Towards the scientific validation of traditional medicinal plants

A large proportion of the population of developing countries uses traditional medicine alone, or in combination with Western drugs to treat a wide variety of ailments. There has seldom been effective collaboration between the traditional and Western medical practitioners, largely due to the perception that the use of traditional and herbal medicines has no scientific basis. With the renewed interest from Western countries in herbal remedies, and the increasingly urgent need to develop new effective drugs, traditionally used medicinal plants have recently received the attention of the pharmaceutical and scientific communities. This involves the isolation and identification of the secondary metabolites produced by the plants and used as the active principles in medical preparations. Research into the scientific validation of southern African medicinal plants used in the treatment of pain and inflammation, hypertension and parasitic diseases including those with anthelmintic, anti-amoebic, anti-bacterial and anti-bilharzia activity, is the current focus of studies conducted at the Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development.