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Medicinal Plant Images Zingiber officinale and Acacia baileyana

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Ian Edwin Cock at Griffith University
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(c) Copyright 2011 EManuscript Publishing Services, India 83
Pharmacognosy Communications www.phcogcommn.org
Volume 2 | Issue 1 | Jan-Mar 2012
Medicinal Plant Images
Zingiber officinale and Acacia baileyana
I.E. Cock
DOI: 10.5530/pc.2012.1.15
Figure 1: Zingiber officinale (ginger): Ginger is a medicinal and food
plant that has been widely used in a variety of ethnomedicinal systems,
including Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayuverda, for
thousands of years. Ginger is reputed to be effective at treating a wide
variety of diseases and disorders including but not limited to muscular
aches and pains, cramps, sore throats, fever, bacterial and viral diseases,
parasitic worms, hypertension, indigestion, constipation, vomiting and
diarrhoea as well as arthritis and rheumatism.[1] This photograph was
taken in San Ignacio, Belize by Dr Ian Cock in January 2010.
Figure 2: Acacia baileyana (Cootamundra Wattle): The genus Acacia
(family Fabaceae) is a large genus of more than 1200 trees and shrubs
which are widely distributed throughout the world, with more than 700
species indigenous to Australia. The Australian species, including Acacia
baileyana (pictured) had multiple medicinal uses by indigenous
Australians, including being use to treat diarrhoea and hyperglycemia[2]
and as a general antiseptic agent.[3] Many Australian Acacia species
have been reported to have amtimicrobial, molluskicidal, antihypertensive
and platelet aggregatory activities.[2] This photograph was taken in
Hobart, Australia by Dr Ian Cock in July 2011.
1. Ali BH, Blunden G, Tanira MO, Nemmar A, Some phytochemical,
pharmacological and toxicological properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale
Roscoe): A review of recent research. Food Chem Toxicol 2008; 46: 409-
420.
2. Cock IE, Medicinal and aromatic plants – Australia. In Ethnopharmacology,
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the
auspices of UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers, Oxford, UK [http://www.eolss.
net].
3. Cock IE, Antibacterial activity of selected Australian native plant extracts.
Internet J Microbiol 2008; 4, 2.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Medicinal and aromatic plants – Australia.
Book
Full-text available
  • Jan 2011
Plants contain a myriad of natural compounds which exhibit important bioactive properties. These compounds may provide alternatives to current medications and afford a significant avenue for new drug discovery. As a result of geographic isolation, Australia is home to a large variety of unique and distinct flora not found elsewhere in the world. Due to the harsh conditions seen in many parts of Australia, plants have developed unique survival methods and phytochemicals specific to the environmental conditions they inhabit and may hold the key to the treatment of many diseases and medical conditions. Herbal medicines have played an important role in the health, culture and traditions of Australian Aboriginal people prior to the arrival of Europeans. Much of our understanding of the medicinal potential of Australian native plants is from accounts of Aboriginal ethnopharmacology. However, traditional Aboriginal knowledge of plants as therapeutics is disappearing as the Aboriginal culture merges into main stream society and the passing of oral traditions between each generation diminishes. Given the diverse nature of the flora present and the diminishing traditional knowledge, Australian plants remain relatively unstudied and it is surprising more research has not been done. Much of our understanding of Australian medicinal plants is fragmented. With the exception of Lassak and McCarthy’s book “Australian Medicinal Plants” and various early colonial texts (such as the 1889 work “The Useful Plants of Australia” by Maiden) which describe Aboriginal and early colonial ethnopharmacologies, most information is scattered throughout various scientific journals and government reports. Whilst readily available to scientific researchers in this field, much of this information is difficult to obtain for interested lay persons. Furthermore, the Lassak and McCarthy and the Maiden texts deal almost exclusively with our understanding of Australian ethnopharmacology and little understanding of phytochemistry and bioactivity mechanisms is provided. This volume builds on these ethnopharmacological reports and summarises the current knowledge of Australian medicinal and aromatic plants. The ethnoparmacologies of various groups, from Aborigines, to early colonial settlers, to later migrant ethnopharmacologies are explored and tabulated as quick reference sources. Knowledge of Australian medicinal plants phytochemistry and mechanisms of action are also summarised, particularly where relating to the aromatic Australian plants (eg. Eucalypts, Melaleukas, Leptospermums etc). This volume also provides an introduction to current scientific studies into Australian medicinal plants (with specific examples) and some of the techniques used in the hopes of stimulating interest and further studies in this field.
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Antibacterial Activity of Selected Australian Native Plant Extracts
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2008
Thirty nine methanolic extracts from twenty five Australian native plants were investigated for their antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis) and two Gram negative (Aeromonas hydrophilia, Pseudomonas fluorescens) bacterial species using the disc diffusion assay. Twenty eight of the thirty nine extracts tested (72%) inhibited the growth of one or more bacteria. B. cereus was the most susceptible bacteria with twenty one extracts (54%) inhibiting its growth. In comparison, fifteen extracts (38%) inhibited the growth of P. fluorescens, thirteen extracts (33%) inhibited the growth of B. subtilis, and ten extracts (26%) inhibited the growth of A. hydrophilia. Backhousia citriodora and Callistemon citrinus were particularly effective antibacterial agents, being capable of inhibiting the growth of all four bacteria. Acacia aulacocarpa, Buckinghamia celsissima, Callistemon salignus, Allocasuarina littoralis, Eucalyptus major, Leptospermum bracteata, Leptospermum juniperium and Syzygium australe were also good antibacterial agents, each being capable of inhibiting the growth of the majority of bacteria tested. Yes Yes
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Some phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): A review of recent research
Article
  • Mar 2008
  • FOOD CHEM TOXICOL
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberacae) is a medicinal plant that has been widely used in Chinese, Ayurvedic and Tibb-Unani herbal medicines all over the world, since antiquity, for a wide array of unrelated ailments that include arthritis, rheumatism, sprains, muscular aches, pains, sore throats, cramps, constipation, indigestion, vomiting, hypertension, dementia, fever, infectious diseases and helminthiasis. Currently, there is a renewed interest in ginger, and several scientific investigations aimed at isolation and identification of active constituents of ginger, scientific verification of its pharmacological actions and of its constituents, and verification of the basis of the use of ginger in some of several diseases and conditions. This article aims at reviewing the most salient recent reports on these investigations. The main pharmacological actions of ginger and compounds isolated therefrom include immuno-modulatory, anti-tumorigenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-lipidemic and anti-emetic actions. Ginger is a strong anti-oxidant substance and may either mitigate or prevent generation of free radicals. It is considered a safe herbal medicine with only few and insignificant adverse/side effects. More studies are required in animals and humans on the kinetics of ginger and its constituents and on the effects of their consumption over a long period of time.
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Developed under the auspices of UNESCO
  • I E Cock
  • Plants -Australia
Cock IE, Medicinal and aromatic plants -Australia. In Ethnopharmacology, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the auspices of UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers, Oxford, UK [http://www.eolss. net].