Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM · 9 authors, 5 centres
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This narrative review analyzed 90 plant species, finding that their scientific/vernacular names (lexicons) often correspond to medicinal or toxic properties noted in ethnobotanical and pharmacological literature. The study suggests plant lexicons are a useful approach for bioprospecting, especially for gastrointestinal, nervous system, and parasite-related categories.
It found that 66 species had ethnobotanical data, with 69.7% showing equivalence to their lexicons, while 46 species had pharmacological data, with 58.7% showing equivalence. Of the 45 species with data in both ethnobotanical and pharmacological dimensions, 22 (48.9%) showed equivalence across all three dimensions (lexicon, ethnobotany, pharmacology). The gastrointestinal and nervous system categories were the most common across all dimensions. The implications are that studying plant lexicons may be a valuable complementary approach for discovering new bioactive agents.
