A natural history of botanical therapeutics.
Plants have been used as a source of medicine throughout history and continue to serve as the basis for many pharmaceuticals used today. Although the modern pharmaceutical industry was born from botanical medicine, synthetic approaches to drug discovery have become standard. However, this modern approach has led to a decline in new drug development in recent years and a growing market for botanical therapeutics that are currently available as dietary supplements, drugs, or botanical drugs. Most botanical therapeutics are derived from medicinal plants that have been cultivated for increased yields of bioactive components. The phytochemical composition of many plants has changed over time, with domestication of agricultural crops resulting in the enhanced content of some bioactive compounds and diminished content of others. Plants continue to serve as a valuable source of therapeutic compounds because of their vast biosynthetic capacity. A primary advantage of botanicals is their complex composition consisting of collections of related compounds having multiple activities that interact for a greater total activity.
Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment, Cook College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8520, USA.
Barbara
B
Schmidt
David M
DM
Ribnicky
Alexander
A
Poulev
Sithes
S
Logendra
William T
WT
Cefalu
Ilya
I
Raskin
D001688:Biological Products / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015195:Drug Design; D004357:Drug Synergism; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000266:history*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014481:United States
D001688:Biological Products; D010936:Plant Extracts