History and Traditional Uses

The name Ginkgo is thought to come from the Chinese word sankyo or yin-kuo, meaning "hill apricot" or "silver fruit." This is in reference to the fruits produced by female trees which resemble apricots, but have a smell like rotting flesh or rancid butter (Hobbs, 1991). The characteristic attributed to their content of butanoic and hexanoic acid, the same chemicals responsible for the odor of romano cheese and rancid butter (Amato, 1993). The species name "biloba," meaning two lobes, refers to the unique two-lobed, fan-like leaves (Hobbs, 1991).

The fruits of Ginkgo have been used as both food and medicine for 1,000s of years. The fruits are prepared by fermentation and cooking and are considered a delicacy during weddings and feasts. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ginkgo nuts are used as a kidney "yang" tonic; accordingly, to increase sexual energy, halt bed-wetting and frequent nocturnal emissions, restore hearing loss, and soothe bladder irritation. The nuts are boiled as a tea used to treat lung weakness and congestion (especially asthma), wheezing, coughing, vaginal candidiasis, frequent urination, cloudy urine, and excess mucus in the urinary tract. Other TCM uses for the nuts include the treatment of cancer, intestinal worms, gonorrhea, leukorrhea, and as a poultice for infections (Hobbs, 1991). In Malaya, the nuts are popularly used in making desserts and are recommended for nutritional gains believed to affect the brain, circulation, and eyes (Curtis-Prior et al., 1999). Interestingly, the leaves are used much less and include the treatment of chilblains (reddening, swelling and itching of the skin due to frostbite), and as a throat spray for asthma. Other herbs are frequently used in conjunction with Ginkgo in TCM (Hobbs, 1991).

Today, Ginkgo extract is enjoying world-wide popularity as a botanical medicine. In Germany, Ginkgo leaf extract is one of the most popular single botanicals prescribed, with 5.24 million prescriptions written in 1988 alone (Chang and Chang, 1997). In the United States, Ginkgo extract recently stepped into the "herbal spotlight," primarily due to heavy media coverage following an article in an American Medical Association journal on the possible benefits of Ginkgo extract in Alzheimer’s patients (Le Bars et al., 1997).