Medicinal plants
Medicinal plants thrive wherever there is rich biodiversity.
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Medicinal plants and herbs have been an important resource in the fight against diseases and infections since prehistoric times. One of the biggest challenges in the development of natural medicines is to find new herbs with protective effects on health.
In a new study, German researchers have developed an effective way to research medicinal plants by linking their presence in a specific area to its rich biodiversity.
According to the study conducted by researchers at the German Center for Integrated Biodiversity Research and published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" on May 11/2020, experts can now predict the existence of susceptible plant groups, to contain a large number of types of medicinal compounds.
This is done by using the analysis of various data on the genetic relationships of known medicinal plants, their spatial distribution, and the organic compounds they contain. This method, they say, helps narrow the search by locating these groups of plants.
Fortunes unknown.
The proportion of antibiotics used today that were originally obtained from natural compounds found in plants, fungi, bacteria, and marine organisms are estimated to be over 70%.
Additionally, researchers are struggling to identify previously discovered plants because plants that have been identified as sources of active compounds are not consistently documented. Plants and their metabolites are often given different names from one region to another.
In the present study, experts have taken an important first step in collecting and consolidating current knowledge about medicinal plants and their uses. They gathered information on known secondary metabolites, phylogenetic relationships, and plant distribution on the Indonesian island of Java.
They have recorded material in these databases for about 7,500 species of seed plants, containing more than 16,500 metabolites. Based on the recorded data, approximately 2,900 of these metabolites have been identified as infection resistance materials.
Specific plant families.
The researchers concluded that the production of these active compounds was carried out by 1,600 of the 7,500 plant species examined in the study. This means, according to the researchers, that different types of plants do not produce the active compounds in the same way.
The focus is on species that produce active compounds in specific plant families, as these species are usually closely related, says Professor Alexandra Mollner Riel, co-author of the study. This means that the more biodiversity there is, the higher the likelihood of finding plants that produce therapeutic compounds.
To identify clusters of plants rich in active compounds, scientists gathered genetic data and metabolic information. This allowed them to identify the types of plants known to produce the most anti-infective agents.
“This information allows us to identify specific groups of plants that have not yet been examined, but which are very likely to contain disease-fighting substances,” said co-author Dr. Jan Scentzler. The researchers say this method can also be used to identify promising areas rich in bioactive compounds.
For example, the study expects the mountainous regions of Java, which contain the greatest diversity of plant species, to have a higher density of plants containing anti-infective compounds.
According to the study's authors, the new method of researching medicinal compounds can easily be transferred to other geographic regions of the world.
Reference:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences