Bryan Hanson, PhD
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 Still other scientific fields might be relevant: ethnobotanists and anthropologists to help interpret the medicinal plant knowledge of other cultures, phar-macognocists2 who would contribute in a variety of ways, and so on.
I'm certainly not prepared to discuss all of these areas, but I point them out to illustrate the nature of medicinal plant investigations. In fact, the previous questions only scratch the surface, as St. John's wort has other interesting properties besides being an antidepressant. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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 Biodiversity and Phytomedicines
Modern medicinal plant research has to take into consideration the sustainable use of resources. Very often no immediate conflict exists between the local usage of a species and its conservation status. For example, the Orchidaceae are often rare and have relatively dispersed and often inaccessible populations, but they are also of very little importance as a medicinal resource. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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| I'm certainly not prepared to discuss all of these areas, but I point them out to illustrate the nature of medicinal plant investigations. In fact, the previous questions only scratch the surface, as St. John's wort has other interesting properties besides being an antidepressant. Regarding its antidepressant activity, however, scientists are still not completely certain which molecule is responsible. For many years it was thought that the antidepressant activity of St. John's wort was due to a molecule called hypericin, though now other molecules are under consideration (see Figure 1.1). |
| Rather, my goal is to provide a basic knowledge of the concepts and principles needed to understand what kinds of molecules are in a medicinal plant and how they exert their influence on the human body. This may be everything you want to learn about right now, but should you eventually want to investigate a particular plant further, you will have an excellent foundation so that you can ask the right kinds of questions, and understand the answers. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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| The development and introduction of highly selective and sensitive molecular-biological bioassays into the screening of plant extracts, phyto-preparations, and isolated compounds has revolutionized medicinal plant research. These methods operate on a molecular level (e.g., gene and receptor domains, signal transduction level) and provide a much better understanding of the mechanisms of action of a drug. They might hold the key to the development of new causally acting drugs and a more rational phytotherapy. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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| First, however, we need to be aware of another strategy for extracting molecules from a medicinal plant.
Using Acid-Base Behavior in Extractions
Two of the functional groups introduced in Chapter 2 behave in ways that make them very easy to extract from plants. The carboxylic
TABLE 5.1. Sequential extraction of a plant. |
| Though we are focusing on the extraction process, it is useful to keep in mind other similar variables that affect the quality of a medicinal plant product.
At the other extreme of solubility, consider capsaicin (Figure 5.1, part b), the component of chile peppers (Capsicum species) that is responsible for the burning sensation you feel when eating them. Capsaicin also has medicinal properties: it interferes with the pain sensation process (by several means). Ointments containing capsaicin have proven useful for the treatment of painful arthritic joints. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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| The Chinese Materia Medica
Zhongyao Zhi was edited by the Institute of medicinal plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and published by People's Health Publishers from 1959 onward in four volumes. This book is intended to be an authoritative reference, describing 494 drugs with meticulous care. The second edition, in six volumes, appeared in 1979. A new edition of this book was completed in 2000 and the English edition was published.
A Compilation of Chinese Medicinal Herbs
Quaguo Zhongcaoyao Haitian was published by People's Health in 1975. |
C. P. Khare
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 Details are available in Quality Control Methods for medicinal plant Materials, published by the World Health Organization, Geneva.
Medicinal Plants Gardens and Herbariums
The fountainhead of information on medicinal plants is the Jawahar Lai Nehru Ayurvedic Plants Garden and Herbarium, Pune. The garden was taken over by the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) in 1978, and was restructured with an aim of collecting and cultivating medicinal plants, to carry out research on plant drugs, and to facilitate their proper identification and standardization. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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| Its leaves are cut, reduced to a paste, and used as a rubbing medicine for the head, or mixed with grass and secured to the head. The patient will sleep all night with this poultice firmly tied to him or her, waking up in the morning without any pain. Generally speaking, all the Eremophila species have medicinal properties as a wash for scabies or to smoke babies. According to Peter Latz, E. longifolia (commonly known as emu bush) can be considered as "the most sacred, mystical or magical of the Central Australian plants. |
| Yet most of the plants in the image are well-known medicinal species. At the front center are several forms of Achillea. They are surrounded by other medicinals. To the right is the purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea; several species of Echinacea had more than 100 uses by Native American peoples primarily as analgesics, to dress burns, and as a treatment for toothache. To the left is a clump of bee balm, Monardafistulosa; a number of species of Monarch were used in more than 150 ways, as analgesics, for coughs, colds, and fevers. |
Bryan Hanson, PhD
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| Or if you wanted to check the quality of a herbal capsule you had purchased, you could open the capsule, add some water or other solvent to the material, let it stand for a while to dissolve the compounds, and then spot the solution onto a TLC plate. Once the solution is spotted, the solvent evaporates, leaving a tiny sample of the compounds to be analyzed on the plate. |
Amarjit S. Basra
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| Indian and Tibetian medical systems with a usage going back in ayurvedic medicine for about 3,000 years. It has a demonstrated cardiotonic activity and is used also for a plethora of other complaints. Antifungal and antiviral properties are also recorded.75 The fruiting bodies of the plant contain significant quantities of gallic acid and methyl gallate, both of which showed activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 Mustard Seed Is Rooted in History
In fact, the use of mustard (and mustard seeds) as a medicinal plant predates all the science on phytochemicals. From its beginnings, mustard was considered a medicinal plant rather than a food; Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used mustard in all sorts of medicines and poultices. The ancient Chinese considered mustard an aphrodisiac. And the mustard seed figures prominently as a symbol in the Christian faith, used to signify something small and insignificant that, when nourished, can grow into something of great strength and power. |
Andrew Pengelly
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 X 106
Wood 40-50 000
Citrus aurantium
Flavanone
Neohespiridin
500 000 glycosides
Naringin
Peel 600 1500
Humulus lupulus
Phloroglucinols
Iso-humulone
Lupulone
Triterpenes
Triterpenes represent a very large group of medicinal plant compounds, and so a separate chapter has been devoted to them (Chapter 6).
Tetraterpenes
The main group of interest is the carotenoids, over 600 of which are found in nature—providing red, orange and yellow pigments to fruits and vegetables. Some—in particular a and (3 carotene—act as provitamins, converted to vitamin A by the human digestive system. |
| The medicinal plant Industry, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Blake, O. 1993/94, 'The tannin content of herbal teas', British Journal of Phytotherapy 3: 124-127.
Bombardelli, E. and Morazzoni, P. 1995, 'Vitis vinifera L.', Fitoterapia LXVI: 291-317.
Bone, K. 1995, 'Oestrogen modulation', The Modern Phytotherapist 1:8-10.
Bone, K. 1997, 'Grape seed extract: the facts, the fiction and the future',
Mediherb Conference, Sydney. Calomme. M., Pieters, L., Vlietinck, A. and Vanden Berghe, D. 1996,
'Inhibition of bacterial mutagenesis by Citrus flavonoids', Planta Medica
62: 222-226.
Constantino L. |
Frantisek Stary
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 Before dealing with the individual rules it is necessary to explain the relationship between medicinal plant and drug. A medicinal plant, growing wild or cultivated, contains therapeutically active substances suitable for treating diseases. The active constituents are found to be present in greater concentrations in certain parts of the plant. Such parts are collected and preserved by the simplest method, that is drying. The dried plant parts—top, leaves, flowers, fruits, and rootstock—are called drugs in pharmaceutical language. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 Production: Piper elongatum is cultivated as a medicinal plant in the countries of origin. Matico leaves are the dried leaves of Piper elongatum. The fresh leaves are also used medicinally.
Not to be Confused With: Confusion can occur with Piper aduncum. actions and pharmacology
COMPOUNDS
Volatile oil (0.3 to 6.0%): chief component dill apiol, as well as asarone, parsley apiol
Tannins
Sesquiterpene: maticin
EFFECTS
Use as a hemostyptic could possibly be a result of the tannin content. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
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 Khella is a medicinal plant native to the Mediterranean region, where it has been used in the treatment of angina and other heart ailments since the time of the pharoahs. Several of its components have demonstrated effects in dilating the coronary arteries. Its mechanism of action appears to be very similar to that of the calcium channel-blocking drugs.
Since the late 1940s, numerous scientific studies have been performed on the clinical effectiveness of khella extracts in the treatment of angina. |
Andrew Chevallier
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 However, in 1935, the French medicinal plant therapist Leclerc stated that "the infusion has no more virtue than the hot water used to prepare it." Medicinal Actions & Uses Speedwell is now considered to have only a slight therapeutic effect. It is rarely used today.
Viburnum prunifolium
(Caprijoliaceae )
Black Haw
Description Deciduous shrub growing to 15 ft (5 m). Has serrated oval leaves, clusters of white flowers, and Llue-black berries. Habitat & Cultivation Native to central and southern North America, black haw grows in woodland. |
Gabriel Cousens
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 Of the forty-nine herbs, spices, and medicinal plant extracts they studied on glucose utilization, they found that cinnamon was the most bioactive.182 Cinnamon has a key substance called methyl hydroxy chalcon polymer (MHCP) that stimulates glucose uptake. Scientists at Iowa State University determined the polyphenols polymers in cinnamon are able to up-regulate the expression of genes involved in activating the cell membrane's insulin receptors, thus increasing glucose uptake and lowering blood glucose levels. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Acteoside as the Analgesic Principle of Cedron (Lippia triphylla), a Peruvian medicinal plant. Chem Pharm Bull. 45 (3); 499-504 (1997)
Rimpler H, Sauerbier H, Biochem Syst Ecol 14:307-310. 1986.
Skalta H, Shammas G, PM 54:265. 1988.
Tomas-Barberan FA, Harborne JB, Self R, PH 26:2281-2284. 1987.
Torrent Marti MT, Rev R Acad Farm (Barcelona) 14:39-55. 1976.
Lemon-Wood
Schisandra sphenanthera description
Medicinal Parts: Medicinal properties are attributed to the fruit and seed of the plant.
Flower and Fruit: The flowers are in clusters with a few blossoms in the axils of the bracts. |
Frantisek Stary
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| Marshmallow is a widely distributed, popular medicinal plant used in great quantities and therefore commercially cultivated. Its cultivation dates from as far back as medieval days when it was grown in monastery and country gardens. Marshmallow has long been used in the form of syrup to treat coughs and inflammation of the upper respiratory passages. It is used less widely in the form of an infusion for asthma, stomach and intestinal disorders and for colicky pains accompanied by diarrhoea in children. The roots and leaves are the parts used for pharmaceutical purposes. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Herb Spice medicinal plant Dig; 11(3): 1-4. 1993
Park KK, Surh YJ, Effects of capsaicin on chemically induced two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis. Cancer Lett Mar 19; 114(1-2): 183-4. 1997
Park K, Chun K, Yook, Surh Y, Lack of tumor promoting activity of capsaicin, a principal pungent ingredient of red pepper, in mouse skin carcinogenesis. Anticancer Res Nov-Dec; 18(6A):4201-4205. 1998
Product Information. Zostrix(R)/Zostrix-HP(R), capsaicin. GenDerm Corporation, Lincolnshire, IL, USA. 1998
Robertson DRC & George CF. Treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia in the elderly. |
Frantisek Stary
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| Elder has been a popular medicinal plant since ancient times. Formerly it was widely cultivated and because it readily spreads and becomes naturalized it is now considered a weedy shrub. Very occasionally it is cultivated on large tracts. It is believed to be indigenous to the waterside thickets and flood-plain forests of central Europe and western Asia. Both flowers and fruits are used medicinally. The flowers are collected from late spring until early summer by cutting off whole clusters from which the flowers are separated after they have dried. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| In: PM, Abstracts of the 39th Annual Congress of medicinal plant Research. 1991
Bohlmann F, Hoffman H. Phytochemistry 22(5): 1173. 1983
Braunig B, Dorn M, Knick E. Echinaceae purpureae radix: zur Starkung der korpereigenen Abwehr bei grippalem Infekten. In: ZPT; 13(1):7. 1992
Brinkeborn R, Shah D, Degenring F. Echinaforce and other Echinacea fresh plant preparations in the treatment of the common cold. A randomized, placebo controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Phytomedicine. Mar;6(l):l-6. 1999
Budzinski JW, Foster BC, Vandenhoek S et al. |
Frantisek Stary
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| Compositae
Milk Thistle has been cultivated in central Europe since the early Middle Ages as a medicinal plant taken over from ancient times. It was used primarily for digestive disorders of all kinds. The fruits—achenes—are the part used medicinally. They contain flavonolignans, i.e. a silymarin group of which silybin is the most effective, plus a large amount of fatty oil of excellent quality as a food. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Hikino H, In: Economic, medicinal plant Research, Vol. 1, Acadamic Press UK 1985.
Huang Q, Matsuda H, Sakai K et al. The effect of Ginger on serotonin induced hypothermia and diarrhea. Yakugaku Zasshi (Tokyo); 110(12):936-942. 1990.
Huang QR, Iwamoto M, Aoki S et al. Anti-5-hydroxytryptamine3 effect of galanolactone, diterpinod isolated from Ginger. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo); 39(2):397-399. 1991.
Janssen PLTMK, Meyboom S, van Staveren WA et al. Consumption of Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe) does not affect ex vivo platelet thromboxane production in humans. Eur J Clin Nutr; 50(11)772-774. |
David Winston, RH(AHG), and Steven Maimes
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 Brekhman's first article on Eleutherococcus, "A New medicinal plant of the Family Araliaceae—The Spiny Eleutherococcus," (1960) had a tremendous impact not only on the scientific community but also on the general public. Only two years after Brekhman's first published work, eleuthero extract was approved by the Pharmacological Committee of the USSR Ministry of Health for clinical use as a stimulant.
Thousands of Researchers and Studies
Lazarev and Brekhman created a team of more than twelve hundred biologists, scientists, and physicians. |
Michael T. Murray, N.D.
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| In: The medicinal plant Industry (Wijeskera ROB, ed.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1991, pp. 85-98.
5. Awang DVC and Kindack DG: Echinacea. Can Pharmacol J 124, 512-516,1991.
6. Heptinstall S, et ah: Parthenolide content and bioactivity of feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium (L.) Schultz-Bip.). Estimation of commercial and authenticated feverfew products. / Pharmaceut Pharmacol 44, 391-395,1992.
7. Awang DVC: Commercial taheebo lacks active ingredient. Can Pharmacol J121, 323-326,1988.
8. Liberti LE and Marderosian AD: Evaluation of commercial ginseng products. / Pharmacol Sci 67, 1487-1489,1978. |
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