Preliminary fact-finding before you begin a search for information on herbs and other botanicals can save time and trouble. In most databases, the best searches often include the plant's common name, scientific name (genus and/or species), and unique chemical constituents (if any have been identified):
Individual plant names: Consider using the species or genus in addition to the common name(s), which can vary according to geographical location.
Plant constituents (chemical components): Consider including specific plant constituents in your search, especially for pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects. NOTE: Constituents specific to a species or its genus that have been identified as producing a bioactive or therapeutic effect make the best search terms.
For example:
health condition, common name & bioactive constituent
health condition, common name, genus & bioactive constituent
The scientific names of medicinal plants, which are widely recognized, are more useful search terms in PubMed than Pinyin forms, or common, local or regional names. MeSH increasingly uses the genus for specific medicinal plants.
The following MeSH headings may be useful search terms; they must be entered exactly in order for MEDLINE (PubMed) to perform a subject (rather than a broader keyword) search.
Single Herbs
The list below is highly selective--many specific Chinese herbs have been assigned MeSH subject headings. Use the MeSH Database to look up individual herbs, but remember that MeSH favors scientific/botanical names (usually genus, but, occasionally species).
If the plant you are researching does not have a designated MeSH term, use keywords--the scientific names, which are widely recognized, are often more useful search terms than Pinyin forms, or common, local or regional names. In some cases, however, searching with various names and/or bioactive plant constituents, connected by OR, can produce good results.
Watch the video and/or read the captions to find out best uses for these top botanical searching picks! NOTE: the volume is quite low, so it is recommended to turn on closed captioning.
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