ABSTRACT
The Ginkgo tree has been of interest to mankind for more than 2000 years. Until 350 years ago interest was restricted to China, its natural habitat, Japan and Korea. There female trees were cultivated on a large scale to furnish the nuts which remain a popular delicacy in Eastern Asia until today. Most of the 100 Ginkgo specimens over 1000 years old that still exist in China are found near temples (Shan-An et al., 1997). They were probably planted at such locations for their supply of nuts but maybe also for worship. Since more than 500 years Ginkgo fruits and to a lesser extent leaves are also medicinally used in China. After transportation of the first trees to Europe, on this continent the tree was at first solely admired for its beauty. Its unique and isolated botanical position (“living fossil”) was recognized in the last century. Hundred years ago Hirase discovered the swimming sperm (spermatozoids) of Ginkgo biloba (Hirase, 1896). However a quantum jump in interest in this tree occurred in the sixties and seventies of this century when Schwabe Industries started to investigate and produce a special leaf extract for blood circulation problems (Kloss and Jaggy, 1971). From then onwards more and more research has been carried out on many different aspects of the Ginkgo tree and the end is not yet in sight. According to Christen (last chapter in this book) nowadays five scientific articles per week appear on Ginkgo. In 1997 a book on Ginkgo biloba was published by The Botanical Society of Japan which focussed primarily on botanical and phylogenetic aspects (Hori et al., 1997). In that same year the first international Ginkgo symposium was held (Organizing Committee, 1997). Last year a second book was published with the emphasis on pharmacology and clinical studies (DeFeudis, 1998). The book which lies in front of you is a third book on Ginkgo biloba and the first book to cover both botany, processing of leaves, constituents, analytical chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, clinical applications and other uses. In the remaining part of this introduction the different chapters will be briefly discussed to put them in an overall perspective.
