Importance of medicinal plants in health sector highlighted
Published Apr 3, 2018 05:38 pm
By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
Experts have pressed for an update of the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act (TAMA) as they sought support for the potential use of 1,008 endemic plant species that can be tapped for innovative drugs development.
“There should be a constant updating of this law in response to the changing demands of our times,” said Harold Carag and Dr. Inocencio Buot Jr. in a scientific journal article of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB).
The researchers pressed for the maintenance of an online database for easier reference of drug development experts.
“The enormous importance of medicinal plants in the health sector is undeniable. Pharmaceutical companies and health-inclined institutions could draw possible novel plant resources in the quest of manufacturing medicines. This would hopefully help improve our country’s economy,” they said.
As the Philippines is recognized to be one of the world’s most biodiversity-rich countries with more than 65 percent of the world’s 10,000 plant species found to be endemic, it can benefit economically from its rich natural resources.
ERDB Director Henry Adornado said the agency’ scientific journal Sylvatrop supports the publication and promotion of articles relevant to exploratory use of the country’s natural resources.
The Sylvatrop article has listed 1,008 plants and their uses for medicinal treatment. It includes herbals used as cure by native “arbolaryos,” also called “herbolarios.”
“Its proper documentation and promotion is imperative to maximize its potential in contributing to the country’s health sector,” they said.
The checklist of the orders and families of the plants will be useful as updated reference for researchers.
“Results indicated a total of 48 orders out of the world total of 64 (75 percent) and 182 families of the world’s 416 (44 percent), which were classified according to the APG (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) groupings for convenience and practical use,” Carag and Buot said.
The checklist’s presentation conforms with the DNA sequence data classification system of angiosperms by the APG.
APG is an international group of botanists who agree on a system of taxonomy (how to classify organisms), particularly flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) based on new knowledge.
Until this listing made by Carag and Buot, there has been no systematic listing of these plants endemic to the country.
Despite modernization and the availability of synthetic medicine, the use of traditional medicine is still a major part of treatment.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population depends on herbal medicine for health care, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2003 fact sheet.
The listing of medicinal flora should be updated since the APG has been consistently revising its classification of families of flowering plants since 1998.
“There should be a constant updating of this law in response to the changing demands of our times,” said Harold Carag and Dr. Inocencio Buot Jr. in a scientific journal article of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB).
The researchers pressed for the maintenance of an online database for easier reference of drug development experts.
“The enormous importance of medicinal plants in the health sector is undeniable. Pharmaceutical companies and health-inclined institutions could draw possible novel plant resources in the quest of manufacturing medicines. This would hopefully help improve our country’s economy,” they said.
As the Philippines is recognized to be one of the world’s most biodiversity-rich countries with more than 65 percent of the world’s 10,000 plant species found to be endemic, it can benefit economically from its rich natural resources.
ERDB Director Henry Adornado said the agency’ scientific journal Sylvatrop supports the publication and promotion of articles relevant to exploratory use of the country’s natural resources.
The Sylvatrop article has listed 1,008 plants and their uses for medicinal treatment. It includes herbals used as cure by native “arbolaryos,” also called “herbolarios.”
“Its proper documentation and promotion is imperative to maximize its potential in contributing to the country’s health sector,” they said.
The checklist of the orders and families of the plants will be useful as updated reference for researchers.
“Results indicated a total of 48 orders out of the world total of 64 (75 percent) and 182 families of the world’s 416 (44 percent), which were classified according to the APG (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) groupings for convenience and practical use,” Carag and Buot said.
The checklist’s presentation conforms with the DNA sequence data classification system of angiosperms by the APG.
APG is an international group of botanists who agree on a system of taxonomy (how to classify organisms), particularly flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) based on new knowledge.
Until this listing made by Carag and Buot, there has been no systematic listing of these plants endemic to the country.
Despite modernization and the availability of synthetic medicine, the use of traditional medicine is still a major part of treatment.
More than 80 percent of the world’s population depends on herbal medicine for health care, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2003 fact sheet.
The listing of medicinal flora should be updated since the APG has been consistently revising its classification of families of flowering plants since 1998.