Traditional Medicine by Regions - South East Asia

The land of historical monuments like Borobudur and Angkor Wat. A rich region that saw the trading of priceless spices between the Spice Islands (Moluccas Islands) and the Western world. This is one region that is blessed with rich biodiversity. Over 35, 000 plant species have been recorded; with over 6500 plant species are of medicinal values. Definitely, this region's rainforest holds the key to many undiscovered plants that are of potential benefits.

Borneo island (comprising Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan of Indonesia) alone owns 16,000 plant species (Plo, 2005) and 6000 endemic plant species. Southeast Asia region was once the hot spot for spice trading. This was due to the fact that it is blessed with many valuable spices such as clove (Syzygium aromaticum), turmeric (Curcuma longa) as well as nutmeg (Myristica fragrans).

In Indonesia, 'Jamu' still remains the form of traditional medicinal practice used by many Indonesians and have also been adopted by Malaysians (Mulliken 1999). A common practice of herbal medicines by Malays in both countries, Jamu could be traced back to its roots during ancient Javanese kingdoms. Archaeologists found engravings of particular medicinal leaf usages (called kalpataruh leaves) on Borobudur temple (circa 800-900 AD). Moreover, several book volumes detailing medicinal treatments of ancient Javanese kingdom were written in the book Serat Centhini (Book of Centhini) by 18th century.

With some 1863 medicinal plants, Vietnamese people have long use plants to treat various tropical diseases, including malaria. One of the plant svalued for its anti-malaria properties is Dichroa febrifuga (Bown, 2001).

As a mean to record down Vietnam's known traditional medicinal plants that has been used for thousands of years, its first pharmacopoeia (Thuóc Nam) was published. In Myanmar, traditional medicine gained high status when the government included traditional medicinal practice in its health care system in 1972.

Found ubiquitously in Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, Sembong or Ngai Camphor in English (Blumea balsamifera) provides the cheapest camphor extract around,

besides Cinnamomum camphora and Dryobalanops aromatica (Donkin, 1999). Its leaves have been used traditionally by Malays for treatments such as reducing heatiness, heart inflammation and fever (Werner, 2002). Current studies have shown its capability of B. balsamifera's in reducing gall bladder cholesterol and acting as bile acid/lecithin production stimulant (Pizzorno et. al., 2002 and Goh et. al., 1995).

In Malaysia, well known herbs such as Misai kucing (Orthosiphon
stamineus), Tongkat ali (Eurycoma longifolia), Kacip fatimah (Labisia pumila),

Pegaga (Centella asiatica) and Mas cotek (Ficus deltoidea)

are now being intensively researched for their medicinal properties by governmental research bodies such as Malaysian Argriculture Research Institute (MARDI) and Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). With a potential growth of RM12 billion annually, Malaysian herbal market has the potential to grow (in the sense of taking advantage of its own rich plant diversity and valuable medicinal plants). What more, herbal industry is estimated (by the World Bank) to be worth RM18.4 trillion by 2050
(Peterson. 2006). Also, it was reported that pegaga extract is worth $1000 kg-1 (Prathaban, 2006). Imagine the lucrative potentials waiting.

It is important to note that many valuable plants of Southeast Asia's tropical forest are facing the wrath of deforestation and over-harvesting in the wild. Thus, they are prone to extinction. In a concerted effort taken by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
conducted a study on wild medicinal plants of Indonesia and Malaysia. This was to ensure the sustainability of wild medicinal plant species in light of over-harvesting and trading. Completed in 1999, the study served to provide information the conservation of medicinal plant.