The Phytochemistry of Cherokee Aromatic Medicinal Plants

Overview

Journal Medicines (Basel)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2018 Nov 15

PMID 30424560

Citations 8

Authors

William N Setzer

Affiliations

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Abstract

Native Americans have had a rich ethnobotanical heritage for treating diseases, ailments, and injuries. Cherokee traditional medicine has provided numerous aromatic and medicinal plants that not only were used by the Cherokee people, but were also adopted for use by European settlers in North America. The aim of this review was to examine the Cherokee ethnobotanical literature and the published phytochemical investigations on Cherokee medicinal plants and to correlate phytochemical constituents with traditional uses and biological activities. Several Cherokee medicinal plants are still in use today as herbal medicines, including, for example, yarrow (), black cohosh (), American ginseng (), and blue skullcap (). This review presents a summary of the traditional uses, phytochemical constituents, and biological activities of Cherokee aromatic and medicinal plants. The list is not complete, however, as there is still much work needed in phytochemical investigation and pharmacological evaluation of many traditional herbal medicines.

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