Research needed to tap Indonesia's medicinal plants: LIPI
Research needed to tap Indonesia's medicinal plants: LIPI
JAKARTA (JP): More research must be conducted if Indonesia is to tap the rich variety of its medicinal plants and encourage wider acceptance of traditional medicines.
"Eighty percent of the world's population still depends on traditional medicine," said Dedy Karnaedi, director of the Bogor Botanical Gardens, part of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), at the opening of a seminar on traditional medicines on Monday.
Indonesia is rich in botanical variety, and 9,000 of the country's 25,000 recorded species of plants are known to have curative properties.
Dedy quoted data from the International Trade Center that tapak dara (Catharanthus roseus) and pule pandak (Rauvolfia serpentina) are highly sought after by the world's pharmaceutical industries.
Dedy was quoted by Republika as saying Indonesia has a rich legacy from its diverse regions, where people use the medicinal plants as traditional treatments.
Unfortunately, Dedy said, reckless forest clearing and over- exploitation of medicinal plants have endangered the existence of some species, including padma (raflesia zollingeri), purwoceng (Pimpinella pruatjan), paku simpai (Cibotium barometz) and tali kuning (Arcangelisia flava).
Sudarto Pringgoutomo, a doctor at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, told The Jakarta Post by phone that he strongly supported the use of medicinal plants. He emphasized, however, the need for medicine manufacturers to abide by the drug production standards (CPOB) and ensure proper hygiene in the process.
The Ministry of Health, he said, should play an active role in monitoring every phase of production of traditional medicines, from selecting ingredients to packaging.
He also urged manufacturers to inform consumers of the benefits of their drugs as well as the appropriate dosages. He criticized the widely held view that medicines made from natural ingredients could be taken without prescription.
"An excessive amount of any medicine is poisonous in nature," he said, adding that some of them are available in the form of capsules and tablets like other modern drugs.
Medicinal plants are mostly processed by individual herbal concoction manufacturers and the consumers are mostly people in lower income brackets.
Republika reported on Wednesday that LIPI awarded Ahmad Fauzie, a resident in the West Java regency of Cianjur, for his work in preserving jerpaya, a rare plant species.
Jerpaya or citrus medica reportedly has specific curative properties of about 100 different drugs.
Meanwhile, a woman from the eastern Indonesian island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara has developed a small plantation to grow medicinal plants that she claims can cure illnesses like hepatitis, malaria, low blood pressure, tuberculosis, cough and diabetes as well as curing alcoholism and smoking addiction.
Revocata, 64, a Catholic sister, told the Post last week that she was growing the plants on a three-hectare property in Kewapante village, about nine kilometers from Maumere, in Sikka district. She said she processed the plants, backed by scientific research, into a variety of medicines she sells mostly to poor people.
She did not specify the names of the plants but said they were selected because they were traditionally widely used by the people of Flores.
Revocata said she planned to cooperate with a non-governmental organization to produce her medicines on a larger scale and to open a traditional medicine shop in Maumere market. (06/yac)