Traditional & Alternative Medicine

Drugs from natural sources

Nature, the ace of craftsman of particles or molecules created almost an inexhaustible exhibit of molecular entities. It bears as an infinite resource for drug development, novel chemotypes and pharmacophores, and frameworks for enhancement into efficacious medications for a multitude of disorder indications and other valuable bioactive agents. Until recently, plants were an important source of novel pharmacologically active compounds with numerous drugs being derived directly or indirectly from plants. Despite the current preoccupation with synthetic chemistry as a vehicle to find or discover and manufacture drugs, the contribution of plants to health treatment and prevention is still enormous and many more. Even at the beginning of 21st century, 11% of the 252 drugs considered as basic and fundamental by the WHO were exclusively of flowering plant origin. The plant-derived compounds have a long history of clinical use, better patient tolerance and acknowledgment. To date, 35,000-70,000 plant species have been screened for their medicinal use.