Cox P A
Department of Botany, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
J Ethnopharmacol. 1993 Mar;38(2-3):181-8. doi: 10.1016/0378-8741(93)90014-v.
Early European visitors to Samoa tended to denigrate the authenticity and efficacy of Samoan herbal medicine, yet bioassays indicate pharmacological activity in over 86% of Samoan medicinal plants. Novel anti-inflammatory compounds have been isolated from Alphitonia zyzyphoides and Erythrina variegata, and the anti-HIV compound prostratin has been isolated from Homalanthus nutans. Unfortunately, both Samoan ethnopharmacology and Samoan rain forests are threatened. In order to prevent logging, funds were raised to build a needed village school in exchange for a village covenant to protect the 30,000 acre Falealupo forest. Subsequently, four additional rainforest reserves have been established. Hopefully such conservation measures can save the ethnopharmacological knowledge of Samoa.
早期前往萨摩亚的欧洲访客往往诋毁萨摩亚草药的真实性和功效，然而生物测定表明，超过86%的萨摩亚药用植物具有药理活性。已从菲律宾朴树和刺桐中分离出新型抗炎化合物，从柔毛桐中分离出抗艾滋病毒化合物原锥虫素。不幸的是，萨摩亚的民族药理学和萨摩亚雨林都受到了威胁。为了防止砍伐森林，人们筹集资金建造一所急需的乡村学校，以换取一份村庄契约，保护3万英亩的法莱阿卢波森林。随后，又建立了另外四个雨林保护区。希望这些保护措施能够挽救萨摩亚的民族药理学知识。
