it usually follows that when a remedy is widespread in acceptance, its efficacy and safety has a sound therapeutic basis. As evidence of this worth spreads, it is not unusual for it to be incorporated into other established forms of herbalism or phytotherapy. Neo-Western herbalism is particularly prone to adopting these remedies. 

It has been observed that a growing number of Hypericum species containing xanthones exhibit various biological properties and are used as chemotherapeutic agents in indigenous medicine for the treatment of many diseases. Typical examples are given below ... 

Pharmacology of Vinca Alkaloids. —Vinca rosea plants have enjoyed a popular reputation in indigenous medicine in various parts of the world. They have been... 

No. of Species Used in No. Reported from Sri Lanka Indigenous Medicine... 

Prosophylline (1) and (-)-prosopinine (2) are naturally occurring alkaloids isolated from the leaves of the African mimosa Proiopw africana Taub, which are used in indigenous medicine. These alkaloids possess a variety of antibiotic and anesthetic properties The racemic alkaloid of (-)-desoxoprosophylline (3), (-)-desoxoprosopinine (4) and (+)-prosafrinine (5) ° have been isolated from the same plant Prosopis africana ... 

Infectious virus diseases remain an important worldwide problem due to the nature of these infectious agents, which totally depend upon the cell that they infect for their multiplication and survival. This characteristic has made development of effective chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of viral infections very difficult, and as a consequence there are only a few antiviral drugs available for the cure of vims diseases. During the last years, the search for natural compounds with antiviral activity has been intensified. Antiviral screening programmes of indigenous medicinal plants are very important, not... 

The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of epilepsy and convulsive disorders dates back to prehistoric times. Several plants that were reputed to possess antiepileptic properties in different folklore cultures have been found to contain active ingredients when tested with modem bioassays for detecting anticonvulsive activities. This provides justification for their use in many different indigenous medicinal systems. The activity of many other plants however remains to be scientifically established. Several such plants have been listed in order to promote further research with the hope that better medicines may be developed for treatment of epilepsy in the future. 

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