ABSTRACT
An evaluation of select medicinal species from Chapter 5 was performed by exploring the global scientific literature for evidence in support of the folkloric uses, through convergence in bioactivity profiles or corroboration of therapeutic uses. Five common affliction categories in the primary ethnopharmacological data were explored: diarrhea, fever, pain, rheumatism, and liver complaints. The LOTUS and NAPRALERT datasets were queried for chemical profiles of the species, folkloric use, and experimental bioactivity data, respectively. The IUCN Red List and CITES Checklists supplied data on conservation status of species. The Plants of the World Online dataset confirmed taxonomic nomenclature and provided species distributions for the 99 species presented in this chapter. Keyword searching of online text aggregators Google Scholar, PubMed, and EMBASE produced a set of recommended citations for each selected plant species and use category, which were then followed up by a review of citations for confirmation. Corroboration of use was found in the literature for 50% of all species, distributed among the top two-thirds of species, ranked by number of citations. The lower third of species, those of more limited geographic distribution, remain essentially un-referenced. Evaluation of the medicinal flora among the six medicinal plant preserves in this study reveals that only 6% of species were found to have shared use between provinces. This divergence reflects the rich geographic, cultural, and biological diversity of Laos, and points to the value of the MBPs-MPPs in biodiversity and cultural conservation and introduces prospects for further scientific investigation of the medicinal flora of Laos.
