Effect of Environment on Secondary Metabolism of Medicinal Plants

Volume 2 - Issue 1

AK Mohiuddin*

Received: January 05, 2019   Published: January 23, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/OAJESS.2019.02.000126

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Abstract

Medicinal plants constitute main resource base of almost all the traditional healthcare systems. Most of the herbal drugs produced currently in majority of the developing countries lack proper quality specification and standards. Herbal drugs used in traditional medicine may contain a single herb or combinations of several different herbs believed to have complementary and/ or synergistic effects. Both the raw drugs and the finished herbal products manufactured contain complex mixtures of organic compounds, such as fatty acids, sterols, alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenols, glycosides, saponins, tannins, terpenes etc. The quality of the finished product is based on the quality of the raw materials, which is again depends on mineral composition of soil, geographical area etc. As many as 35% of the medicinal plants used in Indian systems of medicine are highly cross pollinated which indicate the existence of a wide range of genetic variability in the populations of these medicinal plant species which in turn reflected in the variations in the composition of secondary metabolites. Ecological and edaphic as well as seasonal variations also cause changes in the chemical composition of medicinal plants. These facts have to be considered while developing quality parameters standards of medicinal plants and their finished products.

Keywords: Medicinal Plants; Organic Compounds; Secondary Metabolite; Biosynthesis

Abbreviations: Secondary Metabolites (SMs); Coenzyme A (CoA); Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP); Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP); Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADP); Acetyl Coenzyme A (Acetyl-CoA)

Abstract| Purpose of the Study| Findings| Materials and Methods| Research Limitations| Practical Implication| Introduction| Conclusion| Acknowledgement| References|