Medicinal Plants & Animals From the Rainforest

For many thousands of years indigenous peoples all over the world have used locally collected plants for medicinal purposes. Usually the knowledge of such plants is passed from generation to generation, often through a shaman or witchdoctor -- a specialist in indigenous cures. A major source of such medicinal plants is the rainforest, where the indigenous peoples are said to make use of some 5,000 different plants. A small portion of these cures have been tested and reproduced in first world countries as drugs and medicines. Much less research has been done into the medicinal use of animals.

Cinchona and Coca

• The bark of the cinchona tree is the world's best source of natural quinine, which is extracted from the bark of the tree. This was first documented by a Jesuit missionary in 1633 as being an anti-malarial remedy.

  Perhaps the most notorious plant is coca, an evergreen shrub growing up to 9 feet tall. The plant has been used by indigenous peoples for centuries for toothache and as a general pain killer. Research into the plant has given the drug industry Novocaine, a local anesthetic, and a number of other less addictive anesthetics.

Ipecacuanha and Mate

• Ipecacuanha is commonly found in over-the-counter cough preparations, and Brazilian natives take it to treat amoebic dysentery. It is made from the roots of the shrub and was first taken to Europe in 1672. Ipecacuanha is a strong emetic and is particularly useful as a treatment for a drug overdose. Caution should be taken when using this herb.

  Mate is an evergreen tree that grows to 20 feet high. Its leaves are used widely in South America in exactly the same way as tea, and is used to treat headaches, migraine, fatigue, depression and rheumatic pain.

Pareira and lapacho

• The roots and stem of the pareira vine are the source of curare. Rainforest tribes use curare as a paralyzing arrow poison. Research into this plant in the West has produced tubocurarine chloride, an anaesthetic widely used to paralyze muscles during operations. The plant can be taken orally providing there are no cuts or sores in the mouth and is used as a laxative, a diuretic and to induce menstruation.

  There has been a great deal of research carried out into the use of lapacho. The bark of this tree has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory and as a cure-all herbal remedy. It is thought to be helpful in the treatment of cancer.

Painkilling Frog

• There is a rainforest frog, epibpedobates tricolor, that has a poisonous skin in order to protect itself against predators. Research into this poison by the National Institutes of Health has led to the development of a new pain killer that is 200 times more powerful than morphine. This pain killer, ABT-594, is in production. Research is ongoing because of the gastrointestinal side effects of this new painkiller.