Medicinal Plants of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

Book excerpt: This book, written by a former Professor & Chairman of the Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Saigon, covers for the first time in detail the vast subject of medicinal plants used in Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos for thousands of years. The author, from his background in ethnobotany & phytochemistry, has successfully untangled the enormous web of remedies empirically used by the people of these regions of South East Asia. He particularly emphasizes the importance of chemical & pharmacological investigation on these plants in the light of modern science. This work deals with 679 medicinal plants belonging to 150 different botanical families. Each species is accompanied by a botanical description, plant part used, therapeutic use, chemistry & pharmacology. A detailed appendix lists all plants according to pharmacological activity & symptoms, diseases, treatment. Indexes to vernacular names: Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian & scientific names are also given. The author hopes that the work will be of assistance to scientific search for new pharmacologically active principles from folk remedies, to practitioners of Oriental medicine as well as modern phytotherapeutists, & that a large number of drugs mentioned in this book can be used as substitutes for official drugs in modern pharmacopoeias.