The toxicity of antiviral plants used in Balinese traditional medicine

The human being all over the world seems to be faced with the increasing of the viral diseases. Herbal medicines which are already used traditionally from generation to generation is subjected to screen for the antiviral purposes. From the available Balinese traditional text of medicine, it is found that there are two viral diseases suspected, namely tilas for herpes zoster and kecacar for smallpox in modern medicine. There are 29 kinds of medicinal plants described for tilas, and more than 70 kinds of plants for kecacar. Due to practical reason, only five plants prescribed for herpes zoster analyzed for this study, namely: 1) Alpinia galanga L., 2) Erythrina lithosperma Miq., 3) Sterculia foetida L., 4) Coriandrum sativa L., and 5) Syzygium cumini L. Study was focused on the isolation and their toxicities in terms of LD-50. The results found are as follows: 1) Volatile oil was isolated from Alpinia galangal L.; 2) alkaloid was isolated from Erythrina lithosperma Miq.; 3) flavonoid was isolated from Sterculia foetida L.; 4) volatile oil was isolated from Coriandrum sativum L.; and 5) tannin was isolated from the Syzygium cumini L. Isolation technique used was GC-MS. From the results found, it is concluded: all the plants stated are safe to be used as herbal medicine. For further study is recommended: the antiviral activity testing is a must for the stated plants, either in vivo or in vitro; the similar study needs to conduct for other plants described traditionally for the same diseases.