BO3108: Introduction to Herbal Sciences

Watch the video and/or read the captions to find out best uses for these top botanical searching picks!

Plants have been used medicinally in all cultures, for millennia in some cases, but an evidence base of well-conducted research studies lag far behind traditional wisdom for most of them. The studies that do exist can be hard to find, for various reasons, but here are some tips and techniques that will greatly improve your botanical search results.

Fact Finding: define terms & gather background information

1. Determine the common and scientific names for your herb. Books, herbal monographs, botanical databases, including Natural Medicines, will be helpful for identifying names. Websites such as the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), can also be useful.
2. If you're searching for medicinal uses of an herb, identify any bioactive chemical constituents (not broad constituent categories, such as flavonoids or turpines), but rather plant-specific ones, such as silymarin for milk thistle or curcumin for turmeric. Note: bioactive/therapeutic constituents that are unique to a species or genus haven't been identified for all herbs.
3. Gather additional general information about your herb such as where its grown and historical use, before you search the databases. This will help you figure out your search terms and give you context.

  Example: (stone root OR Collinsonia canadensis) AND habitat        
(common name, Latin name and broad search term)