Traditional Medical Herbs by Early Women

Indonesian medical herbs and natural medicines are called JAMU and their healing properties have been known for centuries.  Jamu's history, related to the Mataram Hindu Empire , began 1300 years ago in the palaces of Yogjakarta and Solo and was practically unknown outside this immense country. Until recently that is, when slowly the rest of the world has started to discover the effectiveness of these mystical herbs. The Dutch however, who colonized this large archipelago over a period of 500 years, understood quite well the value of spices, including the development of their medicinal use. The CINCHONA tree bark for instance, was the basic ingredient for quinine, still a favorite remedy for malaria, leg cramps and fever.

Indonesia, blessed with tropical forests, has with the Amazon, the largest number of herbal species in the world. Jamu is made from side effect free medicinal herbs and trees using their leaves, seeds, barks, roots and fruits.

The University of Leiden,The Netherlands,(department of tropical medicine), possesses the largest library and analyses of Jamu  and still the best standard Jamu encyclopedia of today was written by J. Kloppenburg-Versteeg - in 1907 !!!