A vision for medicinal plants (original) (raw)

Medicinal Plants and Biotechnology: An Integrated Approach to Healthcare

Floriculture, Ornamental and Plant Biotechnology: Advances and Topical Issues Vol. IV, 2006

African and other developing countries are rich in biodiversity as well as ethnomedicine practices. In the western world too, medicinal plants are gaining popularity for use in alternative therapies. This has been due to a renaissance, in developed countries, for "natural" therapies. The demand for quality products has sparked renewed scientific efforts and lent impetus to biotechnological innovation. Consumer interest in natural products is likely to continue. As a result, several problems are now acknowledged in the medicinal plant industry. For instance, there are risks associated with using traditional medicines which have not been tested for safety; the trade in medicinal plants is poorly regulated and informal; and medicinal plant biodiversity is threatened by irresponsible harvesting practices. The advantages of cultivating medicinal plants are obvious, but few are produced on a large scale even in westernized industries. This paper outlines the benefits that can potentially be derived from integrating biotechnology-represented by rapid, simple and low budget methods to highly sophisticated methods-in an industry that is dominated by simple technologies. Such solutions, including testing medicinal extracts for efficacy, establishing pharmacopeias (where none previously exist), in vitro and/or ex vitro medicinal plant cultivation and the drafting and implementation of appropriate policies and legislation, are particularly relevant to the Developing World where the medicinal plant industry remains largely unregulated. Case studies illustrate the successes of the ethnopharmacological-biotechnological approach, while future challenges and opportunities for such a strategy in the medicinal plant industry are considered.

Medicinal Plants: An Expanding Role in Development

Papers, 1996

All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing April 1996 Technical Papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's work to the development community with the least possible delay. The typescript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to fornal printed texts, and the World Bank accepts no responsibility for errors. Some sources cited in this paper may be informal documents that are not readily available. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author(s) and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or to members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this volume do not imply on the part of the World Bank Group any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Medicinal plants: Role, distribution and future

Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 2020

Medicinal plants have been used for healthcare since time immemorial. Application of plants to prepare medicine has been realized through hit and trail method, and gradually man became able to fulfill his needs from his surroundings. The use of medicinal plants was started by Japanese for carrying out rituals, food flavoring and treating various diseases. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their potential and some of the findings have given rise to what we call plant-based medicines. Being an important source of medicine, these plants have always been of utmost importance in virtually all cultures of civilizations. Medicinal plants are regarded as rich resources of traditional medicines and not only this but these plants serve as an important source for many modern medicines as well. It is the presence of secondary metabolites which is responsible for their characteristic features. By standardizing the health of active plant-derived compounds, herbal drugs can provide ...

Medicinal plants: traditions of yesterday and drugs of tomorrow

Molecular aspects of Medicine, 2006

Plants have provided man with all his needs in terms of shelter, clothing, food, flavours and fragrances as not the least, medicines. Plants have formed the basis of sophisticated traditional medicine systems among which are Ayurvedic, Unani, Chinese amongst others. These systems of medicine have given rise to some important drugs still in use today. Among the lesserknown systems of medicines are the African and Australian, Central and South American amongst others. The search for new molecules, nowadays, has taken a slightly different route where the science of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacognosy are being used as guide to lead the chemist towards different sources and classes of compounds. It is in this context that the flora of the tropics by virtue of its diversity has a significant role to play in being able to provide new leads. Nonetheless the issue of sovereignty and property rights should also be addressed in line with the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD). This paper highlights the above, provides an overview of the classes of molecules present in plants and gives some examples of the types of molecules and secondary metabolites that have led to the development of these pharmacologically active extracts. The paper also presents some data on the use of plant products in the development of functional foods, addresses the needs for validation of plant extracts and always stressing on safety, efficacy and quality of phyto-medications.

SCREENING GLOBAL CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FACING MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS

This review summarizes the difficulties and problems facing MAPs as well as recommendations of overcoming challenge, and brings together the main issues relating to this very important subject. The issues must be addressed in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the medicinal plants resource. Interest in medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) as a re-emerging health aid has been fuelled by the rising costs of prescription drugs in the maintenance of personal health and well-being, and the bioprospecting of new plant-derived drugs. Vacuum is likely to occur in the supply of raw plant materials that are being over-exploited by the pharmaceutical industry as well as the traditional practitioners. Besides, the major challenges for sustainable wild collection include: lack of knowledge about sustainable harvest rates and practices, undefined land use rights and lack of legislative and policy guidance. In situ conservation of these resources, however, alone cannot meet the ever increasing demand of pharmaceutical industry. Many signs reveal that MAPs are gradually facing extinction. They are: (i) People walk long distances to collect them. (ii) Some crpos are no longer found. (iii) What used to be a thick forest of diverse plant species is reduced to bush and areas that have floral fast disappearing. (iv) Many MAPs are not maturing and seeding because the young plants are being harvested before they mature. Hence, It is necessary to initiate systematic cultivation of medicinal plants in order to conserve biodiversity and protect endangered species. Efforts are also required to suggest appropriate cropping patterns for the incorporation of these plants into the conventional agricultural and forestry cropping systems. In order to initiate systematic cultivation of MAPs high yielding varieties have to be selected. It is therefore necessary to collect, conserve and evaluate germplasm and to

Medicinal plant cultivation for sustainable use and commercialisation of high-value crops

South African Journal of Science

Many traditional healing systems are based on natural biological resources, and there is a general shift in most parts of the world towards natural medicine, with direct implications on the demand and supply of medicinal plants. This review highlights the economic importance of medicinal plants, their contribution to healthcare systems, and potential opportunities for rural economic development through cultivation. A systematic literature review with specific search terms related to medicinal plants was used to collect scientific and non-scientific information from peer-reviewed literature and grey literature databases. The findings indicate that trade in medicinal plants is increasing, and although they are considered minor crops compared to major food crops, their value is among the highest in the list of traded plants globally. The trade also serves as a revenue source for many rural livelihoods, with women playing a significant role. Medicinal plants contribute to primary health...

Present scenario, challenges and future perspectives in plant based medicine development

The flora of India remains to be explored and documented to a substantial extent. Pharmaceutical potential of only a small fraction of the plant species has been studied in spite of the existence of vast traditional knowledge on medicinal use, taxonomical clues and the advancement in throughput screening for specific bioactivities. Medicinal plant research should be focused on to produ ce useful healthca re products (phytomedicines/ nutraceuticals/ food supplements/ conventional drugs) from medicinal and food plants for human welfare. Herbal drugs should be commercially viable and internationa lly acceptable in light of modern medica l sciences. Development of such phytomedicines based on ethnomedical leads is relatively more easy and relevant to our economic conditions, compared to pure chemical entity drug development. Mission oriented mu ltidisciplina ry team is required for the development of medicines from plants. Herbal drug research and production of useful healthcare products from locally available plants will lead to improvement in healthcare and economic progress including establishment of herbal drug based industries. Production of good quality plant raw materials (through appropriate cultivation methods and/or biotechnological intervention) and development of commercially successful plant based healthcare products will substantially contribute towards multidimensional socioeconomic progress.

Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects

Chinese Medicine, 2016

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a high speed. This article reviews global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. We emphasized that both conservation strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We recommend that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker-based approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.

Medicinal Plants: The Rising Strategy for Synthesis of Modern Medicine

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT AND ENVIRONMENT

The knowledge of the medicinal properties of the plants is rooted back in the cultural transmission of historic traditions, and beliefs of the inhabitants of a given geographical area, and in the ancient texts, literature such as Ebers Papyrus, De Materia Medica. The ethnic communities such as Bhotiya residing in the Byans valley of West Himalaya, India; Chin indigenous group of Myanmar still customize their herbal formulations from different plant parts depending upon the types of disease for disease prevention and treatment. However, with the change in consumer behavior, the pharmaceutical industries are gaining interest in the formulation of modern medicines based upon natural plant extracts, or the isolated bioactive compounds.

The need for bioactivity-safety evaluation and conservation of medicinal plants - A review

The use of medicinal plants as raw materials in the production of new drugs is ever increasing because of their potentials in combating the problem of drug resistance in microorganisms. Demand for medicinal plants is increasing in both developing and developed countries. Research on medicinal plants is one of the leading areas of research globally. However, there is a need to pay closer attention to the issue of bioactivity-safety evaluation and conservation of medicinal plants. Although some of the screening tests on medicinal plants are performed in vitro, the fact still remains that the ultimate aim of the researcher is to use the medicinal plants to treat diseases in humans and animals, who has to take the product orally or through other means into the system. There is also the need to conserve the medicinal plants to prevent their total extinction from the natural flora. This is because the expanding trade in medicinal plants has serious implications on the survival of several plant species, with many under serious threat to become extinct. The aim of this review is to justify and emphasize the need for the bioactivity-safety evaluation and conservation of the medicinal plants.