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Any plant that is grown for culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual value is called an herb. It is
common practice that, from an herb plant only the green and leafy parts are used. The culinary usages are obviously
different from the medicinal uses, in fact, it is often the case that the properties of culinary and medicinal
herbs are entirely different to be found in the same plant. For example, medicinal herbs usually tend to be shrubs
or woody plants. Culinary herbs, on the other hand, are typically more leafy and soft.
Interestingly, the seeds, berries, bark, root, or other parts of a herbal plant make great spices. These plants
also bear edible fruits or vegetables.
Culinary herbs are different from other vegetables in the sense that they are not the primary objects to be cooked
or consumed. Instead, they are used to provide flavor when used as spices.
Botanical definitions
Botanical science defines a herb as a plant that does not produce a woody stem. It usually dies in temperate
climates. Death can be complete in case of annual herbs or the herb can simply go back to its roots in case of
perennial herbs.
Examples of herbs include: bulbs, peonies, hosta, grasses, and banana.
The botanical term herbaceous means a plant having the characteristic of a herb or being leaf-like in color and
texture.
It's really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of herbal. What you learn may give you the
confidence you need to venture into new areas.
Herbalism
Herbalism is also known as phytotherapy. It is a very old folk medicine that is based on the use of plants and
plant extracts. Human beings have been looking for healing powers in the vegetable kingdom for a long time. There
are innumerable types of indigenous plants that have been used by people for centuries in the treatment of many
ailments. The history of such usage is long and well documented. Evidence has been found that sixty thousand years
ago the Neanderthals living in present day Iraq used plants as medicines.
Radiocarbon dating of the Lascaux caves in France has revealed that cave paintings dated between 13000-25000 BCE
displays the use of plants as healing agents.
It must be appreciated that our forefathers spent several centuries slowly building upon the knowledge of their own
predecessors to arrive at proper medical conclusions. It took many generations of trial and error to expand this
knowledge base. The individuals who took upon themselves the task of following this line of reasoning and medical
discovery are whom we today remember as "healers" or "Shaman".
An interesting aspect of plants is their seemingly infinite ability to synthesize aromatic substances like phenols
and tannins. Plants also evolve alkaloids that serve as defense mechanisms against predatory microorganisms,
insects, and herbivores. Plants and chemicals have a strong and historical relationship going back to several
hundred millions of years. The chemical interactions in a plant's metabolism, offense, and defense procedures is
very complex. Human beings have found that many herbs and species that are used in seasoning of good often yielded
useful medical compounds.
In recent years plants have once again come into the foreground as the search for new drugs and dietary supplements
have led researchers back into the plant kingdom. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural product
chemists are literally going through the entire roster of plant species with a fine toothed comb looking for
phytochemicals that could lead to the development of cures for several types of diseases. Already there are many
drugs on the market that have been derived from plants.
Herbal treatment of diseases is nearly universal in all non-industrialized societies. Since they do not have the
resources to set up pharmaceutical industries and are quite likely to be too impoverished to purchase modern day
drugs, it should not be surprising that they rely on plants that they can grown to fight off illness.
In western society, the use of herbal medicine can be contributed to the cumulation of several traditions over a
long stretch of time, finally culminating at the end of the twentieth century. Some of these influences are based
on ancient Greek and Rome, the Ayurvedic principles from India, and Chinese herbal medicines.
Some very common plant based pharmaceuticals that have been used by western physicians include opium, aspirin,
digitalis, and quinine.
Background
In any living organism, chemical reactions define the metabolism rate and control normal metabolic activities. Some
of these chemicals are known as primary metabolites (sugar and fat) and are found in nearly all plants. Chemicals
known as secondary metabolites are found in a limited number of plants. The functions of secondary metabolites can
be very different. They could be used to produce alkaloids (poisons) for defense or to attract insects to enhance
pollination.
Most of the therapeutic chemicals derived from plants as well plant-based modern drugs rely on the secondary
metabolite chemicals in plants. A few examples are: inulin (roots of the plant dahlias), quinine (from cinchona),
morphine and codeine (from poppy), and digoxin (from foxglove).
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has started to fund clinical trials to improve the
medical world's understanding of herbal medicine.
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