November-December 2019 ISSN: 0193-4120 Page No. 666 - 671 666 Published by: The Mattingley Publishing Co., Inc. Semantic Knowledge Management for Herbal Medicines Used in Primary Health Care Nattapong Kaewboonma 1 , Wirapong Chansanam 2 , Panupong Puttarak 3 , Thanakorn Damsud 4 1 Faculty of Management Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya, nattapong.k@rmutsv.ac.th 2 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, KhonKaen University, wirach@kku.ac.th 3 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Prince of Songkla University, panupong.p@psu.ac.th 4 Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya, thanakorn.d@rmutsv.ac.th Article Info Volume 81 Page Number: 666 - 671 Publication Issue: November-December 2019 Article History Article Received: 3 January 2019 Revised: 25 March 2019 Accepted: 28 July 2019 Publication: 25 November 2019 Abstract The use of medicinal plants or herbal medicines for the treatment of common and minor diseases and symptoms has been a part of culture and way of life. Semantic Web technologies enable people to create data stores on the Web, build vocabularies, and write rules for handling data. Ontologies provide a shared and common understanding of a domain that can be communicated across people and application. In this study, we propose the herbal medicines used in primary health care ontology. The ontology was developed by using the Hozo, which is an ontology editor environment. The process of ontology development of this research are 2 phases. Phases 1: Domain analysis for knowledge organization approach and Phase 2: Ontology life cycle for an evolutionary approach. The Concepts of Herbal Medicines classes can be divided into 6 concepts. These include Habit, UseTheRightParts, Taste, HealthProblem, MethodForPreparation, and PartsUsed. The consequently developed ontology will serve to be highly useful for the development of ontology- based recommendation system. Keywords: Semantic Web, Ontology, Knowledge Management, Herbal Medicines, Health Care 1. Introduction Nowadays, herbal medicines are increasingly popular among consumers. This is because they are cheaper and have less side effects than modern drugs which are made from chemical synthesis. As a result, pharmaceutical companies in many countries are becoming interested in herbs study and research in order to produce medicines and health supplements [1].In the area of primary health care, Ministry of Public Health use herbs as single herbs for medical treatment and food. People in various communities and in remote areas can effectively apply the knowledge of the use of herbs in their daily lives based on the principle of “Primary health care belongs to the people, service by the people for the people”. Herbs used for primary health care are selected to promote health and treat diseases with basic symptoms. The selection is based on the efficiency and safety corresponding to the knowledge and resources as well as the local environment of the community. The herbs must be well known and easy for people to make their own medicines. However, the utmost caution is required since negligence may lead to life-threatening consequences which may affect the effectiveness of the treatment or become toxic or cause unpleasant symptoms [2].The use of herbs in primary health care is promoted and published to treat common diseases or basic symptoms since many herbs are vegetables regularly consumed in most households. Herbs are used to treat the following diseases; 1) gastrointestinal tract disease, 2) respiratory tract disease, 3) urinary tract infection, 4) skin diseases, and 5) other diseases [3].In order to alleviate illnesses and