Medicinal food: The missing group on the ruler’s plate

Nature’s success has given humans many types of plants that we eat every day. In other indigenous knowledge systems such as Ayurveda the same plants are also considered medicinal. Throughout the 21st century, researchers discovered new compounds and drugs from plants used in traditional medicine; today, the world is mining the same plants as a knowledge base for their extensive health benefits.

Sustainable, natural products are increasingly in demand as nutrients: food ingredients that have nutritional and medicinal benefits and promote health. The authors of this article – from the Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology University (TDU), Bengaluru and the ‘Plants for Health’ team at the Royal Botanic Gardens UK – recently carried out research supported by the British High Commission. We found that of the 7,564 types of medicines listed in the 11 sources mentioned, about a quarter (1,788) were listed as food and medicine.

Food safety as medicine

Although centuries of traditional use provide strong support for the use of plants for therapeutic purposes, many of their derivatives can be found on the market today in new forms, flavors and formulations. operations that are far removed from their former use. For example, today there are a number of herbs available as pills, but in ancient times a doctor might have recommended that they be taken as an infusion in warm water. While traditional consumption is safe as food, are these new avatars safe as medicine? How will plants be identified for potential nutritional benefits? And who will control the use of a plant that is both food and medicine?

Consider turmeric, a staple spice in Indian cuisine. There is a large collection of information from traditional sources about its medicinal value and its medicinal use, and a large number of scientific studies of the whole rhizome as well as one of the the most famous bioactive, curcumin. From cancer to inflammation, researchers have tested turmeric’s potential in laboratory tests and clinical trials, with many positive results. What may not be apparent to the casual person, however, is that the amount we eat turmeric as a spice is much lower than the amount used in clinical trials. It is rare to find warnings that prove the fact that high daily doses of turmeric can have toxic effects.

Of the 1,788 Indian food plants identified by this work as food and medicine, more than 5% (or 139 species) are listed in the 2017 Indian Food Composition Table (IFCT), the official indicator of nutrient quality in most cases. food ingredients. The Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia cites herbal substances from 334 plants. The overlap of plant species between IFCT and Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia is more than 90%, emphasizing why consumers believe that ethnomedicines can be used as food.

Conflict and conflict

A review of the contents of 11 published references revealed two other problems with plant cataloging: (i) an unusual level of disagreement and ambiguity regarding how scientific names are used to name plants, and (ii) lack of information. and conflicting evidence about the plant parts to be used. In total, we found 21,033 different plant names mentioned in the 11 publications reviewed. But because of the synonymy, these names refer to only 7,564 different plants – a matter that plagues the scientific literature. These scientific explanations increase the complexity of the authorities; for consumers when trying to find the right information; and for researchers when comparing their plant-related findings across different scientific disciplines.

The scientific name for many forms of life is binomial: the name of the genusand the name of the genus. For example, in A wise man‘Homo’ is a genus and ‘sapiens’ is a species name. For plants the binomial name also includes the name of the person who first recorded the Latin name. However this name is not fixed.

As researchers gather more DNA and chemical evidence, plant taxonomists continue to gain a better understanding of how plants are related and make changes in taxonomic authority through right In this way, researchers publish more than 10,000 changes in scientific names every year. The rules for naming plants also govern how their subspecies, species and hybrids are scientifically defined.

So, what is a ‘lemon’ to a layperson can probably be best described as Citruslimon (L.) Osbeck to the botanist. Unfortunately, this labeling accuracy and nuances are rarely found in food production tables. For example, IFCT 2017 only lists ‘lemon’ as Citrus limonwithout indicating its hybrid origin or stating which of the listed species the researchers studied. In fact, incorrect or ambiguous plant names were seen up to 100% in IFCT 2017 and 80% in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia of India.

The need for common names for plant parts

This has serious implications for the management process – not only for human health but also for biodiversity conservation. Climate change may have a disproportionate impact on different plant species and their nutritional value and biological activity.

In order to be able to manage plants and their products in a sustainable and reliable manner, therefore, we need the correct use of scientific terms. Since plants show little respect for national boundaries and many edible plants in India may have originated in other countries, it is important for regulatory and legal purposes to acknowledge international efforts to confirm the names of the plants.

Due to COVID-19, many would have heard of giloy or ashwagandha. These names refer to two plants that are widely used in Ayurveda. However, few people will know that it is the stem of Tinospora cordifolia (Wild.) Hook.f. & Thomson used in giloy, and the root of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal used in ashwagandha – both for medicinal purposes.

In the case of giloy, the medicinal use of leaves, fruits and roots is also mentioned in Ayurveda and traditional medicine. However, such information about the relevant components of each plant is not included in the labels of consumer goods. Where the scientific name is mentioned, it is often incomplete or misspelled.

Dried ashwagandha root. | Credit: Piyush Kothari (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Regulation by which manager?

This is important from a nutritional perspective. Bhringaraj leaves(Eclipta prostrata (L.) L) are celebrated in Ayurveda for their ability to promote healthy hair and are sold as several products. The same plant is also eaten as a green leafy vegetable in other parts of India but still no nutritional information is available in IFCT 2017.

There is no doubt that regulators are best placed to answer questions about the toxicity of plant material. But then which one is in charge: those in charge of food or those in charge of medicine? Furthermore, do we need separate laws for plant-based herbal diets?

This is an important question because in many countries, food and medicine are controlled by independent government agencies, and they do not believe that the same plant can be used in a different way. In the six economies we examined – Brazil, China, the European Union, India, the US, and the UK – it was noted that there is a separate regulator for food and nutrition and another for drug testing. and giving permission. There were exceptions: for example, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the health regulator in the UK, accepts “borderline products” that straddle the divide between food and medicine.

However, in India, food is regulated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and drug licensing by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

Drug regulators, surprisingly, set much higher requirements for evidence of efficacy and safety than food regulators. There is no single easy way to integrate evidence across regions, yet current efforts to share knowledge among authorities are also hampered by their use of inconsistent and/or inconsistent plant names. incorrect.

The health and wellness industry is set to grow in the coming years as rich economies grow and people’s incomes are able to support investment in natural plant products, derived primarily from traditional knowledge. To help producers and consumers alike, it is important to use a standard, globally accepted, and regularly updated list.

Megha is an assistant professor of Ayurveda biology and holistic nutrition and Varun Subramanya is a cultural knowledge, data science, and information scientist – both at the Trans-Disciplinary University of Health Sciences and Technology, Bengaluru. Bob Allkin is program manager in the Digital Transformation Department at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

It has been published – 29 October 2024 05:30 am IST