A review of medicinal plant research at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1948-2001

This review summarizes research carried out on Jamaican medicinal plants at the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, between 1948 and 2001. The plants identified as being medicinal are listed along with their folk use and a summary of the scientific research done at UWI leading to the identification of natural products (NPs) and determination of their bioactivity. Natural product research on Jamaican medicinal plants began with the inception of UWI in 1948, leading to many postgraduate degrees being awarded (22 MPhil and 31 PhD). At least 334 plant species growing in Jamaica have been identified as having medicinal qualities, 193 of these have been tested for their bioactivity. Crude extracts from 80 of these plants have reasonable bioactivity and natural products (NP) have been identified from 44 plants. At least 29 of these NPs were found to be bioactive. Only 31 of the plants tested at UWI are endemic to Jamaica. Of these 23were bioactive, as compared to 11of the non-endemics. Based on these results, patents have been obtained and drugs have been developed. This review represents the first attempt to gather this information together in one place.

El presente trabajo resume la investigación sobre plantas medicinales jamaicanas, llevada a cabo en la Facultad de Ciencias Puras y Aplicadas de la Universidad de West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, entre 1948 y 2001. Las plantas identificadas como medicinales se enumeran junto con su uso popular y un resumen de la investigación científica realizada en UWI, la cual condujo a la identificación de los productos naturales y la determinación de su bioactividad. La investigación de productos naturales que tuvo por objeto las plantas medicinales jamaicanas, comenzó con la fundación de UWI en 1948, y en el transcurso de su desarrollo, condujo a la obtención de numerosos grados científicos. (Para el año 2001, en la Facultad de Ciencias Puras y Aplicadas se habían defendido 22 maestrías y 31 doctorados asociados con dicha investigación.) Por lo menos 334 especies de plantas que crecen en Jamaica han sido identificadas como poseedoras de propiedades medicinales, 193 de las cuales han sido sometidas a prueba para determinar su bioactividad. Los extractos crudos de 80 de estas plantas poseen una bioactividad razonable, y se han identificado productos naturales (PN) en 44 plantas. Se halló que por lo menos 29 de estos PN son bioactivos. Sólo 31 de las plantas sometidas a prueba en UWI eran endémicas de Jamaica. De éstas, el 23% resultó ser bioactivo, en comparación con el 11% en el caso de las plantas no endémicas. Sobre la base de estos resultados, se han obtenido patentes, y se han desarrollado medicamentos. Este resumen representa un primer intento por compilar esta información en un solo trabajo.

A review of medicinal plant research at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1948-2001.

This review summarizes research carried out on Jamaican medicinal plants at the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Jamaica, between 1948 and 2001. The plants identified as being medicinal are listed along with their folk use and a summary of the scientific research done at UWI leading to the identification of natural products (NPs) and determination of their bioactivity. Natural product research on Jamaican medicinal plants began with the inception of UWI in 1948, leading to many postgraduate degrees being awarded (22 MPhil and 31 PhD). At least 334 plant species growing in Jamaica have been identified as having medicinal qualities, 193 of these have been tested for their bioactivity. Crude extracts from 80 of these plants have reasonable bioactivity and natural products (NP) have been identified from 44 plants. At least 29 of these NPs were found to be bioactive. Only 31 of the plants tested at UWI are endemic to Jamaica. Of these 23% were bioactive, as compared to 11% of the non-endemics. Based on these results, patents have been obtained and drugs have been developed. This review represents the first attempt to gather this information together in one place.