A Preliminary Phytochemical Survey of Papua-New Guinea 
L. J. Webb 1 
Botanical exploration of the island of 
New Guinea as a whole was not seriously 
undertaken until about 1875. Then and for 
some time subsequently, the flora of British 
New Guinea was less intensively studied than 
that of Dutch and German New Guinea 
(White, 1923: 8). It is not surprising, there- 
fore, that, until recently, little attention was 
paid to the phytochemical resources of what 
is now known as the Territory of Papua-New 
Guinea. By contrast, active botanical research 
including chemistry and pharmacology of 
tropical plants was undertaken at Bogor 
(Buitenzorg) beginning in 1888 (Koolhaas, 
1945: 207). In addition to limited timber- 
milling, exploitation of coconut (copra) and 
sugar cane (for propagation) nearly sum- 
marises European interest in the resources of 
the New Guinea flora. 
So far, there has been no commercial de- 
velopment of an indigenous New Guinea 
plant as a pharmaceutic agent although the 
native peoples of the Territory, in common 
with those of other lands, possess hundreds 
of reputed remedies of plant origin. This em- 
pirical information has not been systematic- 
ally recorded, although noteworthy attempts 
have been made by some interested mission- 
aries and administration officials. Tropical 
countries, such as Africa and South America, 
with rich rain forest floras, have contributed 
1 Division of Plant Industry, Commonwealth Scien- 
tific and Industrial Research Organization, Brisbane, 
Australia. Manuscript received February 23, 1955. 
several notable plant drugs to world medicine, 
e.g., quinine, cocaine, and curare. The failure 
of New Guinea (as well as Australia) to provide 
a similar array of useful drugs may be due to 
its comparatively late contact with modern 
technology, and to economic factors. 
An Australian Phytochemical Survey, be- 
gun in the latter part of World War II, re- 
vealed many new and potentially valuable 
alkaloids, saponins, pigments, antibiotics, 
and other compounds of chemical interest 
(Webb, 1953). The tropical and subtropical 
rain forests of eastern Queensland and north- 
ern New South Wales yielded proportionately 
more species with alkaloids than did other 
plant formations. Their specific diversity, and 
the large quantities of bark and other material 
available for analysis from the dominant tree 
flora, make the rain forests an attractive sam- 
ple reservoir for organic chemists. Many of the 
alkaloid-bearing families, such as Rutaceae, 
Lauraceae, Loganiaceae, Monimiaceae, Me- 
nispermaceae, Apocynaceae (Webb, 1952^), 
are characteristic inhabitants of the tropics, 
and are well represented in New Guinea. 
This prompted a recommendation to the 
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Re- 
search Organization from the Third Australian 
Phytochemical Conference held in Sydney in 
May, 1951, that a brief reconnaissance of New 
Guinea phytochemical resources and facilities 
be made, to serve as a basis for a later more 
intensive survey, e.g., in conjunction with the 
Land Research and Regional Survey Section 
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