THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS

Thai Dishes of 4 Regions
Translated by Chanthana Chaichit
Herbs in the Thai Kitchen

According to Thai medical treatment, Thai dishes which wholly contain every flavor have medicinal qualities. Ingredients are classified as the followings:
Hot and Spicy Flavor: Ginger, galangal, lemon grass, krachai ( a kind of herb whose roots are used in cooking ), pepper, horapha (sweet basil), chillies, onion, garlic, etc. have medicinal qualities to get rid of chest discomfort, help digestion, relieve stomach discomfort and stimulate appetite
Bitter, Cool and Mild Flavor: Various kinds of vegetables such as fug ( a kind of Thai squash or melon ), young melon, dog-caea ( a kind of flowers from a tree whose family is sesbania grandiflora Pers.), bitter melon, taamlyn ( a kind of plant whose family is Coccinia grandis Voigt.), eggplants, etc. are to stimulate appetite, relieve high fever, help digestion and nourish the body’s chemical elements.
Sour Flavor: Lime, tamarind paste, maadun ( a kind of tree whose family is Garcinia schomburgkiana Pierre. ), mango, young leaves of maagok ( a kind of big tree whose family is Spondias pinnata Kurz.), phaaktiew ( a tree of Cratoxylum family ) and taew ( a tree of Cratoxylum maingayi Dyer. family ) are laxatives, medicine to cure cough, get rid of phlegm and cure colds.

Astringent, Sweet, Creamy and Salty Flavor: the flower cluster of the banana tree, coconut, shrimp paste and sugar are used to nourish tendons, the whole body and energy.
With medicinal herbs as main ingredients, Thai dishes are consideral the crown of all food, containing low calories as they are cooked with various kinds of local vegertables.
Local vegetables are medical herbs. To eat local vegetables, then, is to take Thai medicine. Nutrient and medicinal values are completely found in Thai, local vegetables.
The Thai people can have local vegetables for the whole year either in the rainy, summer, or cool seasons. Thao Yaa Naang ( a kind of plant ) with its young leaves, blossoms and fruits are edible. The leaves are crushed to get juice as an ingredient flavoring the pleasing taste of soups such as Bamboo soup, and Kaeng Kaea, etc.
Local begetables have their special qualities as the followings:
Hot and Spicy Flavor with Fragrant Smell: Chillies, Coriander seeds, cardamoms, cloves, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, pepper, deeplee ( a kind of long pepper ), kaprao ( a kind of sweet basil ), krachai ( kaempferia pendurata ), bai maenglak ( a kind of sweet basil ) and phakphai ( or phakphaew, a kind of fragrant leaves of polygonum odoratum Lour. Family).
Giving Pleasing, Sweet and Sour Flavor: Tamarind, maadun, lime, maaeyk ( a kind of bush of Solanum stramonifolium Jacq. ), maasaank ( a kind of sour fruit whose family is Feroniella lucida Swing. ), rakam ( a kind of red, sour edible fruit ), taalingpling

THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS Part V

KrachaiScientific name: Boesenbergia rotunda (Linn.) Mansf.
Family: ZINGIBERACEAE
Vernacular name: Krachai
Krachai has finger-like rhizomes, shoots with up to four leaves, and a spike of white or pink flowers with a pink-spotted white lip. They are widely cultivated in Thailand and Indonesia for the spicy flavour. Yellow-fleshed rhizome flavours Thai food including soups, fish dishes, and curries. They are also used to reduce flatulence and to treat diarrhea, dysentery, and worms. In Thailand the leaves are regard as an antidote to certain poisons.
A perennial herb with a small, slightly branched dark brown rhizome. The fleshy roots are cylindrical to spindle in shape, yellowish brown in colour and are arranged at right angle to the rhizome. The leaves are fairly large, oval in outline with acute apex. The inflorescence is composed of 4-6 flowers, the flowers blooming gradually from the base towards the apex of the inflorescence. Individual flowers are reddish purple in colour.
The aromatic tuberous roots are used as condiments in Thai food. The rhizomes and roots are reputed to increase physical efficiency. They are used as an antidysentery and a carminative in traditional Thai medicine. The rhizomes contain 0.08 percent of volatile oil, composed of cineol, boesenbergin A, camphor, etc.

Coriander
Scientific name: Coriandrum sativum L.
Vernacular name: Phak chi
All parts of the plant, that is, tender stem, leaves, flowers and fruits have a pleasant aromatic odour. It is a popular flavouring herb and spice. An annual coriander grows from 30-80 cm tall and bears small clusters of tiny white or pink flowers. The seeds are spherical, ribbed, and 3-4 mm in diameter. The plant grows best in sunny situations. Whole seeds are brittle and easy to grind to a fine powder. Coriander fruits are usually dry roasted before grinding to enhance flavor. It is actually the housewife’s secret of tasty dishes, It is used almost essential ingredient in curry powder. Coriander fruits are used to be carminative, diuretic, tonic, stomachic, antibilions, refrigerant and aphordisiac. Thai dishes are flavoured with fresh leaves of coriander.

THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS Part IV

Galangal
Scientific name: Alpinia galangal (L.) Willd.
Family: ZINGIBERACEAE
Vernacular name: Kha
Galangal is one of the members of the ginger family. It is the rhizome of a plant Alpinia galangal (L.) Willd. The plant is about 1-2 metres high and has long narrow leaves and small white, red-streaked flowers. The rhizomes arc knobbly and ginger-like which are deep orange-brown in colour, aromatic, pungent and bitter. Dried rhizome pieces are tougher and woodier than dried ginger. It is used in soups
and stews, but remove before serving as they are unpleasant and woody to chew on. Its piquant taste is akin to cardamon and ginger. Galangals are used fresh in curries and stews. It is an essential component of Thai curry pastes and other Thai cooking. The rhizomes and its essential oil are used to treat catarrh and respiratory problems. It is also carminative and stomachic.
Both the fresh and dried rhizomes are used in Thai-style soups and curries.

Nutmeg Tree
Scientific name: Myristica fragrans Houtt.
Family: MYRISTICACEAE
Vernacular name: Chan-thed
Myristica fragrans is unigue among spice plants as it produces two distinct spices: nutmeg and mace. Nutmeg is the kernel of the seed, mace is the lacy growth, known as the aril, which surrounds the seed. Nutmeg was being used in China as a medicine for digestive disorders. The Indians and Arabs valued it as a treatment for digestive, liver and skin complaints, and both nutmeg and mace were held to be aphrodisiacs. The nutmeg tree is an evergreen that grows to 12 metres or more in height. It has dark green oval leaves and small pale yellow flowers. Nutmeg and mace are similar in aroma and taste, but mace is more refined. The aroma is rich, fresh and warm The taste is warm and highly aromatic-sweetish in nutmeg and more bitter in mace. Europeans have used nutmeg and mace most extensively in both sweet and savoury dishes. Nutmeg is a standard seasoning in many Thai recipes. The flesh of the fruit is used to make a sweetmeat.
An evergreen tree growing to the height of 8 to 17 metres. Its leaves are leathery, shiny, dark green and oblong-ovate in outline with acute apex and base. Its pistillate flowers are small, yellow and axillary. Its fruit is a yellow, nearly ovoid, fleshy, 2-valved capsule. The seed is surrounded by a fleshy, orange-red to red aril. It is cultivated in the southern part of Thailand.
The dried ripe seeds (nutmeg) and dried arils (mace) are used as spices. Medicinally it is used as a stimulant and a carminative. The seeds and arils contain myristica oil which is composed mainly of myristicin and saffrole.

THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS Part III

Chilli Pepper
Scientific name: Capsicum annum L.
Family: SOLANACEAI
Vernacular name: Prik
Chillies grow in all parts of the tropics, usually grows to 30 cm – 1 m (1-3 ft) high. There are many varieties of Chillies, varying in shape, colour, size and pungency of fruits Generally, the large, round, fleshy varieties are milder than the small, thinskinned, pointed types. They are used ripe, when they may be red, orange, yellow or purple, and unripe, when they are green. Ripe chillies are available dried, crushed, flaked and ground. Dry chillies is extensively used as a spice in all types of curry dishes. Fresh chillies are rich in vitamin C, they help in the digestion of starchy foods and may be taken as a tonic. In large does, chillies may cause stomach and intestinal burns.




Ginger
Scientific name: Zingiber officinale Rosc.
Family: ZINGIBERACEAE
Vernacular name: Khing
One of the oldest and most important spices is now widely grown. The fresh rhizome is knobbly, off-white of buff-coloured and often branched. The pale yellow flesh should not be too fibrous. The ginger plant grows up to 1 m on partly shaped sloped. It has narrow pointed leaves and small yellow, purple-lipped flowers. The hard, knobbly rhizome is about 2 cm in diameter. Rhizomes are used fresh or preserved. Ginger’s flavour is hot and slightly biting. In cooking ginger is mostly used fresh. It is an essential ingredient of curry powder and other spice blends, and is found in gingerbread, biscuits, cakes, puddings, pickles and many Asian vegetable dishes. It is widely used in medicine as a digestive aid. Ginger tea made by infusing dried or fresh rhizome in boiling water for five minutes. It is a warming drink and thought to improve the circulation.
An erect plant with thickened, fleshy and very aromatic rhizome. The stem is 0.4 to 1 metre high with long and narrow leaves arranged alternately in two ranks along the stem. The inflorescence is cone-shaped, borne on a long stalk which emerges from the underground stem. Individual flowers are greenish-yellow with a small dark purple tip. The rhizomes differ in shape and size in the different cultivars.

THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS Part II

Lemon Grass
Scientific name: Cymbopogon citratus Stapf
Family: GRAMINEAE
Vernacular name: Ta Khrai
Lemon grass is found throughout Southeast Asia. The culinary stem and leaf have a distinct lemon flavour. The base and lower shoots of the plant are used in cooking, and give a fresh, elusively aromatic taste in many Thai dishes.
A perennial tufted grass, up to 1.5 m has clumped, bulbous stems becoming leaf-blades and a branched panicle of flowers. Lemon grass grown readily in almost any soils, its bulb and leaves constantly multiplying. It is easily grown and thrives in a hot, sunny climate with some rainfall. It is better suited in sandy soil, which produces a higher content of the essential oil.
It is a common ingredient in Thai cooking. The coarse, long flat leaves are normally discarded, and only around 10-15 cm of the bulbous base used. If the lemon grass is to be eaten raw, the outer layers of the bulb should be peeled away until the pinkish ring inside appears; the tender portion is the finely sliced. Lemon grass is also bruised and added whole to many curry dishes, or sliced before pounded to a paste with other ingredients and added to many dishes. Lemon grass remains fibrous after cooking, so avoid chewing it. It combines well with garlic, shallots and chillies, and with fresh coriander to flavour fish, shellfish, chicken and pork.
In the past, lemon grass was prescribed to relieve flatulence and as sedative. The culinary stem is used for stomachache, diarrhea, headaches, fevers and flu, and is antiseptic. The essential oil is used for cosmetics and food, and in aromatherapy to improve circulation and muscle tone. The antiseptic oil treats athlete’s foot and acne, and when sprayed, reduces air-borne infections.




Garlic
Scientific name: Allium sativum Linn.
Family: ALLIACEAE
Vernacular name: Kra-thiam
Garlic has long been recognised all over the world as a valuable condiment for foods, and a popular remedy medicine for various ailments and physiological disorders. It is hardy bulbous perennial with narrow flat leaves, and bears small white umbel of edible flowers and bulbils. kra thiam clustered made up of several bulblets called cloves enclosed in a papery white or pinkish sheath. Garlic is used practically all over the world for flavouring various dishes. Fresh garlic is used in several food preparation in Thailand. Fried Garlic in oil is the most popular for seasoning in Thai dishes. Raw garlic can be used in the manufacture of garlic powder packed into capsules. Garlic purifies the blood, helps control acne, and reduces blood pressure, cholesterol, and clotting. Garlic clears catarrh, thus providing treatment for colds, bronchitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, and whooping cough.
The dried, mature bulbs are a popular condiment in Thai cuisine. Garlic is used in numerous Thai dishes where it serves as a flavouring as well as preservative. Thinly-sliced garlic, fried to a crisp golden brown colour, is used to garnish savoury Thai dishes.

THAI HERBS AND HERBAL PRODUCTS Part I

CHAPTER THREE

Spices

Spices are parts of aromatic plants which usually obtained from the tropics, including seeds, flowers, leaves, bark or roots. They are often in whole or ground form, and used for imparting flavour aroma and piquancy for seasoning foods. Many spices such as Pepper, lemon grass, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, mace and others were used in large amount in the kitchens for flavouring and preserving food. Hundreds of herbs and spices were used for making drugs, medicines and cosmetics. They helped to preserved food, to make it digestible, and at the same time provided the basis of their medicines. Spices not only flavour and improve the taste of the food, but supply uswith many nitritional prophylatic substances. Spices have long been concerned in Thai cooking. A quantities of species are also being consumed within the country for flavouring foods and also needed in medicine, pharmaceutical, perfumery, cosmetics and other industries. The plants are planted both ornamental and agriculture. Spices played on important role both in thc religions and Thai cooking since Sukhothai period. Until Ayutthaya’s territory (1350-1767), spices came from India as dried materials which were used for religious purposes such as Kritsana (Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.), Kamyan (Styrax spp.) by preparing just sticks, for food by using dried leaves and mature seeds of Krawan (Amomum testaceum Ridl.), Krawan pa (A. uliginosum Koen.) and Krawan thet (A. cardamomum Moton.). They were pounded and mixed together to brownish powder and used for medicine, perfume and seasoning food. The seeds of Krawan (Cardamon) and Camphor

Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees) were used as aromatic plants. By the end of Ayutthaya period, Thai food were cooked by adding more spices which came from Japanese and. Malaysian, e.g. the rhizome of Khamin Daeng (Curcuma longa L.) gave the yellow colour for the soup, the powder used to make desserts, the mixture with Indian spices used for curry. In Rattanakosin period, spices were used more for instance Yi ra (Cuminum cyminum L.), Horapha (Ocimum basilicum L.), Kra phroa (Ocimum tenuiflorum L.), Maeng lak [(Ocimum americanum L var. pilosum (Willd.)Paton] Sims., Saranae (Mentha cordifolia Opiz ex Fresem), Ta khrai (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf.) Prik Thai (Piper nigrurn L.), Prik (Capiscum annuum L.), Kra thiam (Allium sativum L.), Ma nao (Citrus aurantifolia (Christm) Swingle) Ma khuea ther (Cyphomandra betacea Cav.) etc. others. Nowadays spices are an accepted part of Thai dialy lives of cooking. Spices are used as a whole or grounded as powder to be the mixture in sources, curry paste etc. They are used from cooking to medicine.



Most Favourite Spices
Translated by Ms. Kongkanda Chayamarit
Pepper
Scientific name: Piper nigrum Linn.
Family: PIPERACEAE
Vernacular name: Prik Thai

Pepper is native to the monsoon forests of the Malabar coast in southwest India. The pepper vine is now grown in much of tropical Asia. Pepper is the most popular spice in most of the recipes in cookery, to aid digestion, to preserve food and to enchance its flavor. Pepper has a warm, woody smell that is fresh, pungent and agreeably aromatic. Pepper is neither sweet nor savoury, just pungent, and can therefore be used in both types of dish. It is so popular that it has given its name to a wide range of dishes.
Pepper is a perennial vine with stout stem, dark green leaves, white flowering spikes and green to dark red fruit. The vine takes
seven to eight years to reach full maturity, and continues to bear fruit for 15-20 years. It is trained up posts of the trees grown for shade in coffee plantations.
There are black, white and green peppercorns. The black pepper which are the whole berries picked unripe and sun dried until shrivelled, is the most widely used, while the white peppercorns are ripe berries with the red skins removed before being bleached white by drying in the sun. It is hotter and less subtle than the black. It is mostly used by sprinkling it in powdered form on many cooked dishes. Green peppercorns are the immature berries pickled in brine or freeze-dried while still fresh, is not as hot and has a clean, fresh taste.
Pepper is said to help relieve flatulence and to have diuretic properties. It is the main source of heat in tropical Asian food.

Thai Herbs and Herbal Products

Thai Herbs and Herbal Products
The Art of Drug compounding in Traditional Thai Medicine


Within the past decade, there has been an in global awareness of environmental issues including the proper usage and preservation of natural resources. Thailand, in an effort to become self-reliant, has strived to fully utilize and protect the existing natural resources including medicinal plants. In solving the country’s health problems, the government has resorted to the use of medicinal plants in order to provide basic health care for the people. In spite of the fact that much of the research carried out on Thai medicinal plant has, in the past, been directed towards the isolation of active compounds for use as modern drugs, it is recognized that appropriate modification and development of indigenous drugs are of equal importance.


The intrinsic principles of traditional Thai medicine are propounded on the knowledge of
1. Drug matters. This concerns the basic knowledge of each drug ingredient which may be derived from plant, animal or mineral. Traditional practitioners must be knowledgeable on the names, description, colour, odour and tasted of each drug.

2. Drug attributes. In Thai medicine, drugs are divided into groups according to their pharmacological actions. The tastes ascribed to the formulated drugs are believed to be correlated to their ability to cure certain ailments. For instance, drugs with a cooling taste are said to cure ailments caused by the restoration of the wind element. Individual drugs are recognized as possessing astringent, sweet, bitter, acrid, nutty, salty or sour tastes.

3. Drug grouping. To facilitate drug prescription in traditional Thai medicine where a recipe may consist of 30-40 ingredients, a number of drug ingredients are grouped together. These may be ingredients with similar nature or attributes or they may be different drugs grouped together to form specific entities. Each of these drug groups may consist of two to nine ingredients. An example of these entities is “the two licorices” comprising Thai licorice (Albizia myriophylla) and Spanish licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra).
4. Drug dispensing or compounding. In traditional Thai medicine, a drug refers to two or more ingredients mixed together into an appropriate dosage form. The ingredients contained in each recipe may be classified into three main categories, namely the principal drug(s) , The adjuvant (s) and the flavouring agents. In general, twenty-five dosage forms are recognized. These include the more common preparations, such as pills, decoctions, alcoholic macerates, snuffs, poultices and suppositories. In addition to these traditional dosage forms, the Ministry of Public Health has permitted two more modern dosage forms for traditional drugs, i.e. tablets and capsules. Preservatives are also allowed to be used in traditional drug formulation.

Beside the main principles as outlined above, other factors also have to be
taken into consideration. These are


1. Specific Knowledge of drug ingredients. Since more than one drug plant may possess identical common or local names, traditional practitioners must be able to identify the correct species and to differentiate between useful species and poisonous ones. The knowledge on the part or parts of medicinal plants to be used is also essential. Other pertinent information includes the forms in which the drug ingredients are required. Some ingredients are best used fresh while other are used in the dried form. Certain ingredients may need to be detoxified prior to use.
2. Doses. The appropriate amount of each ingredient is usually measured out using the old system of measurements. An example of traditional Thai system of measurement for weight is given below.
1 chang (1.200 g) = 20 tum-lueng
1 tum-lueng (60 g) = 4 baht
1 baht (15g ) = 4 salueng
1 salueng (3.75 g) = 2 feung
1 feung (1.875 g) = 4 pai
1 pai (0468g) = 2 utt



Traditional systems for measuring lengths and capacities also exist.

3. Vehicles. These are liquids used in drug formulation in order to dissolve or to extract active constituents from drug ingredients. In many cased, they may act to potentiate the action of the principal drug. Vehicles used in traditional drug formulation include water, spirit and lime water, for instance. The potency of the elixir may depend on the choice of vehicle used.
4. Methods of preparation. Of the 25 dosage forms previously mentioned, in practice only four or five are in common use and these are briefly described below.

PREPARATION OF DRUG INGERDIENTS

All ingredients must first be washed and then cut into small pieces if they are to be used fresh. If dried ingredients are required, fresh. If dried ingredients are required, fresh ingredients are sliced thinly and sun dried.

Flued Extracts

Both fresh and dried ingredients may be prepared in the above explanation. The method is suitable for ingredients which are water soluble but may be unappetizing in their crude forms. To prepare an extract, the plant materials are placed into a utensil which may be a clay, an enameled or stainless steep pot. Water is added as stipulated in the recipe or until it just covers the ingredients. The mixture is then boiled for 2-30 minutes depending on the types of ingredients used.

Infusion

A somewhat simpler version of the above procedure, the method entails the addition of boiling water onto finely shredded ingredients contained in a small cup or glass with a lid. The mixture is set aside to brew for 3-5 minutes, after which the clear supernatant is decanted.

Alcoholic Macerates

This method is mostly used for extracting water-insoluble constituents from dried drug ingredients. Air-dried drugs are weighed, wrapped in a piece of muslin and then placed into a glass jar with a tightly fitted lid. Sufficient quantity of spirite (28-40 degree proof) is then added to just cover the ingredients. With daily stirring, the maceration process is usually allowed to proceed for a period of 1-5 weeks.

Pills

To prepare pills, Binding agents such as honey as honed or syrup are used. Dried and finely powdered ingredients are placed into a bowl and a small amount of honey is gradually added. This mixture is then kneaded into a large ball. The mixture may be shaped into small round balls by hand or with aid of a special tool. The finished pills are then sun dried for 1-2 days. The pills produced in this way may be stored in closed jars for up to one month.

As outlined above, the techniques of drug compounding in traditional Thai medicine are, in most cases, Kept simple with minimum requirement for sophisticated equipment, so that they could be practiced at household and community levels. With the advancement of today’s technology, however, the methods of indigenous drug production could be vastly improved to make the drugs more effective, safer and more acceptable to the modern generation.


TAMATRND



Scientific name: Tamarindus indica Linn.
Family: GEGUMINOSAE
Vernacular name: Ma-Khaam



The pulp is used as a laxative in traditional Thai medicine while the kernels from roasted ripe seeds are used as an anthelmintic for threadworms in children. The pulp contains 12-15 percent of organic acids including tartaric, citric and lactic acids.



PLAUNOI




Scientific name: Croton sublyratus Kurz
Family: EUPHORBIACEAE
Vernacular name: Plaunoi



ASIATIC PENNYWORT



Scientific name: Centella asiatica Urban
Family: UMBELLIFERAE
Vernacular name: Bua-bok


PLAI



Scientific name: Zingiber cassumunar Foxb.
Family: ZINGIBERACEAE
Vernacular name: Plai

The pressed juice from pounded fresh rhizomes has long been used to relieve sprains. The powder derived from the dried rhizomes is used in traditional medicine as an anti-asthmatic agent.