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Consumption of medicinal plants in Malaysia

In Malaysia, the potential of tropical forest medicinal plants in medication and health improvement cannot be taken for granted. Basically, the roots, leaves or other parts of some medicinal plants are known for their medicinal value. Their effectiveness and popularity depend not only on new research findings but also the usage experience and ethnic beliefs of the multi-ethnic Malaysian society.

The practice of traditional medicine is common among various ethnic groups such as the Malays, Chinese, Indians and aborigines with the knowledge being passed down through the generations. The use of plant materials as traditional medicines either formally or informally is widespread among the local rural communities. Latiff (1989) states that there are four sources of traditional Malaysian medicine, namely, Malay village medicine (including Orang Asli medicine), Chinese medicine (introduced from China), Indian medicine (introduced from India) and other forms of traditional medicine (including those introduced by the Javanese, Sumatrans, Arabs, Persians, Europeans etc.). Table 1 shows the common medicinal plant species used by the various ethnic groups in Malaysia.

Medicinal plants	Racial and ethnic groups using medicinal plants
Goniothalamus macrophyllus (selayak hitam)	Malays, Kelabit (Sarawak)
Andrographis paniculata (hempedu bumi)	Malays, Kadazan (Sabah)
Eurycoma longifolia (tongkat ali)	Malays, aborigines
Brucea javanica (lada pahit)	Malays
Acorus calamus (jerangau)	Malays
Orthosiphon aristatus (misai kucing)	Malays
Labisia pumila (kacip fatimah)	Malays, aborigines
Melaleuca cajaputi (gelam)	Malays
Cymbopogon citratus (serai wangi)	Malays
Curcuma xanthorrhiza (temu lawak)	Malays
Zinziber zerumbet (lempoyang pahit)	Malays
Costus speciosus (setawar)	Malays
Datura metel (kecubung)	Malays
Areca catechu (pinang)	Chinese, aborigines
Oldenlandia diffusa (kerak nasi)	Chinese
Piper nigrum (lada hitam)	Chinese
Myristica fragrans (buah pala)	Chinese
Vitex rotundifolia (legundi)	Chinese
Centella asiatica (pegaga)	Indians
Pergularia daemia (bunga Siam)	Indians
Aristolochia indica ¹	Indians
Holarrhena antidysenterica ¹	Indians
Trachyspermum ammi (jemuju)	Indians
Hygrophila auriculiculata ¹	Indians
Trianthema portulacastrum ¹	Indians
Semecarpus anacardium ¹	Indians
Eugeisonna utilis (akar bertam)	Aborigines
Ficus calicarpa (tengkuk biawak)	Aborigines
Mapina petiolata (serapat)	Aborigines
Pometia oinnata (kasai)	Aborigines
Artocarpus rigidus (temponek)	Aborigines
Alstonia sp (pulai)	Aborigines
Elateriospermum tapos (buah perah)	Aborigines
Carica papaya (betik)	Aborigines
Lansium domesticum (duku)	Aborigines
Zingiber officinale (halia)	Aborigines
Scleria sp (sialit)	Aborigines
Calamus exilis (rotan gunung)	Aborigines
Alphonsea sp (pisang)	Aborigines
Polyalthia cauliflora (mempisang)	Kelabit (Sarawak)
Cyrtandra oblingifolia ¹	Kelabit (Sarawak)
Bauhinia kockkiana ¹	Kelabit (Sarawak)
Mussaenda elmeri (pokok balek adap)	Kelabit (Sarawak)
Schizophyllum commune (kulat sisir)	Kadazan (Sabah)
Amaranthus spinosus (bayam duri)	Dusun/Kadazan(Sabah)
Mangifera pajang ¹	Dusun/Kadazan(Sabah)
Annona muricata (durian belanda)	Dusun/Kadazan(Sabah)

Table 1. Selected list of medicinal plants used by different races and ethnic groups in Malaysia

Sources :

Latiff (1985a, 1985b, 1997), Chan (1992); Shankar & Majumdar (1997); Rusli et al. (1998); Lim (1997); Fasihuddin et al. (1995); Fasihuddin et al. (1996), Fasihuddin & Hasmah (1992)

¹ Local name not available

Some medicinal plant products utilized by Malaysians have shown great economic value and have been traded for a long time in Malaysia. According to Poh (1994), medicinal plants that have potential economic value are Eurycoma longifolia, Areca catechu, Oldenlandia diffusa, Myristica fragrans, Piper nigrum, and Melastoma decemfidum. Most of the plants grow wild in the lowland and hill depterocarp forests which are under serious threat of being replaced by mono-specific tree crops (rubber and oil palm), intensive logging or conversion to non-forestry land use such as hydroelectric dams and rural settlements.

It is estimated that about 20% (3,000 species) of angiosperma and gymnosperma plant species found in Malaysia have medicinal properties and have been used in traditional medicine preparation for a considerable time. Those species are from the families of Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Araceae, Compositae, Dioscoreceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Flacourtiaceae, Lauraceae, Leguminosae, Menispermaceae, Myrsinaceae, Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Simaroubaceae, Thymelaeaceae, Zingiberaceae and some others (Soepadmo, 1995). Table 2 shows the number of genera and medicinal plant species from selected family groups, which are normally used in the preparation of traditional medicine.

Family	Number of genera	Number of species	Number of endemic species
Annonaceae	38	198	54
Apocynaceae	35	125	5
Euphorbiaceae	69	370	101
Lauraceae	16	213	60
Leguminosae	70	270	30
Myrsinaceae	9	108	49
Myrtaceae	9	209	80
Rubiaceae	80	555	122
Zingiberaceae	20	140	unknown

Table 2. Number of genera and plant species from selected family groups normally used in the traditional medicinal preparations

Source: Soepadmo (1995)

A study on the consumer demand for traditional medicine products in the Klang Valley found that about 71% of the respondents used traditional medicine. Most of the respondents used the products daily, some consumed them weekly whilst a few consumed them on a monthly basis (Kumari et al., 1998). This shows that medicinal plants are still accepted by urban people as a supplementary health care means, despite advances in the modern medical health care system.

In Malaysia, traditional complementary medicine practitioners are required to register with the Ministry of Health. There are six (6) traditional medicine associations that represent various traditional and complementary practices with 1,499 practitioners as shown in Table 3.

Traditional medicine Association	No of Registered Members/ organizations
Persekutuan Perubatan Tradisional Melayu Malaysia (PUTRAMAS)	500
Federation of Chinese Physicians and Medicine – Dealers Associations of Malaysia (FCPMDAM)	42
Federation of Chinese Physicians & Acupuncturists Association of Malaysia (FCPAAM)	16
Chinese Physician’s Association of Malaysia (MCPA)	837
Pertubuhan Perubatan Tradisional India Malaysia (PEPTIM)	100
Majlis Perubatan Homeopathy Malaysia (MPHM)	4

Table 3. Six (6) Traditional associations under the Ministry of Health

*As at April 2007

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