Book Review Cite This: J. Nat. Prod. 2018, 81, 1128−1129
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Review of Duke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible The Common Names section contains a list of local names of the plant, referencing the country and region of origin. In many cases, over 100 common names are given, covering a wide range of geographical locations. The sources of information are given as three-letter codes. It is a little unhandy for a reader to get to the source literature; one has first to go to the Bibliographic Abbreviations (in the beginning part of the book) to decode and then flip to the References section (toward the end of the book) to find the literature citation. Biological and pharmacological activities reported for the plant are included in the Activities section. For each bioactivity, the author assigned a score of the level of efficacy, i.e., f = strictly folkloric, 1 = some animal, epidemiological, in vitro, or phytochemical studies support the efficacy, 2 = extracts of plant approved by Commission E, by the TRAMIL Commission, or demonstrated by human clinical trials, and 3 = clinically proven in human trials. In some cases, multiple codes are given to a single herb, as applicable. Literature references are given, again, in codes or abbreviations. What is lacking in this section is the information on plant part(s) that possess(es) the observed biological properties. The section of Indications refers to the diseases or conditions for which the herb is used. Scoring of the level of efficacy is available in the same format (i.e., f, 1, 2, and 3) as used in the Activities section. Combinations of these four scores can happen, especially when many sources have been consulted. The Dosage section begins with an FNFF (Father Nature’s Food Farmacy) score: × = nothing credible suggesting the plant as food; ? = very questionable survival food; ! = survival food or little known but locally important; !! = important food in some parts of world; !!! = important enough in the world to be in many United States supermarkets. Following the FNFF score are the dosages recorded in various sources. These are followed by a series of bullet points describing the folklore knowledge of how the plant is used in various countries and ethnic groups. Reference citations are provided in codes or abbreviations. Under the heading of Downsides are contraindications, interactions, and side effects. For some plants, a Natural History section is included to describe interactions between the plant and other living organisms, such as attacks by animals, fungi, and bacteria. Lastly, a section of Extract is available for selected plants. The author includes information such as chemical composition and biological properties of the plant extract. The book is elegantly illustrated with color paintings of all plants. Overall, the Handbook is written at the level of educated lay persons. While most information is derived from the secondary literature rather than from original sources, it represents a significant and scholarly effort to provide a science-based source of knowledge on the selected medicinal plants of ancient time. It well serves as a valuable desktop reference for scientists and
Duke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible. By James A. Duke. CRC Press. 2007. 552 pp. $121.95. ISBN 9780849382024. Duke’s Handbook of Medicinal Plants of the Bible is one of the series written by the late Dr. James A. Duke, an articulate author and highly respected expert in economic botany and ethnobotany. The book contains a compilation of medicinal plants used in biblical times (in the words of the author, a “catalog of faith-based farmaceuticals”), following a similar format of his previous work, the Handbook of Medicinal Herbs (2nd edition, 2002, by CRC). Much of the information in this book was gleaned from the author’s Father Nature’s Farmacy Database (now the USDA’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database; https://phytochem.nal.usda.gov), which contains an enormous amount of data from Dr. Duke’s lifetime collection. This handbook is a seminal contribution to the field of ethnobotany that provides a general account of medicinal plants mentioned in the Bible including their botanical nomenclature, common names, biological activities, folkloric indications, and dosages. As usual, comments are provided by Dr. Duke in his entertaining writing style. In the Table of Contents, 175 plant species (together with olive oil as a separate entry from the olive) are arranged alphabetically by their genus name. However, each entry starts with the common English name of the plant. That makes it look a little strange at first sight and a little difficult for readers to look for a particular plant species of interest. New readers of this book may be overwhelmed by many codes and abbreviations appearing throughout the book. One has to take a while to get familiar with those codes and abbreviations in order to fully appreciate and understand the messages from the author. For example, in the leading line of each species entry, following the common English name and the scientific botanical name is a symbol (which can be ×, +, + +, or + + +) to indicate the “safety score”. The symbol × refers to “unsafe to take” (“don’t take it”), whereas + , + +, and + + + represent “OK but probably not as safe as coffee”, “OK and probably as safe as coffee”, and “OK and probably safer than coffee”, respectively, as perceived by the author based on the published literature. The following is a brief description of the layout of each plant species. Each entry starts with a section of Synonyms, in which taxonomic synonyms are given for the plant species. Such information is useful to readers who may want to perform an in-depth literature search of that particular plant species. The Synonyms section is followed by paragraph(s) of Notes, in which biblical quotes from various translations of the Bible (e.g., King James version and New World Translation) are cited, along with the author’s comments on relevant points of interest, such as plant names translated in different bible versions, uncertainties about the identity of the plant as described in the scripture, and his own recollections of stories about the plant. © 2018 American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy
Published: March 30, 2018 1128
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00201 J. Nat. Prod. 2018, 81, 1128−1129
Journal of Natural Products
Book Review
researchers as well as for nonscientists who are interested in the topic. Lastly, I was saddened to learn the news of Dr. Duke’s passing when this review was being prepared. I would like to take this opportunity to salute the giant in ethnobotany for his lifelong contributions to science and tireless advocacy of “food farmacy”.
Chun-Tao Che
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University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00201 J. Nat. Prod. 2018, 81, 1128−1129
