🌿 “From Ethnophytomedicine to Sustainable Bioeconomy: Contextualizing the Multifaceted Potential of Calamus tenuis Roxb.”
Calamus tenuis (commonly known as rattan or cane palm) is one of those plants that has quietly sustained entire communities across South Asia for generations: as food, medicine, building material, and livelihood. Yet it remains remarkably understudied in the scientific literature.
This comprehensive review synthesizes what we know about its traditional uses across ethnomedicinal systems, validated pharmacological activities (antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, antibacterial, analgesic, and more), phytochemical composition, and extraordinary bioeconomic potential.
✅ The deeper message? Every understudied plant is a library of solutions that took communities centuries to compile.
The paper also maps where the critical gaps are (toxicity profiling, clinical validation, industrial scalability) and calls for a systems-thinking approach that centers conservation, community equity, and sustainable commercialization.
This is the kind of work where we bridge ancient wisdom and emerging biotechnology. Grateful to my co-authors Md Nasir Ahmed and Professor Rownak Jahan for this collaboration.
Find the article here (with limited time free access):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S3050475926007360?dgcid=author