TCM Uses for Endangered Magnolia
Antibiotic & Antiviral Medicinal Plant May Have More Uses in TCM
Jan 28, 2008
While new and important uses for magnolia are being explored, many species of this Traditional Chinese Medicinal are threatened with extinction. Preventing the loss of some rare magnolias may have an impact on treatments for cancer and depression. Long used in TCM for respiratory problems, bacterial and viral infections and high blood pressure, the magnolia family’s potential as a medicinal plant is just beginning to be understood.
Traditional Uses for Magnolia Bark and Flowers
Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners have been using magnolia bark for centuries. Noted for clearing head/chest congestion and relieving vomiting and diarrhea, research has now shown that magnolia bark has an antibacterial effect against several species of Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Shigella. Its value in treating amoebic dysentery has also been proven.
Magnolia flowers are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat nasal congestion and sinus problems. Now the flowers have also been shown to help in treating hypertension and fungal infections of the skin (dermatomycoses).
Recent Research Findings on Magnolia Plant Medicine
The latest research has been focused on two active ingredients- honokiol and magnolol. The combination of these two constituents appears to be useful in normalizing serotonin and corticosterone levels in the brain. This means magnolia plants may be useful in treating some types of depression.
Honokiol alone has been looked at for several issues, most importantly several types of cancer. Colorectal cancer, prostate cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia all seem to respond to treatment with honokiol. Some cardiovascular problems such as stroke also respond to honokiol.
Endangered Magnolia Species and Their Potential Value
All of this sounds great, except that, of the 46 species of magnolia plants, 27 are Endangered, seven of them Critically Endangered, and nearly all the rest are listed as Vulnerable. So, without major effort to protect these plants, important Traditional Chinese Medicine and other uses for them may be lost.
It might seem that merely determining the active ingredient and reproducing it in a laboratory would solve the problem, but as the antibiotic resistance issue has shown, the whole plant may be more valuable in the long term. Some bacteria have been able to develop resistance to antibiotics, many of which were developed from the active ingredients of a plant. But many of the plants used to treat infection in Traditional Chinese Medicine are still effective after thousands of years. This is likely because it is harder for bacteria or viruses to modify themselves to resist a whole plant than to adjust to resist one active ingredient.
Although the active ingredient(s) may at first appear to be what controls blood pressure, or cancer cell growth or heart disease, there may be other parts of the plant that add to its positive effects. It makes sense to preserve as many plant species as possible to ensure that important medicinal plants don’t disappear before their value is even known.
