Dereplications Can Amplify The Extent And Worth Of Traditional Pharmacopeias.

Abstract

As aculturization and globalization continues, there is an urgent need to carefully record and delineate traditional pharmacopeias so that their true worth is understood and protected and any possible benefits related to their commercial development are equitably distributed. In the past most of these endeavors resulted in a list of plants with their associated uses without providing further explanations as to the extent of this knowledge within the traditional group, or if this knowledge was known elsewhere. This practice tended to generate the notion of finite exclusivity without providing proof that this was actually the case. Moreover, since the talents and methods of those conducting these initial studies varied widely, little effort was made to provide adequate information on how selective processes and preferences as well as modes of collection, preparation and use were achieved. Without these data, the potential of their clinical worth, bioreactive capacities or chemical compositions were often compromised. This frequently led to expending much time, effort and treasure on a pharmacopeia's evaluation without guidance on how these efforts could be optimized to achieve its best possible medicinal potential. This paper will review how types of dereplications and other techniques are helpful in amplifying this process. IntroductionBefore appropriate dereplications can be applied to a traditional pharmacopeia it is important to know how these data were acquired and by whom. The worth of this information is dependant upon the expertise of not only those involved in the acquisition of the data but also those that examine its worth. Nowadays to corroborate and/or exploit the medicinal value of a traditional-based pharmacopeia it is important to utilize the talents of many expert scientists. Such endeavors should be viewed as a team effort, with data evolved by one type of investigator providing insights to others along the validation process.In the past it was not unusual for medicinal plant inventories pertaining to a specific traditional pharmacopeia to be conducted by individuals who were limited in their expertise. This often generated a list of plants and/or local names associated with some, but not necessarily all of their uses. I have observed that depending on the extent of the study, this occasionally results in incomplete or erroneous information being recorded regarding the true nature of the malady or remedy or the correct identification of the plant itself. In the latter instance, when accompanying plant vouchers were not provided, or inappropriately prepared without fruit and/or flowers, misidentifications could be made in a variety of ways. Sometimes this has meant depending on local names to guide determinations without understanding if one or more disparate taxa were associated with this epithet e.g., Akan designation of "tweapea" for Garcinia afzellii and G. epunctata (Adu-tutu. et al 1979;Elvin-Lewis, 1980, Elvin-Lewis, 1982. There was also a tendency to list plants for a use without c...