Curr Top Med Chem. 2003 ; 3(2): 227-48.

Chemical constituents and biological activities of Vietnamese medicinal plants.

Banskota AH, Tezuka Y, Le Tran Q, Kadota S.

Department of Natural Products Chemistry, Institute of Natural Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 2630-Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.

Every country has its own traditional medicine system originated from ancient times. Vietnam, a Southeast Asian country, has a unique traditional medicine system. Several medicinal plants are still used by different ethnic societies of Vietnam for treating several diseases due to their easy availability. Combretum quadrangulare, Panax vietnamensis (Vietnamese Ginseng), Dracaena angustifolia (Nam Ginseng) and Orthosiphon stamineus are among the popular medicinal plants used in Vietnamese traditional medicine for curing various diseases and to improve physical strength. In this review article, we discuss the chemical analysis as well as biological activities of these Vietnamese medicinal plants in order to establish the relation between their therapeutic uses and scientific findings.