South African a professor of indigenous botany (1956-
Ben-Erik van Wyk
FAAS (born 27 December 1956 in
Bellville ) is a South African professor of indigenous
botany and
traditional African medicine at the University of Johannesburg.
Early life and education
Ben-Erik van Wyk was born on 27 December 1956 in
Bellville , South Africa.
[1] In 1979, he received a
Bachelor of Science from
Stellenbosch University in
Forestry and Nature Conservation. In 1983, he graduated
cum laude with a
Master of Science . In 1989, he obtained a
Doctor of Philosophy from the
University of Cape Town .
[2]
[3]
[4]
Career and research
Since 1984, Van Wyk has been teaching at the
Rand Afrikaans University , where he has been a professor since 1990. Since 2005, he has been a professor at the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology,
University of Johannesburg , where the Rand Afrikaans University has been absorbed.
[5]
[6]
[4]
Van Wyk researches African plant
plant classification (
taxonomy
[7] and
chemotaxonomy
[8] ) particularly for
Apiaceae ,
[9]
Fabaceae ,
[10]
Aloe ,
[11]
[12] and
Asphodelaceae .
[13]
[14] In addition, he focuses on medicinal plants and
ethnobotany ,
[15]
[16] including the ethnobotany of
Khoisan
[17] and
Afrikaners from the Western Cape.
[15]
[18] He is also involved in quality control and product development of
medicinal plant products and crop development.
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
Through 600 vibrant photographs of more than 120 distinct culinary herbs, spices, and flavourings that Van Wyk has collected from the distant reaches; his books
[23] transport us back to the earliest uses of spices by ancient civilisations and lead us on a journey of discovery from Ethiopia to China.
[24]
[25]
[26]
Van Wyk is a member of several organizations, including the Aloe Council of South Africa (Chair), the
American Society of Plant Taxonomists , the
Botanical Society of America , the Indigenous Plant Use Forum (Chair since 1996),
[27] the Association for African Medicinal Plant Standards , Briza Publications CC, and the Presidential Task Team on African Traditional Medicine .
[28]
[29]
[30] He is a Member of the Editorial Board of the
South African Journal of Botany , the Official Journal of the South African Association of Botanists.
[31]
Awards and honours
Van Wyk has received several awards, including the Schlich Medal in 1980, the FRD President's Award in 1991, the
Havenga prize for Biology from the
South African Academy of Science and Art in 2006, the Silver Medal from the
South African Association of Botanists in 2007,
[32] and the Medal of Honor from the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology of the South African Academy of Science and Art in 2011.
[4]
[2]
Van Wyk was elected a Fellow of the
African Academy of Sciences in 2013.
[29]
Publications
Van Wyk has (co-)authored more than two hundred articles in scientific journals and (co-)authored more than 180
botanical names . His books and commentary
[33]
[34] have been published in
Afrikaans , German, Polish and Korean, in addition to the English-language editions.
[6]
[29]
[35]
References
^
"1092541" . viaf.org . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
a
b . 2017-09-04
https://web.archive.org/web/20170904011127/https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/science/botany/Documents/Ben-Erik%20van%20Wyk_CV.pdf . Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"ORCID" . orcid.org . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
a
b
c
"Ben-Erik van Wyk" . www.stellenboschwriters.com . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Ben-Erik van Wyk, Timber Press author" . 2016-02-02. Archived from
the original on 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
a
b
"Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk" . University of Johannesburg . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
Phytomedicines, Herbal Drugs, and Poisons . University of Chicago Press.
^ Steenkamp, P. A.; Harding, N. M.; van Heerden, F. R.; van Wyk, B. -E. (2004-10-04).
"Fatal Datura poisoning: identification of atropine and scopolamine by high performance liquid chromatography/photodiode array/mass spectrometry" . Forensic Science International . 145 (1): 31–39.
doi :
10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.03.011 .
ISSN
0379-0738 .
PMID
15374592 .
^ Calviño, Carolina I.; Tilney, Patricia M.; Wyk, Ben-Erik; Downie, Stephen R. (2006-12-01).
"A molecular phylogenetic study of southern African Apiaceae" . American Journal of Botany . 93 (12): 1828–1847.
doi :
10.3732/ajb.93.12.1828 .
ISSN
0002-9122 .
PMID
21642128 .
^ van Wyk, B-E.; Albrecht, C. (2008-10-28).
"A review of the taxonomy, ethnobotany, chemistry and pharmacology of Sutherlandia frutescens (Fabaceae)" . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . Ethnobotany in South Africa. 119 (3): 620–629.
doi :
10.1016/j.jep.2008.08.003 .
ISSN
0378-8741 .
PMID
18761068 .
^ Dagne, E.; Bisrat, D.; Viljoen, A.; van Wyk, B.E. (2000-10-01).
"Chemistry of Aloe Species" . Current Organic Chemistry . 4 (10): 1055–1078.
doi :
10.2174/1385272003375932 .
^ Chen, Weiyang; Van Wyk, Ben-Erik; Vermaak, Ilze; Viljoen, Alvaro M. (2012-03-01).
"Cape aloes—A review of the phytochemistry, pharmacology and commercialisation of Aloe ferox" . Phytochemistry Letters . 5 (1): 1–12.
Bibcode :
2012PChL....5....1C .
doi :
10.1016/j.phytol.2011.09.001 .
ISSN
1874-3900 .
^ Viljoen, Alvaro; van Vuuren, Sandy; Ernst, Erika; Klepser, Michael; Demirci, Betűl; Başer, Husnu; van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2003-10-01).
"Osmitopsis asteriscoides (Asteraceae)-the antimicrobial activity and essential oil composition of a Cape-Dutch remedy" . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 88 (2): 137–143.
doi :
10.1016/S0378-8741(03)00191-0 .
ISSN
0378-8741 .
PMID
12963133 .
^ Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2002).
Poisonous plants of South Africa . Fanie Van Heerden, Bosch Van Oudtshoorn (1st ed.). Pretoria: Briza Publications.
ISBN
978-1-875093-30-4 .
OCLC
51046239 .
^
a
b van Wyk, B. -E. (2008-10-28).
"A review of Khoi-San and Cape Dutch medical ethnobotany" . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . Ethnobotany in South Africa. 119 (3): 331–341.
doi :
10.1016/j.jep.2008.07.021 .
ISSN
0378-8741 .
PMID
18703129 .
^ Van Wyk, B. -E.; de Wet, H.; Van Heerden, F. R. (2008-11-01).
"An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in the southeastern Karoo, South Africa" . South African Journal of Botany . 74 (4): 696–704.
doi :
10.1016/j.sajb.2008.05.001 .
ISSN
0254-6299 .
^ Mhlongo, L. S.; Van Wyk, B. -E. (2019-05-01).
"Zulu medicinal ethnobotany: new records from the Amandawe area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa" . South African Journal of Botany . 122 : 266–290.
doi :
10.1016/j.sajb.2019.02.012 .
ISSN
0254-6299 .
S2CID
146062047 .
^ Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2000).
People's plants : a guide to useful plants of Southern Africa . Nigel Gericke (1st ed.). Pretoria, South Africa: Briza Publications.
ISBN
1-875093-19-2 .
OCLC
43265207 .
^ Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (1997).
Medicinal plants of South Africa . Bosch Van Oudtshoorn, Nigel Gericke (1st ed.). Pretoria: Briza Publications.
ISBN
1-875093-09-5 .
OCLC
38101658 .
^ Wyk, Ben-Erik van; Wink, Michael (2018-10-31).
Medicinal Plants of the World . CABI.
ISBN
978-1-78639-325-8 .
^ van Wyk, B. -E. (2008-10-28).
"A broad review of commercially important southern African medicinal plants" . Journal of Ethnopharmacology . Ethnobotany in South Africa. 119 (3): 342–355.
doi :
10.1016/j.jep.2008.05.029 .
ISSN
0378-8741 .
PMID
18577439 .
^ Van Wyk, B. -E. (2011-10-01).
"The potential of South African plants in the development of new medicinal products" . South African Journal of Botany . Special issue on Economic Botany. 77 (4): 812–829.
doi :
10.1016/j.sajb.2011.08.011 .
ISSN
0254-6299 .
^ Wyk, Ben-Erik van (2014-09-26).
Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World . University of Chicago Press.
ISBN
978-0-226-09183-9 .
^ Dugmore, Heather.
"Spice up your knowledge on herbs" . www.iol.co.za . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^ Heathcock, Kit (2022-06-17).
"SCENTS & SENSIBILITY: A taste of fynbos – exploring South Africa's indigenous culinary herbs" . Daily Maverick . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^ Fabricant, Florence (2014-02-11).
"A Cooking Class, an Herb Book and a Special Cod" . The New York Times .
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^ Johannesburg, University of.
"Why wild African fruits can supplement low protein staple foods" . phys.org . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries" . kiki.huh.harvard.edu . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
a
b
c
"Van Wyk Ben-Erik | The AAS" . www.aasciences.africa . Archived from
the original on 2022-12-27. Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Ben-Erik van Wyk - Professor of Botany" . app.ckbk.com . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Editorial board - South African Journal of Botany | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier" . www.sciencedirect.com . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"SAAB Award Recipients" . South African Association of Botanists . 2018-08-11. Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Invasives and Natives: Hello aloe" . South Coast Herald . 11 June 2017. Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^ Uys, Fredalette.
"Vrae oor bestuursplan vir bitteraalwyn, heuningbos" . Landbou (in Afrikaans). Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
"Ben-Erik van Wyk" . University of Chicago Press . Retrieved 2022-12-27 .
^
International Plant Names Index .
B.-E.van Wyk .
External links
International National Academics Other