Page 13 - Drug Discovery and Development: Prospects and Challenges

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Brothers and sisters,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Natural Medicines According to Islamic
and Old Malay Scriptures

The Islamic scriptures consisting of the Holy Qur’an and the hadith
describe a number of natural remedies, such as Allium cepa L. (onion),
A. sativum L. (garlic), Phoenix dactylifera L. (date), Lagenaria siceraria
Standl. (pumpkin), Ficus carica L. (fig), Olea europea L. (olive), Lens
culinaris Medic (adas), Hordeum vulgare L. (barlie), Punica granatum
L. (pomegranate), Salvadora persica L. (siwak/miswak), Vitis vinifera L.
(grape), and Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) (El-Seedi et al., 2019).
All the aforementioned natural medications have gained the interest of
the global research community due to their healing efficacy. The number
of scientific papers related to these natural remedies from the Scopus
community due to their healing efficacy. The number of scientific papers related to these natural
database is shown in Figure 1.
remedies from the Scopus database is shown in Figure 1.
Number of articles

25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Hordeum vulgare
Allium sativum
Allium cepa Phoenix dactylifera Ficus carica Olea europea Lens culinaris Punica granatum Vitis vinifera
Zingiber officinale
Salvadora persica
Lagenaria siceraria

Figure 1: Publications related to natural medications that were
Figure 1: Publications related to natural medications that were mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the
mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and the hadith
hadith

In the Malay Archipelago region (Malaysia, South Thailand,
In the Malay Archipelago region (Malaysia, South Thailand, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam,
Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, and Indonesia), medicinal plants have
and Indonesia), medicinal plants have been utilised in the form of jamu to heal various ailments. Jamu
been utilised in the form of jamu to heal various ailments. Jamu is made
is made from various herbal infusions, a combination of fresh, dried, or dried and powdered
from various herbal infusions, a combination of fresh, dried, or dried
medicinal plants, and occasionally an extract of herbs. It may compose of a single herb, but it is
and powdered medicinal plants, and occasionally an extract of herbs. It
mostly a composition of various herbs. The rhizomes of the Zingiberaceae family are commonly used
may compose of a single herb, but it is mostly a composition of various
in jamu, including temu lawak, halia, temu pauh, temu kunci, temu ireng, and others. In addition,
herbs. The rhizomes of the Zingiberaceae family are commonly used in
individual plant, such as manjakarni, kacip Fatimah, misai kucing, tongkat ali, hempedu bumi, and
jamu, including temu lawak, halia, temu pauh, temu kunci, temu ireng,
kulim are also used as herbal medicine.
Instead of verbal inheritance, these medical formulations have been passed down over
generations through documented handwriting in old manuscripts in different languages, such as Jawi
(Malay, Aceh, and Minangkabau), Primbon (Java), Paririmbon (Sunda), and Bali (Indriasari, 2011).
For example, the Jawi handwritten prescription was recorded in the Kitab Tip (medical or magical
prescription), which described the use of medicinal plants (Aswandi Syahri, 2018), while the printed
version of the manuscript had been published in the 20 century, such as in the Cabe Puyang
th
Warisan Nenek Moyang that prescribed simple and direct use of the medicinal plants (Figure 2)
(Mardisiswojo & Rajakmangunsudarso, 1985). Nowadays, commercialised traditional medicines are
available as tablets, pills, tonics, capsules, and powder form and are intended for internal use. Jamu
is also available in the form of ointments, oils, tonics, or compressed for external use (Tuschinsky,
2016).

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