Medicinal plants of Seychelles: Renowned flu & cold remedies |04 September 2020

With the increasing numbers of people complaining about ‘cold and flu’ symptoms recently, some look to the power of plants for their natural, healing properties.

With the aim of raising awareness about medicinal plants, Therese Barbe, research officer at the National Heritage Research and Protection Section (NHPRS) spoke to Seychelles NATION to share her knowledge about medicinal plants of Seychelles, and to give examples of those that are locally renowned for fighting coughs, colds, fever and inflammation.

For many years, the NHRPS conducted various work on medicinal plants of Seychelles, and this included several trials of propagating plants before they were significantly proven in 1992. The demand for alternative medicine in Seychelles began to increase, but not without some controversial opinion. It was in 2003, that the National Association for Herbalists was formed.

Medicinal plants are said to have the following advantages:

• They are natural
• Locally cultivated and are grown in the mountains
• They are rich in many compounds
• Many prescribed drugs derive from plants

They are also known to have the following disadvantages:

• Knowledge and skills are required to prescribe traditional medicine
• They could have potential side effects if someone overdoses
• Adverse reactions with prescribed medicine
• Plants with adverse effects to prescribed drugs are Ayapana/Ayapana Triplinervis. The same also have adverse effects to milk

For those interested in learning, the following are a few examples of medicinal plants in Seychelles and their uses, primarily in fighting flu and cold symptoms.