Topic
Medicinal plants
About: Medicinal plants is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3816 publications have been published within this topic receiving 108681 citations. The topic is also known as: medicinal herbs & medicinal plants.
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TL;DR: Present studies besides confirming hypoglycaemic activities of the experimental herbal samples, help identify more potent indigenous hyp glucosecaemic herbs (in crude ethanolic extract) from the comparative study of the reported experimental results.
583 citations
TL;DR: There are innumerable potentially useful medicinal plants and herbs waiting to be evaluated and exploited for therapeutic applications against genetically and functionally diverse viruses families such as Retroviridae, Hepadnaviridae and Herpesviridae.
Abstract: Several hundred plant and herb species that have potential as novel antiviral agents have been studied, with surprisingly little overlap. A wide variety of active phytochemicals, including the flavonoids, terpenoids, lignans, sulphides, polyphenolics, coumarins, saponins, furyl compounds, alkaloids, polyines, thiophenes, proteins and peptides have been identified. Some volatile essential oils of commonly used culinary herbs, spices and herbal teas have also exhibited a high level of antiviral activity. However, given the few classes of compounds investigated, most of the pharmacopoeia of compounds in medicinal plants with antiviral activity is still not known. Several of these phytochemicals have complementary and overlapping mechanisms of action, including antiviral effects by either inhibiting the formation of viral DNA or RNA or inhibiting the activity of viral reproduction. Assay methods to determine antiviral activity include multiple-arm trials, randomized crossover studies, and more compromised designs such as nonrandomized crossovers and pre- and post-treatment analyses. Methods are needed to link antiviral efficacy/potency- and laboratory-based research. Nevertheless, the relative success achieved recently using medicinal plant/herb extracts of various species that are capable of acting therapeutically in various viral infections has raised optimism about the future of phyto-antiviral agents. As this review illustrates, there are innumerable potentially useful medicinal plants and herbs waiting to be evaluated and exploited for therapeutic applications against genetically and functionally diverse viruses families such as Retroviridae, Hepadnaviridae and Herpesviridae
579 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the antioxidant activities and total phenolic contents of 30 Chinese medicinal plants were evaluated using the ferric reducing antioxidant power assay and the Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively.
572 citations
TL;DR: Traditional medicine in the south-eastern Moroccan population has not only survived but has thrived in the transcultural environment and intermixture of many ethnic traditions and beliefs.
555 citations
TL;DR: Despite progress in conventional chemistry and pharmacology in producing effective drugs, the plant kingdom might provide a useful source of new anti‐ulcer compounds for development as pharmaceutical entities or as simple dietary adjuncts to existing therapies.
Abstract: Phytogenic agents have traditionally been used by herbalists and indigenous healers for the prevention and treatment of peptic ulcer. This article reviews the anti-acid/anti-peptic, gastro-protective and/or anti-ulcer properties of the most commonly employed herbal medicines and their identified active constituents. Botanical compounds with anti-ulcer activity include flavonoids (i.e. quercetin, naringin, silymarin, anthocyanosides, sophoradin derivatives) saponins (i.e. from Panax japonicus and Kochia scoparia), tannins (i.e. from Linderae umbellatae), gums and mucilages (i.e. gum guar and myrrh). Among herbal drugs, liquorice, aloe gel and capsicum (chilli) have been used extensively and their clinical efficacy documented. Also, ethnomedical systems employ several plant extracts for the treatment of peptic ulcer. Despite progress in conventional chemistry and pharmacology in producing effective drugs, the plant kingdom might provide a useful source of new anti-ulcer compounds for development as pharmaceutical entities or, alternatively, as simple dietary adjuncts to existing therapies.
549 citations