Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26
December 2019 | 11(15): 15089–15090
Book Review
Compendium
of Traded Indian Medicinal Plants
Reviewed by A. Rajasekaran
Scientist - E, Division of Forest Ecology &
Climate Change, Institute of Forest Genetics & Tree Breeding, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu 641002, India.
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5648.11.15.15089-15090
Date of
publication: 26 December 2019 (online & print)
Use of plants
as a source of medicine has been an ancient practice and is an important
component of the health care system in India. The traditional practitioners
sustainably utilized the medicinal plants for various formulations with high
degree of accuracy. However, the resurgence of global interest in herbal based
health care has brought about a shift in preparation of herbal health care
products on industrial scale involving high volume trade of many medicinal
plants. In this context, there is a need for clear understanding on the sources
of species under trade and their scale of demand and supply. The book titled
“Compendium of Traded Indian Medicinal Plants” by K. Ravikumar, S. Noorunnisa Begum, D.K. Ved, J. R.
Bhatt and G. S. Goraya, (2018) is fascinating
and concise, though comprehensive information on the traded Indian medicinal
plants.
Herbal raw
drugs are generally traded using local trade name or vernacular names (but the
use of trade / vernacular names to identify) plant taxa traded in herbal
medicine markets is unreliable as they vary considerably from place to place
and even between traders within the same market. However, there can be only one
valid botanical name for a plant species and the quality of herbal formulations
prepared as per the guidelines of classical texts, is highly dependent on the
correct identification of the plant species being traded. This book has
appropriately followed the latest ‘The International Code of Nomenclature for
Algae, Fungi and Plants’ (ICN) 2012 to facilitate correct identification of the
traded Indian medicinal plants. Further, basionyms
and important synonyms are provided for many medicinal plants so as to include
their popularly known botanical names. Another issue which affect the quality
of traded medicinal plants is unauthorized substitutes and unknown adulterants.
To address this issue, the compendium under review followed a scientific
approach by providing modern taxonomic descriptions which equates the
descriptions of plants in the classical texts along with 736 colour photographs
covering various plants in trade and their officinal parts to help in correct
botanical identity.
The book
aimed at documenting medicinal plants traded in the country, including
vernacular names, description of the part in trade, trade information,
taxonomic descriptions, habitat, distribution in India and the world and
medicinal uses of 178 species that are in high volume trade (> 100 MT/Year)
whereas for each low volume trade plants (776) species details such as accepted
botanical names, widely used synonyms, trade names, parts traded, medical
systems (viz. Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Sowa-rigpa,
Homeopathy, Folk), brief botanical description, distribution and habitat are
given. In essence, the compendium is well organised with excellent scheme of
presentation with the details of species name, family, medical system, trade
and vernacular names, plant parts in trade with distribution map including the
medicinal uses portraying brief account of raw drugs traded with their known
substitutes and adulterants along with a short plant profile.
In India,
most of the medicinal plant materials are being harvested from the wild so it
is very important to clearly establish the specific regions from where the
medicinal plants are being sourced. Such information in the form of
distribution maps are provided for 159 high volume traded species in the
compendium which will be highly useful for formulating necessary conservation
and management measures for these medicinal plant sources.
Most of the
data for this compendium originated from the field work carried out during
2002-2017 under a study of demand and supply of medicinal plants in India by
the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), a Centre
of Excellence on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Knowledge under the Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC),
Government of India. The research efforts made by various individuals and
institutes who have contributed in finalization of this book resulted in the
successful and timely completion of this Compendium. The authors of this
compendium and other individuals who have contributed towards remarkable and
valuable photographs for this Compendium deserve much appreciation.
The work
presented in this book will be most advantageous for students, researchers as
well as academic staff researching plants for medicinal purposes in India and
indeed the rest of the world. It will be useful for wide range of stakeholders
including herbal pharmacies, exporters and importers of medicinal plants,
managers of the forest resources and regulatory authorities. This book is an
important contribution and is useful for maximizing the realization of the
potential of traded medicinal plants found in India.