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The Prelude of Green Syntheses of Drugs and Natural Products
Published in Ahindra Nag, Greener Synthesis of Organic Compounds, Drugs and Natural Products, 2022
Leonardo Xochicale-Santana, C. C. Vidyasagar, Blanca M. Muñoz-Flores, Víctor M. Jiménez Pérez
Primary metabolism refers to the biosynthesis and breakdown of proteins, fats, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates, which are important to all living organisms. The substances involved in these pathways are referred to as “primary metabolites.” The process by which an organism biosynthesizes compounds known as secondary metabolites (natural products) is known as “secondary metabolism” and it is often found to be peculiar to an organism or to be an example of a species' uniqueness. Secondary metabolites are developed because of the organism adapting to its surroundings or as a potential defensive mechanism against predators to help in the organism's survival.62 The biosynthesis of secondary metabolites is derived from the fundamental processes of photosynthesis, glycolysis, and the Krebs cycle, which result in biosynthetic intermediates and, eventually, secondary metabolites, often known as natural products.63 Although the number of building blocks is small, it can be seen that the possibilities are endless.64
Biocontrol Potential and Applications of Extremophiles for Sustainable Agriculture
Published in Ajar Nath Yadav, Ali Asghar Rastegari, Neelam Yadav, Microbiomes of Extreme Environments, 2021
Gajanan Mehetre, Vincent Vineeth Leo, Garima Singh, Prashant Dhawre, Igor Maksimov, Mukesh Yadav, Kalidas Upadhyaya, Bhim Pratap Singh
Biocontrol actions are also exerted through the production of various secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are naturally produced substances, originating indirectly from the primary metabolism. Several species of bacteria, fungi and yeast can survive under a competitive atmosphere in the environment. Therefore, antagonism among different species of bacteria, fungi or different species of fungi is observed in the microbial ecosystem (Reino et al. 2008). Among the several strategies used by microbial biocontrol agents, antibiosis is one of the important modes of action for inhibiting the growth of phytopathogens. In this way, microbes have the ability to synthesis different types of secondary metabolites having either a broad-spectrum or specific antimicrobial activity against different types of pathogens (Reino et al. 2008; Mishra and Arora 2018). Among the bacteria, Bacillus sp., Streptomyces sp., Pseudomonas sp., Pantoea sp., Stenotrophomonas sp., Agrobacterium sp., and Serratia sp. were reported for the production of secondary metabolites with a broad-spectrum activity against different types of pathogens (Köhl et al. 2019).
Toxic Contaminants in Herbal Medicines
Published in Pankaj Chowdhary, Abhay Raj, Contaminants and Clean Technologies, 2020
Also, in modern medicine, about one-fourth of the drugs are derived either from plants and plant parts or from the secondary metabolites (Chaudhury, 1992). Herbal medicines, particularly Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines, have gained popularity worldwide in recent years; however, the debate on their efficacy is also rising (Atherton et al., 1992; Ernst and Coon, 2001). Today herbal medicines are manufactured on a large scale in industries, where manufacturers face a number of challenges such as nonavailability of pure raw material, lack of authenticity of raw material, substitution and adulteration (look wise similar) in the raw material procured from the third party, lack of methodology for standardization, etc. (Padh, 2001) (Figure 4.1). In a study by Pan et al. (2011), it was found that substitutes for many popular Chinese medicines are available in the US market. There are many other hurdles in the process of herbal drug development (Figure 4.1). The quality of raw material is the most important factor responsible for the overall quality of the finished herbal product. All these factors affect the efficacy and safety of the finished products. In this chapter, we will look into a major problem related with the quality of herbal drugs i.e., toxicological effect of pollutants on medicinal plants.
Larvicidal activity of green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles from Carica papaya leaf extract
Published in Inorganic and Nano-Metal Chemistry, 2023
Manish Kumar Dwivedi, Suvashish Kumar Pandey, Prashant Kumar Singh
The control of mosquito-borne diseases has been exacerbated with the emergence of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. Some synthetic insecticides such as pyrethroids are used against insect vectors/mosquitoes, which are displaying resistance and are also known to cause adverse effects on the ecosystem. To control these vectors, researchers are trying the use of plant metabolites and their derivatives along with the development of novel and effective formulations having insecticidal properties this control different mosquito species.[32] Today secondary metabolites have emerged as major resources for drug discovery programs.[33] In recent years, the green synthesis of environment-friendly metal nanoparticles has gained interest. Such nanoparticles are being proposed as novel materials with novel biological activities. Over the years, many plant extracts have been tested for larvicidal activities.[34] To the best of our knowledge, none of the ZnO nanoparticles green synthesized using zinc acetate dehydrate and C. papaya extract have been reported for larvicidal properties. We report on the synthesis of the ZnO nanoparticles using C. papaya aqueous leaves extract and its larvicidal activity along with its toxicity analysis against human red blood cells. The free radical scavenging activity (antioxidant) of the ZnO nanoparticles is also reported.
Plant pharmacology: Insights into in-planta kinetic and dynamic processes of xenobiotics
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2022
Tomer Malchi, Sara Eyal, Henryk Czosnek, Moshe Shenker, Benny Chefetz
In addition to pharmacology, other fields of plant science could benefit from insight and understanding of the interactions of xenobiotic compounds and plants. Of specific relevance is pharmacognosy, i.e. the study of plants as producers of phytochemicals (primary and secondary metabolites). Secondary metabolites encompass a wide range of compounds (>200,000) and have been used for medicinal purposes throughout human history, while they continue to be the structural basis for many of the drugs we use today (Wink, 2010; Van Wyk & Wink, 2017). Furthermore, elicitors, i.e. exogenous compounds which induce or stimulate a defense response in plants for enhancement of secondary metabolite production, alter plant cellular activities at biochemical and molecular level and could provide even greater insight of the in-planta kinetic and dynamic processes. Understanding the biochemical processes, distribution, metabolism, accumulation and function of secondary metabolites and elicitors should be related to the study of plant pharmacology and provide mutual benefit, expanding our insight.
Four new cycloartane-type triterpenoids from the leaves of Combretum mellifluum Eichler: assessment of their antioxidant and antileishmanial activities
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2022
Jaelson Santos Silva, Éverton Leandro França Ferreira, Amanda Maciel Lima, Ruth Raquel Soares de Farias, Bruno Quirino Araújo, José Carlos Quilles Junior, Rodolfo Ritchelle Lima Santos, Fernando Aécio de Amorim Carvalho, Mahendra Rai, Gerardo Magela Vieira Júnior, Mariana Helena Chaves
Secondary metabolites are natural products extracted from many parts of plants and used in medicinal chemistry as therapeutic agents. Further in the last decade, significant attention has focused on natural compounds research with the aim of development of new antileishmanial active agent discovery as drug candidates (Gutierrez-Rebolledo, Drier-Jonas, and Jimenez-Arellanes 2017; Lorenzo et al. 2020; Newman and Cragg 2007). Brazilian plants from different species were investigated as natural source of active extract (Ribeiro et al. 2014) showing promising results in terms of leishmanicidal potential and cytotoxicity. Recently, Moragas-Tellis et al. (2020) demonstrated the antileishmanial activity of crude extract from a little studied Brazilian plant Arrabidaea chica obtained in different seasons showing the importance and biochemical variety of this plant species.