France
Rowena K. Richter in Herbal Medicine, 2013
Only pharmacists and qualified herbalists are permitted to sell herbal medicinal products.4 The French Pharmacopoeia defines medicinal plants as those which have at least one part with medicinal properties.5 Thus there is no legal classification for herbal medicinal products that lack prophylactic or therapeutic claims. However, in June 1979, new legislation authorized the retail sale of thirty-four herbals and seven herbal combinations.6 Now these specific products may be sold as both drugs and beverages. Further legislation from September 1979 excludes widely used foods from use in pharmaceutical drugs.7 With a few exceptions, selling herbal medicinal products that are mixed with pharmaceuticals, homeopathic ingredients, vitamins, or minerals is not permitted because separate approval is required for each category. There are a few exceptions that were already on the market before the legislation was enacted.
An Alternative Approach for Anti-Alzheimer’s Compounds from Plant Extracts
Atanu Bhattacharjee, Akula Ramakrishna, Magisetty Obulesu in Phytomedicine and Alzheimer’s Disease, 2020
The rich traditions of herbal medicine were followed by Siddha and Ayurveda medicines in India, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Unani medicine in the Middle East, and Kampo medicine in Japan (Mosihuzzaman and Choudhary, 2008). Nowadays, the high demand for plant-based products, cosmetics, and food supplements is building in both developed and developing countries. The reason behind this popularity is that the natural products are less toxic, have fewer side effects, and are easily accessible at reasonable prices (Evans, 1994). Medicinal plants are considered to be rich sources of phytochemical ingredients, which play a vital role in the development of new drugs. People have been using medicinal plants to treat diseases without any scientific information or appropriate guidance for thousands of years. It has been scientifically established that every part of plants can have medicinal properties, including roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. However, it has also been witnessed that some medicinal plants are not safe for consumption because they are toxic and show side effects in the patient (Wink, 2010). In recent times, there has been a change in the universal trend, from synthetic to herbal medicine, which is claimed as “Return to Nature.” Medicinal plants have been exploited since ancient times and are highly regarded all over the world as a rich source of therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of human ailments (Srivastava et al., 2019).
The Ayurvedic Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Anne George, K. S. Joshy, Mathew Sebastian, Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi, Sabu Thomas in Holistic Approaches to Infectious Diseases, 2017
There is another category of herbal constituents that convey a broad host of medicinal properties known as alkaloids. Alkaloids are a diverse group of low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds that have been used for, and against humans for thousands of years. One thing that binds this group is the presence of nitrogen and their characteristic bitter taste. Alkaloids are potent compounds found in plants that naturally give them the ability to fight pathogens and predators alike. They can be poisonous as well as medicinal. Many of the most common medicines are derived from plants including morphine (pain-killer), caffeine (stimulant), Quinine (anti-malaria) and even nicotine. Although there is no solid definition of what as alkaloid actually is, the majority of active alkaloids used in medicine contain multiple ring structures similar to the polyphenols. This would then suggest that in addition to their specific activities that each have some extent of oxidative scavenging activity.
GC-MS Profiling and Antineoplastic Activity of Pelargonium Inquinans Ait Leaves on Acute Leukaemia Cell Lines U937 and Jurkat
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2022
Ogochukwu Izuegbuna, Gloria A. Otunola, Graeme Bradley
Since ancient times, the use of medicines from plants and other natural materials has been the mainstay of the traditional medicinal system the world over. Even in modern times, the majority of the world population still rely on traditional medicines for their primary health care because of the scarcity and cost of orthodox medicine 1,2. Many herbs and plants have been the traditional source of raw materials for the manufacture of orthodox medicines. Between 1981 and 2002, about a half of the 877 new chemical entities introduced were natural products, semi-synthetic natural products, and their analogues or synthetic compounds based on natural products obtained from plants3. Many plant species are known for their medicinal properties. In Africa, out of about 6400 plant species reported, more than 4,000 are used for medicinal purposes4.
Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial and antimetastatic activity of silver nanoparticles synthesized from Ficus ingens leaf
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
Doga Kavaz, Huzaifa Umar, Shafiu Shehu
The major compounds present are ethanol, 1-(2-butoxyethoxy) (16.9%), cyclohexane propanol (11.6%), 2-methoxy-6-methyl pyrazine (13.8%), 11,3-dioxane (CAS) (6.8%), 2-propenoic acid octyl ester (6.31%), dihydro methyl jasmonate (7.62), 1,2-benzene dicarboxylic acid (7.31%) and 4-(bromomethyl) cyclohexane-1-ol (2.11%). Other compounds that are present in the plant extract are 2-methoxy-6-methyl pyrazine diethyl ester, cyclohexane, stearic acid, 3-oxy-4-octene, neophytadiene, pyrrolidine, 1-(1-pentenyl)-(CAS) 1-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-n-pentene, pentanoic acid, pentyl ester (CAS) amyl valerate, pyrrolidine, 1-(1-pentenyl)-(CAS) 1-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-n-pentene. Ability of plant to combat diseases or its medicinal properties has to do with the bioactive compounds present in the plants. Some of this compounds have medicinal properties and can cure many diseases including cancer. Kucuk et al. reported that 1,3-dioxane has strong ability to combat cancer and fungal related infection [23]. Also, many compounds that have carboxylic functional group that are present in the extract have reported to have antibacterial and anticancer activity [24].
Optimized preparation of eugenol microcapsules and its effect on hepatic steatosis in HepG2 cells
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2021
Wen Yuan, Meixing Yan, Yitong Wang, Xia Liu, Yanling Gong
In recent years, natural products have been the focus of research to develop novel ingredients with potential food applications and health benefits. The medicinal properties of plant extracts and their use in the treatment of diseases have been understood and studied for centuries around the world. A large number of studies have been conducted on the identification and isolation of bioactive essential oil extracts, verifying the effectiveness of these traditional methods [1,2]. Although the essential oil of these plant extracts vary from species to species, abundant phenolic compounds are ubiquitous. Eugenol is a natural spicy, refreshing, and sweet-smelling phenolic compound with pharmacological functions, which exists in clove buds, cinnamon bark, betle leaves and tulsi leaves [3–6].
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