A REVIEW ON NATURAL PRODUCTS IN DRUG DISCOVERY

Drug discovery from medicinal plants has evolved to include numerous fields of inquiry and various methods of analysis. The process typically begins with a botanist, ethnobotanist, ethnopharmacologist, or plant ecologist who collects and identifies the plant(s) of interest. Collection may involve species with known biological activity for which active compound(s) have not been isolated (e.g., traditionally used herbal remedies) or may involve taxa collected randomly for a large screening program. It is necessary to respect the intellectual property rights of a given country where plant(s) of interest are collected (14). Phytochemists (natural product chemists) prepare extracts from the plant materials, subject these extracts to biological screening in pharmacologically relevant assays, and commence the process of isolation and characterization of the active compound(s) through bioassay-guided fractionation. Molecular biology has become essential to medicinal plant drug discovery through the determination and implementation of appropriate screening assays directed towards physiologically relevant molecular targets. Pharmacognosy encapsulates all of these fields into a distinct interdisciplinary science. Pharmacognosy includes both the study of botanical dietary supplements, including herbal remedies (15; 16), as well as the search for single compound drug leads that may proceed through further development into Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- approved medicines.

Key Words: Pharmacognosy, phytochemicals, extraction, structural elucidation, biological screening