Medicinal plants in Borneo offer antimicrobial protection, study finds
Potential for use in treating various illnesses including diarrhoea and food poisoning
Six medicinal plants found in Borneo are potential therapies for various diseases such as diarrhoea, food poisoning, vaginomycosis, sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhoea) and furunculosis, research published in the Journal of Herbal Medicine (official publication of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists) has found.
The plants were individually screened for antimicrobial and antifungal effects using their crude extracts and were found to inhibit a broad range of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Commenting on the research, Laura Stannard, President of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists, said research is continually showing the important and valuable role medicinal plants play in supporting us through illness.
'With the approaching crisis in antibiotics it makes sense that health professionals give serious consideration to the antimicrobial protection offered by medicinal plants,' she said.
Medical herbalists have used medicinal plants to combat infections for hundreds of years. Many less serious infections are amenable to treatment with herbal medicines.
'Herbal medicine has the potential to transform the current bleak outlook and constitutes a significant untapped resource to combat disease,' added Stannard.
The National Institute of Medical Herbalists was established as the National Association of Medical Herbalists in 1864 and celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Today the National Institute of Medical Herbalists has members across the UK and beyond. The Institute promotes the benefits, the efficacy and safe use of herbal medicine.