Medicinal Herbs in the Philippines and their Traditional Medicinal Uses

Herbal medicine has its origins in ancient cultures. It involves the medicinal use of plants to treat disease and enhance general health and wellbeing.
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Some herbs have potent ingredients and should be taken with the same level of caution as pharmaceutical medications. In fact, many pharmaceutical medications are based on man-made versions of naturally occurring compounds found in plants.

1. Asthma weed, or commonly known as tawa-tawa.
asthma weeds contain triterpenes, phytosterols, tannins, polyphenols, and flavonoids. It is a hairy herb that grows in open grasslands, roadsides and pathways. It is widely used in traditional herbal medicine across many cultures, particularly for asthma, skin ailments, hypertension, and also can treat dengue fever, stop diarrhea, can help cure malaria,
and keeps the urinary system healthy.

2. Bitter gourd commonly known as Ampalaya.
Amapalaya is a popular medicinal herb for the treatment and management of Type 2 diabetes. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and health-benefitting phytoconstituents. Momorcharin, and Momorcidin
are the two specific compounds identified in Ampalaya that possess insulin-like properties.
3. Blumea camphorcommonly known as Sambong.
The volatile oil obtained from Sambong consists of camphor, borneol, isoborneol, terpineol, caryophyllene, guaiol, and eugenol. Sambong displays a variety of biological activities such as antitumor, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-melanogenic, platelet aggregation, wound healing, and anti-obesity properties. It is used as herbal treatment for kidney stones, cuts or wounds, rheumatism, diarrhea, spasms, colds, coughs, and hypertension.

4. Cat’s whiskers, commonly known as Balbas pusa.
Cat’s Whiskers is commonly used to treat renal inflammation, kidney stones, and dysuria. It contains antioxidant compounds like rosmarinic acid, beta-sitosterol, ursolic acid, glycolic acid, methylripariochromene A, bioflavonoids, and oleanolic acid.

5. Five-leaved chaste tree commonly known as Lagundi.
Traditionally, the leaves have been used as a decoction to treat coughs, fevers, respiratory diseases and as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Lagundi contains antioxidant phenolic compounds and flavonoids such as casticin, chrysoplenol D, luteolin, iso-orientin,
and luteolin-7-0-glucoside.

6. Forest tea, commonly known as Tsaang gubat.
Tsaang Gubat, with the scientific name of Ehretia microphylla Lam, is a popular shrub in the Philippines.

7. Ginger.
Ginger is native to Asia where it has been used as a cooking spice for at least 4,400 years.
ginger has been used to help digestion and treat stomach upset, diarrhea, and nausea for more than 2,000 years. Ginger has also been used to help treat arthritis, colic, diarrhea, and heart conditions.

8. Gotu kola.
Gotu kola is a perennial plant native to India, Japan, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the South Pacific.
The leaves and stems of the gotu kola plant are used as medicine.

9. Lemongrass commonly known as,Tanglad.
Lemongrass is a plant. The leaves and the oil are used to make medicine.
Lemongrass is used for treating digestive tract spasms, stomachache, high blood pressure, convulsions, pain, vomiting, cough, rheumatism, fever, the common cold, and exhaustion.

10. Mangosteen.
Mangosteen is a tropical fruit. The fruit, fruit juice, rind, twig, and bark are used as medicine. Mangosteen is used for many conditions, but so far, there isn't enough scientific evidence to determine whether or not it is effective for any of them.

11. oregano.
Oregano is an herb used to flavor foods. It is considered safe in common food amounts, but has little evidence of health benefits.

12. Moringa, or commonly known as Malunggay.
Moringa oleifera is a plant native to northern India that can also grow in other tropical and sub-tropical places, like Asia and Africa.
Folk medicine has used the leaves, flowers, seeds, and roots of this plant for centuries.

13. Painted coleus, or commonly known as Mayana.
Coleus blumei (Mayana) is one of the traditionally used folkloric medicine and is primarily used for pain, sore, swelling and cuts and in other instances as adjunct medication for delayed menstruation and diarrhea.


14.Queen’s crape myrthle, or commonly known as Banaba.
The Banaba plant is a tree native to Southeast Asia. It is widely known as a folk remedy for decades, with the first research study about it done back in 1940.

Banaba is touted to help with diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, kidney problems, and even urinary tract infections or UTI.

15. Turmeric, commonly known as luyang dilaw.
Turmeric, better known to us as luyang dilaw, is a common food item in the Filipino pantry. Not only is it often used as an ingredient in our favorite dishes, but it is also made into tea because of its various medicinal benefits.