Amongst the numerous species of Aloe used in traditional medicine, A. vera stands on its own as the basis of an enormous global industry (Figures 1 & 2), with an estimated annual retail value exceeding 110 billion US dollars (International Aloe Science Council 2004). In South Africa, A. ferox has become an important commercial medicinal plant, not only for its traditional use as laxative bitter...

Decalepis hamiltonii. Wight and Arn. (Asclepiadaceae) has been extensively used in traditional systems of medicine for a wide range of ailments. Phytochemical studies have shown the presence of many valuable compounds such as saponins, tannins, flavonoids, phenolics, triterpenes, ketones, aldelydes, resinol, sterols, inositol, fatty acids, volatile flavour compounds, cardiac glycosides, volatil...

Cordyceps sinensis has been described as a medicine in old Chinese medical books and Tibetan medicine. It is a rare combination of a caterpillar and a fungus and found at altitudes above 4500m in Sikkim. Traditional healers and local people of North Sikkim recommend the mushroom, i.e., Yarsa gumba, Keera jhar (C. sinensis) for all diseases either as a single drug or combined with other herbs. T...

Sudan folklore medicine is characterized by a unique combination of Islamic, Arabic, and African cultures. In poor communities, traditional medicine has remained as the most reasonable source of treatment of several diseases and microbial infections. Although the traditional medicine is accepted in Sudan, to date there is no updated review available, which focuses on most effective and frequent...

This is a comparative study in two ways. After a summary of the historical and cultural research into traditional healing which is relevant to this article, then some comments about the general usage of such themes in contemporary Irish literature, the article moves on to examine the role and function of traditional healing as a motif in four specific literary texts. These are: two Irish plays,...

Six administrative regions of Senegal were investigated. Forty species of vegetable leaves which are traditionally consumed in Senegal have been inventoried. All species are members of twenty-one families the most numerous of which are Amaranthaceae Juss., Malvaceae Juss., Moraceae Link., the Papilionaceae Giseke and Tiliaceae Juss. The species are subdivided into three groups: cultivated leafy...

The genus Artocarpus (Moraceae) comprises about 50 species of evergreen and deciduous trees. Economically, the genus is of appreciable importance as a source of edible fruit, yield fairly good timber and is widely used in folk medicines. The aim of the present review is to present comprehensive information of the chemical constituents, biological and pharmacological research on Artocarpus which...

Excipients represent diverse classes of molecules, small molecules or macromolecules, with versatile structures within a given class and are from natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic sources. They are essential ingredients in drug products independently of the route of administration where both traditional and non-traditional uses are present. Beyond their traditional use as formulation and ma...