The research reported here is part of a comprehensive investigation of medicine, diet, and health in eastern Indonesia. Specifically, we explore the health implications of medicinal plant use by contemporary peoples of Maluku Province, where health care continues to be significantly influenced by the medical traditions of an ethnically diverse population. To date, no systematic field-based research on medicinal plant use has been
conducted in eastern Indonesia, and the few studies that exist have generated catalogues of botanicals by function, without efforts to link
indigenous plant use with phytochemical constituents or to explore the implications of plant use for human health. By contrast, our research
links ethnography to pharmacological action. We report the results of our pilot study. Follow-up studies will amplify this to include laboratory investigation of commonly used medicinal plants.