Opinions expressed in the present publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) or the International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS). Mention of the names of the firms and commercial products does not imply endorsement by UNIDO or ICS. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from ICS. This is not a formal document and has been produced without formal editing. Coverpage insets include pictures of: Front: Rauwolfia serpentina (L.) Benth. ex Kurz Ginkgo biloba L. Back: Terminalia chebula Retz., T. bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb., and Phyllanthus emblica L. (fruits of these three trees comprise Triphla of Ayurveda) ICS-UNIDO is supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs © United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the International Centre for Science and High Technology, 2006 Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences and Technologies ICS-UNIDO, AREA Science Park Padriciano 99, 34012 Trieste, Italy Tel.: +39-040-9228108 Fax: +39-040-9228136 E-mail: [email protected] Compendium of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants ASIA Sukhdev Swami Handa Dev Dutt Rakesh Karan Vasisht I Preface Asia is the world’s most densely populated continent with sixty percent of the world’s people living there. It is one of the largest biodiversity regions in the world and home to some of the countries richest in medicinal and aromatic plant resources. It has diverse plant flora however, species richness is concentrated mainly in tropical and sub- tropical regions. Six of the world’s 18 biodiversity hot-spots: the Eastern Himalayas, the Western Ghats of South India, North Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are part of Asia. The continent has well documented traditional knowledge, a longstanding practice of traditional medicine and potential for socio-economic de- velopment of medicinal and aromatic plants in primary healthcare and industrial scale production. Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute the basis of primary healthcare for the majority of the population and are a valuable source of income for rural popula- tions. Approximately 90% of plants is still collected from forests. Only a few countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam produce medicinal and aromatic plants through cultivation on a commercial scale. Despite advances in western medicine, ancient traditional systems of medicine are practised in Asia mainly because of historical circumstances and cultural believes. Me- dicinal plants are an accessible, affordable and culturally appropriate source of primary healthcare for more than 80% of the Asian population according to the World Health Organization. Indian Ayurveda along with Jamu, Kampo, Sidha, Tibetan, TCM and Una- ni systems of medicine are an important source of health and livelihood for millions of Asian people. International and national trade in alternative medicine including herbal products is increasing rapidly. The estimated global trade in medicinal and aromatic plant materials was more than US$60 billion in 2000, and is expected to reach US$5 trillion by 2050 according to the World Bank report. China and India are the world’s leading exporters of medicinal and aromatic plant materials. Various international or- ganization such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and others have been address- ing issues concerning medicinal and aromatic plants through support for research, net- working and coordination. However, the biodiversity of medicinal and aromatic plants has yet to be studied in depth in many countries. Commercial exploitation, unsustainable use, cultural changes I and lack of institutional support have threatened resources and local traditional knowl- edge. A number of countries are developing national policies on traditional medicines to cover quality and safety. Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal and Pakistan maintain considerable natural forest cover and are still able to collect plants from the wild. A few countries including China, India and Sri Lanka have formulated legislation to conserve their natural resources of medicinal and aromatic plants. Many other coun- tries in the region have ceased the practice of collecting from the wild. There is a need for coordination among the various institutes of the region working on medicinal plants and traditional medicines in order to exploit them commercially and utilize them fully. The International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS-UNIDO) has pre- pared this Compendium of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Asia to present the status of medicinal and aromatic plants of Asian countries. The Compendium gives information on the traditional systems of medicine, government efforts to promote them, medicinal and aromatic plant resources, research and development activities, trade and the major problems faced by sustainable commercial exploitation. It will help the countries of the region to improve the health and living standards of their people using their own resources and promoting traditional systems of medicine, which are less expensive and well respected by Asian communities. This publication will be useful to policy-makers, the scientific community and user groups to frame effective policies, formulate projects to advance research and development activities, and establish environmentally sustain- able and economically viable enterprises. Gennaro Longo Chief of the Environment Area Special Adviser on Technology Development II Contents Page Introduction 1 1. The Status of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in East Asia 7 1.1 Introduction 7 1.2 China 8 1.3 Korea (Democratic Republic of) 17 1.4 Japan 19 1.5 Mongolia 26 1.6 Korea (Republic of) 30 1.7 Taiwan (Province of China) 38 2. The Status of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Southeast Asia 47 2.1 Introduction 47 2.2 Brunei Darussalam 48 2.3 Cambodia 51 2.4 Indonesia 56 2.5 Lao-PDR 68 2.6 Malaysia 75 2.7 Myanmar 85 2.8 Philippines 89 2.9 Singapore 95 2.10 Thailand 99 2.11 Timor-Leste 107 2.12 Viet Nam 110 3. The Status of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in South Asia 121 3.1 Introduction 121 3.2 Bangladesh 121 3.3 Bhutan 128 3.4 India 133 3.5 Maldives 155 3.6 Nepal 158 3.7 Pakistan 169 3.8 Sri Lanka 177 II 4. The Status of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Central Asia 189 4.1 Introduction 189 4.2 Kazakhstan 189 4.3 Kyrgyzstan 193 4.4 Russian Federation 195 4.5 Tajikistan 199 4.6 Turkmenistan 202 4.7 Uzbekistan 205 5. The Status of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Southwest Asia 211 5.1 Introduction 211 5.2 Afghanistan 211 5.3 Armenia 214 5.4 Azerbaijan 217 5.5 Bahrain 221 5.6 Georgia 223 5.7 Iran 227 5.8 Iraq 232 5.9 Israel 235 5.10 Jordan 243 5.11 Kuwait 248 5.12 Lebanon 251 5.13 Oman 254 5.14 Palestine 257 5.15 Qatar 262 5.16 Saudi Arabia 264 5.17 Syria 267 5.18 Turkey 272 5.19 United Arab Emirates 279 5.20 Yemen 283 1 Introduction Asia is the largest continent, with 60% of the world’s population living here. The region consists of the continent of Asia plus the islands in the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. It has abundant medicinal and aromatic plant species and traditional medicine in Asia has been practised since ancient times. The continent has well-documented tra- ditional knowledge, long-standing practice of traditional medicine and the potential for social and economic development of medicinal and aromatic plants in primary health care and industrial scale production. The flowering plant species of the world have been estimated to be about 422,000. Between 35,000 to 70,000 species are used for medicinal purposes of which at least 6,500 in Asia (Karki and Williams, 1995). It is one of the largest biodiversity regions in the world containing some of the richest countries in plant resources. The continent has diverse plant flora but species richness is concentrated mainly in tropical or subtropi- cal regions. Six of the world’s 18 biodiversity hot-spots, namely the Eastern Himalaya, North Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the Western Ghats of South India lie in Asia. The countries of the region have large flora, for example China (30,000 species of higher plants), Indonesia (20,000), India (17,000), Myanmar (14,000), Malaysia (12,000) and Thailand (12,000). The island of Borneo has about 20,000 to 25,000 higher plant species (Anonymous, 2004). The number of plant species and the endemics in the region are: Region Species Endemics Southeast Asia 42-50,000 40,000 China and East Asia 45,000 18,650 Indian subcontinent 25,000 12,000 Southwest Asia 23,000 7,100 Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute the basis of primary health care for the majority of the population in Asia and are a critical source of income for rural populations. They earn their living by selling wild or cultivated plant materials. Ap- 1 proximately 90% of the plants is still collected from forests. Only a few countries, mainly China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam produce medicinal and aromatic plants commercially. There are a few others that produce them on a com- mercial scale but the quantities are small and mainly for domestic consumption. Some commercially cultivated important species of medicinal and aromatic plants in Asia are presented in Table 1 (Chapman and Chomchalow, 2005). Many ancient traditional medicine systems are practised in Asia despite advanc- es in western medicine mainly because of its historical circumstances and cultural be- liefs. Medicinal plants are an accessible, affordable and culturally appropriate source of primary health care for more than 80% of the population of Asian according to the World Health Organization.