Indian Journal of Pharmacology 2001; 33: 463-467 WEB-WISE

HERBS ON THE NET*
To understand plant drugs completely, we need to
know their botany, chemistry and pharmacology. Few
modern researchers in pharmacology possess such
a comprehensive background.
The developed countries where the use of phytomedi-
cines is a relatively newer phenomena rely on older
books and papers like the Commission E Monographs
and the recently published PDR for Herbal Remedies
as a convenient source of unbiased information for
patients, physicians, and pharmacists. Many people
now regard the Internet as the place to go to find up-
to-date information on medical topics.
The Internet can be an intimidating place to locate
accurate information on the safety and effectiveness
of plants used as medicines. Herbal medicine is a
minefield of dubious claims and anecdotal informa-
tion, and the Internet has exacerbated this problem.
Locating unbiased information on commonly used
herbs can be difficult, and the health scientist con-
fronts great challenges in getting information on
phytopharmaceuticals that is correct and impartial.
The majority of websites catering to herbals that one
comes across are fashioned to either selling a com-
pany's products or simply providing a list of plant prod-
ucts and their uses with little, if any, information on
safety or effectiveness.
The recent emergence of high quality peer-reviewed
information and its increasing availability on the internet
promises to change all this and assumes even more
importance in terms of phytomedicine, where substan-
tial evidence based information is hard to come by.
In the western countries, there is an increasing rec-
ognition of the rising importance of herbal remedies
in mainstream medicine and this has led to new ef-
forts to evaluate herbal remedies and to make this
information freely available. The National Institutes
of Health (NIH), USA has established the National
Center for Contemporary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM)) to investigate 'unconventional' medical
therapies. Other centers have been established in
Europe in an attempt to bring the wealth of traditional
herbal knowledge into the mainstream of medical
practice. Acknowledging this, several health centers
and organizations both in the U.S. and in Europe are
now striving to make high quality peer-reviewed in-
formation more readily available via the Web.
The following is compilation of websites with a short
description and link, which would be useful for both
the serious researcher and a casual browser in search
of more information on the medicinal use of plants.

AGRICOLA A searchable index to the National Agricultural Library, USA's main database.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ag98/
The American Botanical Current and accurate information available on herbal medicine and news
Council relating to medicinal plants and phytomedicines.
http://www.herbalgram.org
American Chemical A useful search engine in which search is possible on chemical journals including
Society's free J.Medicinal Chem., J. Nat.Products, Chemical reviews, Biochemistry.
search page http://www.pubs.acs.org/journals/aoc/aoc_search.html
The American The American Herbalists Guild is a non-profit educational organization for profes-
Herbalist's Guild (AHG) sional herbalists specializing in the medicinal use of plants.
http://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/
American Society Has extensive information on potential drugs of natural origin as well as the search
of Pharmacognosy for new drugs from natural sources.
(ASP) http://www.phcog.org/

*Based on the information provided by Dr. J. Mohanasundaram (See p. 460)

464 WEB-WISE

ASPET Herbal The site maintained by the American Society for Pharmacology & Experimental
Medicine and Medicinal Therapeutics contains information for clinical pharmacologists.
Plant Interest Group http://www.faseb.org/aspet/H&MIG3.htm#top
Biological abstracts The metasearch for various biological resources with a substantial emphasis on
herbal products.
http://www.biosis.org
Websites on books Indian sites which provide information on books on plant resources.
http://www.vedambooks.com, http://www.ayuherbal.com
British Herbal Publishers of British Herbal Pharmacopoeia and British Herbal Compendium.
Medicine Association http://www.ex.ac.uk/phytonet/bhma.html
Center for Alternative This center specializes in the study of alternative and complementary therapies
Medicine Research for cancer prevention and control.
in Cancer http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/cimer/
Center for The Center promotes research into the use of alternative therapies for the treat-
Complementary and ment of asthma and allergies.
Alternative Medical http://www-camra.ucdavis.edu/
Research in Asthma
Centre for International A non-profit organisation, which provides a focal point for the exchange of ethno
Ethnomedical Education medicinal knowledge in order to establish an international network of ethno
& Research (CIEER) botanical researchers.
http://www.cieer.org
Chemical abstracts A searchable meta-database on chemicals.
http://www.cas.org
Chinese Medicinal plants A comprehensive site on Chinese medical plants.
http://www.ccmp.gov.tw/BASIS/
College of Practitioners Publishes British Journal of Phytotherapy.
of Phytotherapy http://www.collegeofphytotherapy.com/webjournals.htm
Cyberbotanica: Plants A free online botany education resource produced as a part of Indiana University's
and Cancer Treatment Biotech Project.
http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/botany/
DATADIWAN Comprehensive information on the efficacy of herbs and holistic approach to medi-
cine is to be found on this site.
http://www.datadiwan.de/index_e.htm
Ecoport The EcoPort Programme is run jointly by the University of Florida, Food & Agricul-
tural Organisation and the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian
Institution and provides detailed information on plants used for medicinal purposes.
http://www.ecoport.org
EthnobotDB EthnoBotDB provides information concerning worldwide medicinal usage for over
(Ethnobotanical 80,000 plants. common name, family, country, taxon, genus or use.
Database) http://ars-genome.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/WebAce/webace?db=ethnobotdb
European Herbal The EHPA represents professional herbal practitioners throughout Europe.
Practitioners Association http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ehpa/
 WEB-WISE 465

European Journal of Explore both the rich legacy of traditional use of plant medicines and the latest
Herbal Medicine scientific research.
http://www.ejhm.co.uk/
European Scientific The Cooperative was established to advance the scientific status of herbal prepa-
Cooperative on rations and to assist with the harmonization of their regulatory status in Europe.
Phytomedicines Links to Phytonet, which provides information on development, manufacture, regu-
(ESCOP) lation and surveillance of phytomedicines and herbal drugs.
http://www.escop.com/
Fitoterpia This is the site of the journal which primarily deals with the study of medicinal plants.
http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/fitote
Florida plants online Medicinal plants with of special interest to the USA
http://www.floridaplants.com
GRAS (Generally This list is a compilation by Dr. James A. Duke of all botanicals that appear on
Recognized as Safe) FDA's GRAS list, a list of food additives that are Generally Recognized as Safe for
List of Botanicals human consumption by a consensus of scientific opinion.
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/syllabus/gras.htm
Green Medicine-North Pertains to medicinal plants available in North America with their common names
American and uses.
Medicinal Plants http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal
Herb Research A source of accurate, science-based information on the health benefits and safety
Foundation of herbs and expertise in sustainable botanical resource development.
http://www.herbs.org/index.html
Herbage: Guide Welcome to the most ambitious attempt to inventory plants on a global scale and
to herbs match botanical information with historical and current uses.
http://www.herbweb.com
Himalaya Drug Company Common Ayurvedic Herbs with their Latin, English and Sanskrit names.
Database of Herbs http://www.thehimalayadrugco.com/cah.htm
IBIDS Database The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) is a
database of the international published scientific literature on dietary supplements,
which includes vitamins, minerals, and herbs. IBIDS is jointly produced by the Office
of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Nutrition
information Center, the National Agricultural Library, and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
http://ods.od.nih.gov/databases/ibids.html
Indian System A Gateway for information on Indian Systems of Medicine & Homoeopathy brought
of Medicine to you by Dept. of ISMH, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India;
also links the Indian Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia
http://indianmedicine.nic.in/
Journal of Link to the Journal with peer-reviewed information on phytopharmacology.
Ethnopharmacology http://www.elsevier.nl/jethpharm.
Kippewa Gardens This site provides information on traditional and ethnobotanical uses of plants. It
also provides "The Gatherer-A Plant Use Multiple Database Search Engine" for
collecting information from multiple sources.
http://www.kippewa-gardens.com
466 WEB-WISE

Kohler's This collection was published in 1887, but is considered by many to be one of the
Medicinal Plants finest and most useful series of illustrations of medicinal plants. The site also pro-
vides other rare books on plants.
http://ridgwaydb.mobot.org/mobot/rarebooks
Medicinal plants A list of Samoan resources consists of an interesting collection of three-dimen-
of Samoa sional pictures of plants.
http://www.dittmar.dusnet.de
MedWatch (FDA) MedWatch provides access to the Special Nutritionals Adverse Event Monitoring
System, a searchable database reporting adverse effects and problems associ-
ated with the use of dietary products, including herbs.
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/aems.html
Mini-Course in These documents constitute the syllabus for a course taught by respected
medical botany ethnobotanist Dr. James A. Duke. Includes a module on Ayurveda.
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/syllabus/
Modern Herbal This is a searchable hypertext version of the English herbal folklore classic.
A Modern Herbal.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/comindx.html
National Center for NCCAM identifies and evaluates "unconventional" health care practices and sup-
Complementary and ports research projects to assess their effectiveness.
Alternative Medicine http://www-camra.ucdavis.edu/
National Centre for CAM on PubMed allows one to find journal citations related to complementary and
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Alternative Medicine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nccam/camonpubmed.html
National Herbalists To promote, protect and encourage the study, practice and knowledge of medical
Association of Australia herbalism.
http://www.nhaa.org.au/
National Institute of Oldest association of practicing herbalists.
Medical Herbalists http://www.btinternet.com/~nimh/frameacc.html
New Zealand Associa- Provides information on plants that provide food and medicines in New Zealand.
tion of Medical Herbalists http://www.nzamh.org.nz/
Office of Dietary The ODS co-sponsors clinical studies of herbal medicines.
Supplements (ODS) http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/
Phytopharmacognosy Academic and commercial research of the Phytochemistry and Pharmacognosy
research group at Middlesex University.
http://www.phytochemistry.freeserve.co.uk/
Planta medica Link to the Journal, which deals with natural products and medicinal plants research.
Provides a link to an online periodical service-Thieme-connect.
http://www.thieme.de/plantamedica/
Plants For A Future A Resource and Information Centre for Edible and other useful plants with a
searchable database on upcoming herbals.
http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/index.html ; http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/ D_search.html
Poisonous Plant This resource provides an alphabetical listing of various plants of the world known
Database to be toxic to animals and humans.
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~djw/readme.html
 WEB-WISE 467

Qualiherb-The Chinese This site is provided by a leading Taiwanese pharmaceutical company and provides
Medicine Information useful information for anyone wishing to know more about traditional Chinese
Center herbal therapies.
http://eng.herb.com.tw/main/index.sphp?home_func=show
Rainforest Plant This database lists plants found in the Amazon rainforests.
Database http://rain-tree.com/
Richard and Hinda This center is dedicated to providing comprehensive information on alternative
Rosenthal Center for and complementary health care practices.
Complementary and http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/rosenthal/
Alternative Medicine
Southwest School The site has an extensive collection of illustrations, photographs and video clips
of Botanical Medicine on botanical resources; also links a useful glossary of medical and botanical terms.
http://chili.rt66.com/hrbmoore/HOMEPAGE/HomePage.html
TOXLINE TOXLINE contains citations from 1965 to the present and covers information on the phar-
macological, biochemical, physiological, and toxicological effects of drugs, including herbs
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TOXLINE
U.S. Food and Searchable database of FDAs site on herbals, their reported adverse reactions
Drug Administration and fraudulent claims.
http://www.fda.gov/
United States patent & Published patents are an underutilized source of information and offer an important
Trademark Office and relatively unexplored source of information and research data relevant to studies
in alternative and complementary medicine.
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
University of Washington The Medicinal Herb Garden is a comprehensive database of medicinal plants
Medicinal Herb Garden searchable by botanical and common names.
http://www.nnlm.nlm.nih.gov/pnr/uwmhg/
World Health The WHO is gathering information on those herbs that are widely used in primary
Organization care settings throughout the world and is promoting programs to establish research
guidelines for evaluating the safety and efficacy of herbal products.
http://www.who.int/home-page/

Dr. JATINDER SINGH

Department of Pharmacology,
Govt. Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab.
e-mail: jatindersingh@vsnl.com