English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Awareness of Senior High School Students on Herbal Medicinal Plants
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Plants that are used as medicines have been
around for a long time. In fact, traditional
medicines are used by the majority of our
population for primary health care. Herbal
medicines have been promoted as dietary
supplements for illness prevention and
alternative/complementary medicine in recent
years [ CITATION Mar13 \l 1033 ]. In 2017, the
World Health Organization (WHO) estimated
that four billion people or about 80% of the
planet's population presently use herbal
medications for primary health care and other
people square measure reckoning on some style
of ancient medication.
The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH)
acknowledges ten (10) medicinal plants, which
are enumerated as follows: Allium sativum
(garlic/bawang), Blumea balsamifera (nagal
camphor/sambong), Cassia alata (ringworm
bush/akapulko), Clinopodium douglasii
(mint/yerba buena), Ehretia microphylla
(scorpion bush/tsaang gubat), Momordica
charantia (bitter melon/ampalaya), Peperomia
pellucida (silver bush/ulasimang bato), Psidium
guajava (guava/bayabas), Quisqualis indica
(rangoon creeper/niyug-niyogan), and Vitex
negundo (five-leaved chaste tree/lagundi)
[CITATION Hen \l 1033 ]. These therapeutic
plants have been tried and proven by their
forefathers and are passed down through the
generations verbally [CITATION RNM20 \l
1033 ].
Traditional herbal medicines are naturally
occurring, plant-derived drugs that have been
utilized to treat illness in local or regional
healing practices with little or no industrial
processing[ CITATION Jon16 \l 1033 ]. A group
of researchers from the Philippines and Thailand
sought up information on the ten (10) DOH-
approved medicinal plants in various databases.
They used the electronic literature review
method to collect medicinal applications and
natural products identified in the aforementioned
plants and published their findings as
“Suggested Medicinal Plants as Source of
Natural Products: A Review” [ CITATION Hen \l
1033 ].
A similar case occurred when an investigation
on students' ethno botanical knowledge in
Arizona, USA, found that they have little
understanding of the plant domain, citing only
five plants out of twenty on average, the bulk of
which are nonnative. The findings of the study
demonstrated how local plant knowledge can be
utilized to educational programs that foster
experiential learning[ CITATION OBr10 \l 1033 ].
Using a self-made questionnaire, a group from
the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU)
in Batangas City investigated Batangueos'
awareness and use of DOH-approved medicinal
herbs. According to the findings of this survey,
the majority of Batangueos are aware of the
DOH-approved plants and their usage [CITATION
Rov19 \l 1033 ].
Undeniably, Cordillera Administrative Region
(CAR) is richly endowed with forest lands
abundant in flora and fauna [ CITATION Rac14 \l
1033 ]. Ethno medicinal Plants in Bayabas,
Sablan, Benguet Province, Luzon, Philippines
documented the locals' knowledge of medicinal
plants and the components associated with them,
such as the plant part used, mode of preparation,
and diseases cured in a study called Ethno
medicinal Plants in Bayabas, Sablan, Benguet
Province, Luzon, Philippines. Residents of
Bayabas, Sablan, Benguet selected 75 plants that
are known to be utilized for medical purposes.
The most widely utilized leaves for treating
various diseases are those that are decocted or
boiled[CITATION Teo15 \l 1033 ].
Another study from the Philippines called Ethno
botanical study of indigenous plants used by
local people of Agusan del Sur, Philippines
gathered 493 informants using semi-structured
interviews done in 32 communities to study the
ethno botanical perception from the locals of
Agusan del sur. The study concluded that,
Convolvulaceae, Musaceae, and Arecaceae
families are the most often used wild food
plants. Documenting these indigenous plants and
the ethno botanical knowledge associated with
them can be utilized to establish a management
strategy for conservation and long-term
use[CITATION Ros \l 1033 ].
Woreda, Ethiopia, environmental and cultural
changes are threatening the resources, signaling
the need to increase public knowledge about the
importance of preserving medicinal plants in the
natural ecosystem.
The knowledge of these medicinal plants and the
practice of using them are often confined within
the communities of indigenous people and/or
traditional families. This knowledge may not be
large-scale as there are limited documentations
to provide information to the public. The
practice may also be known to have risks.
Despite this, the majority of the population,
adhere to their practices of using traditional
medicines in treating diseases and enhancing
one’s general health and well-being.

According to a study conducted by

Bekalo[CITATION Tes \l 1033 ] in Konta Special References
Arquion, R. D., Galanida, C. C., Villamor, B. & Aguilar, H. T., 2019. Ethnobotanical study of indigenous
plants used by local people of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine,
Volume 5.
Balangcod, T. D. & Balangcod, K. D., 2015. Ethnomedicinal Plants in Bayabas, Sablan, Benguet
Province, Luzon, Philippines. Electronic Journal of Biology, pp. 63 - 73.
Bekalo, T. H., Woodmatas, S. D. & Woldemariam, Z. A., 2019. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal
plants used by local people in the lowlands of Konta Special Woreda, southern nations, nationalities and
peoples regional state, Ethiopia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Volume 5.
Boya, H. I. A., 2018. Recommended Medicinal Plants as Source of Natural Products: A Review. Digital
Chinese Medicine, pp. 131 - 142.
Chua-Barcelo, R. T., 2014. Ethno-botanical survey of edible wild fruits in Benguet, Cordillera
administrative region, the Philippines. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed, pp. 525 - 583.
Daulog, M., 2020. 10 Philippines Herbal Medicine Approved by DOH. [Online].
Ekor, M., 2013. The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges
in monitoring safety. Front Pharmacol, pp. 177 - 185.
O'Brien, C. M., 2010. Do They Really “Know Nothing”? An inquiry into ethnobotanical knowledge of
students in Arizona, USA. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, Volume 8, pp. 35 - 48.
Tilburt, J. C. & Kaptchuk, T. J., 2016. Herbal medicine research and global health: an ethical analysis.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
Tolentino, R. D., Tomas, V. C. B., Travezonda, J. C. & Bella P. Magnaye (RN, P., 2019. Herbal Medicine
Utilization among Batangueños. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences, pp. 9 - 22.
Zabat, P., 2014. 10 DOH Approved Herbal Medicine, s.l.: s.n.