Preservation of Traditional Knowledge / Cultivation of Medicinal Plants/ Research into Medicinal Plants/ Development of Medicinal Plants
Israel, at the junction of 3 continents is unique in its geology and climate and also in its remarkable range of flora and fauna. With alpine, mediterranean, subtropical and desert climates, Israel possesses almost 3000 species of plants, of which at least one third are considered to be medicinal.
Historically the Bible, as well as later works in Hebrew and Arabic, including those by physicians Maimonedes and Avicena, have layed the basis for the scholarly as well as folk traditions of medicinal plants while thousands of years of trade along ancient caravan routes and a history of frequent conquest, have introduced into the region many exotic species originally native to Europe, Asia, Africa and India.
Today in a country characterized by the diversity of its ethnic groups, folk healers are still to be found today amongst Jewish and Arab communities, drawing on a rich tradition that extends back to earliest times.
This fascinating legacy of medicinal plant use, is however to, unlikely survive into the 21st century as traditional healers are failing to pass on their knowledge to the next generation, while increasing urbanization, climatic changes and destruction of natural habitat, has resulted in the decline and increasing rarity of many species in Israel. The result is that a unique tradition of medicinal plant use, extending back over 3000 years, is rapidly being lost.
THE MIDDLE-EASTERN MEDICINAL PLANT PROJECT (MEMP)
“The fruit shall be food, the leaf for medicine” (Ezekiel 42:12)
In 1995 The Natural Medicine Research Unit initiated this innovative program in order to fully assess the rich legacy of medicinal plant use in Israel, and to act as a unique focus for its conservation, research and development.
The aims of MEMP are to;
1.Preserve a unique and valuable tradition of medicinal plant use common to both Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.
2.Cultivate medicinal plants particularly those classified as endangered or rare species. (see conservation program).
3.Re-introduce"lost species considered locally extinct.
4.Research selected medical plants by assessing their biological activity in focused scientific screening models.
5. Develop medicinal plants commercially as natural products or as the basis of new drugs.
1. PRESERVATION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
An ethnobotanical database
In the first Phase of MEMP (1995-96) an ethno-botanical database was constructed by NMRU, enabling for the first time the traditional uses of local medicinal plants to be evaluated together with a modern diagnostic assessment.
The MEMP database currently has information on over 500 local medicinal species and includes; botanical descriptions, plant ecology, distribution, Biblical references, traditional uses and information on how closely related species in European, Asian and North American traditional systems are used.
A unique feature of the MEMP database allows the historical uses of plants to be categorized in parallel with a modern clinical interpretation using an updated symptom and disease classification.
Information for the MEMP database was derived partly from the archival collection of the late Prof. David Zaichek of the Hebrew University, who categorized over some 20 yrs.the uses of medicinal plantsin Israel by both Jewish and Arab healers
More recent information was also obtained from NMRU field studies, in conjunction with anthropologists and ethnobotanists at the Hebrew University and Ben Gurion University. (see CONSERVATION)
2. CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
In order to conserve wild plants and provide a sustainable source of raw plant material for scientific study, NMRU has initiated at Kibbutz Ketura and Kibbutz Ein Gedi experimental cultivation programs. (see CONSERVATION).
3. RE-INTRODUCTION OF RECENTLY EXTINCT AND LOST SPECIES (see CONSERVATION)
4. RESEARCH INTO MEDICINAL PLANTS
The focused screening of local medicinal plants for anti-infective and immunostimulant activity
During 2000-2001 NMRU initiated a program to scientifically investigate local medicinal plants in Israel by testing them for bio-activity using focused in-vitro (non-animal) screening models.
Initially a Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) profile was constructed for selected plants, using information from the MEMP database, and including every aspect of the plant’s historical use.
This type of ethnobotanical approach to screening has been shown to offer a much greater potential for discovering a plants’ bioactivity than the mass screening methods, often favored by pharmaceutical companies.
Anti-infective activity of rare and/or endangered medicinal plants from the Dead Sea region
With its unique subtropical climate, and high levels of atmospheric oxygen, the Dead Sea is home to many of Israel’s most medicinal species.
Initiated in 2000 this NMRU program focuses on rare and endangered medicinal plants, particularly those identified from the MEMP database as historically used to treat infections.
Currently 13 medicinal plants that have been domesticated and cultivated at Kibbutzim Ein Gedi and Ketura (see CONSERVATION) have now been assessed for anti-infective activity against a number of common pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, moulds and other fungal infections, in the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, at HMO.
Results currently show significant effect against several gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Anti-Leishmoniasis activity, a protozoal infection found in the Dead Sea Rift valley area of Israel, causing an ulcerated sore, and in developing countries, a serious tropical disease is also being investigated by NMRU.
Immuno-regulatory activity of plants used traditionally as tonics
NMRU has also identified a number of medicinal species from the MEMP database, traditionally used as tonics, cleansing agents, strengtheners, etc., ethnobotanical information, which may imply potential immune boosting bio-activity.
These species cultivated at Kibbutzim Ketura and Ein Gedi, are currently being evaluated for cytokine activity, important markers of the immune response, in the Laboratory for Immunology and Tumor Diagnosis (HMO).
Anti-aging activity
A number of plant species found in Israel have been traditionally used for “rejuvenation” purposes, to increase virility and as aphrodisiacs. Selected plants currently under cultivation will in the future be examined for “anti-aging” activity, by assessing their effect on cell viability, following oxidative stress and apoptosis (cell death) .
The screening and scientific investigation of all medicinal plants by NMRU in conjunction with laboratories at HMO and The School Of Medicine, is performed on an in-vitro basis only using selected cell lines, and does not include animal experiments
4. DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
Data obtained from NMRU studies is of great importance, since it provides scientific evidence substantiating the traditional uses of medicinal plants and significantly increasing their value as commercial natural products.
Such studies also provide a basis for the further research and development of medicinal plants as new pharmaceutical drugs
In the future MEMP will focus on the sustainable commercial development of several medicinal plants historically used as teas, but with evidence from focused screening programs of verified bio-activity.
The possibility of upscaling cultivation sites into larger scale sustainable commercial plantations for the production of teas, neutraceuticals and other herbal products using organic methods of agriculture, will be evaluated at Kibbutz Ein Gedi and Kibbutz Ketura, as well as other Kibbutzim and Moshavim in the area.
For further information on commercial applications of NMRU's Middle East Medicinal Plant project – contact NMRU directly (see CONTACT US)