Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases Second Edition

This work follows the first edition of Medicinal Plants of Barbados for the Treatment of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases which was published in 2014. This edition provides an update on the sociocultural evolution and current knowledge of the use of medicinal plants in Barbados. It also provides an updated local medicinal plant formulary, and an in-depth scientific appraisal of their folklore uses by an investigation of their bioactive constituents and the scientific validation of these practices. Throughout the last decade, the scientific exploration of medicinal plants became topical with the legislative framework for Medicinal Cannabis being enabled in Barbados, the Caribbean and globally. The scientific exploration of Cannabis has become a catalyst for investigating other medicinal plants which are more accessible than Cannabis. This edition also outlines a practical guide towards harvesting and exploring the scientific value of medicinal compounds from medicinal plants in Barbados. The second edition builds upon the wealth of practices in edition 1 and reaffirms Barbados as a focal point with an immense base in the practice of folklore botanical medicines in the Eastern Caribbean. Consistent with the rest of the Caribbean region, the practice is criticized due to the lack of knowledge about the empirical evidence supporting the use of plants. The book acknowledges that the evidence may be preliminary in some cases but supports the view that these folklore practices have some scientific merit. The second edition attempts to close this gap even further than the first edition by expanding the category of conditions for both communicable and non-communicable diseases.