Medical benefits of herbs have been known for centuries. Many examples contain powerful active components that, if used correctly, can help in healing the living organism. These herbs can also be provided in the form of capsules and powders, as dietary supplements, and thus differ from conventional foods or food ingredients. The traditional Turkish kitchen is rich of various herbs which have be...

Three types of traditional Chinese herb medicine were used to treat 98 patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma prior to surgical treatment. Forty-two patients with the same diagnosis were treated with these herbs plus cyclophosphamide (endoxan). One hundred similar patients received surgical treatment without herbs or endoxan treatment as controls. Histologic examinations of s...

The digestibility of crude protein (CP) from tropical legumes in grass-legume mixed diets was studied based on literature data by regressing the digestible CP (digCP) proportion diet. In vivo studies reporting concentration and values ruminants fed with grasses no other feed, were selected for analysis (56 publications, 213 dietary treatments (150 legume forages, 63 grasses)). First, observatio...

There is strong evidence for the link between high dietary sodium and increased risk of cardiovascular disease which drives the need to reduce salt content in foods. In this study, herb and spice blends were used to enhance consumer acceptability of a low salt tomato soup (0.26% w/w). Subjects (n = 148) scored their liking of tomato soup samples over 5 consecutive days. The first and last days ...

Medicinal herbs are significant source of synthetic and herbal drugs. Before the availability of synthetic drugs, man was completely dependent on herbs as healthcare system. Medicinal herbs have been on the forefront whenever we talk about anticancer remedies. Vinca rosea (sadabahar) alkaloids, Vinblastine and Vincristine, are the most potent anticancer drugs known. Taxol isolated from Taxus br...

As more and more people worldwide begin using Chinese herbs, authentication of these herbs becomes an increasingly critical, international problem. Mistakes, misidentification, or willful deception can cause illness and even death. Questionable authenticity with regard to Chinese herbs arises for a number of historical, geographical and nomenclatural reasons, which will be described in this pap...

Herbal medicines are being used with greater frequency by practitioners of natural medicine in the United States. Many categories of herbs are used, primarily angiotensin antagonists, nonspecific nephroprotective, and immunomodulating/adaptogenic herbs. The most common herbs in each category are discussed both from a historical and scientific perspective. For the first time, a case series of th...