Drug Design with an Ethnobotanical Concept, Volume 1

Book excerpt: This handbook comprises huge data amounts considering the areas of world-wide Ethnopharmacology, Pharmacognosy together with modern identification tools within Phytochemistry. In recent years, modern drug design has its return back to nature, rather applying guidance achieved from herb remedies valid during centuries. The handbook established on information of 100 medicinal plants from all parts of the globe, encloses now over 4700 chemical components, their structural formulas and so far, over 500 identification spectra (EI-MS 85%, NMR 15%). It facilitates the rapid survey on medicinal plants as well as search for remedies, where the possibility exists in searching at Portuguese and Russian besides English. Why have I chosen those languages? Because geographically you will be understood on almost of the entire globe! From Western Europe to Hawaii using English, from Minsk to Vladivostok at Russian and because of many Portuguese colonies throughout the world with that language. The names of 100 specimens are provided in Portuguese, English, French, German, Russian, Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian out of Latin (scientific name). Included is a chapter that deals on preparations made for household remedies as well as procedures for industrial upscale for medicine production. The main idea is to provide a structure-based knowledge of synergisms between physiological activities of plant compounds originating from 2nd metabolic pathways and their approved beneficial curing power of “common” diseases (flue, cough, nausea, insomnia) until severe complications like virus diseases, pandemics, cancer and alike.