Editorial: Should We Study Plant Extracts or Pure Compounds?

Abstract

Man has used herbal medicines from time immemorial to manage or prevent different ailments. Ethnomedicine continues to leverage on this practice to develop conventional medicines. Consequently, nature has contributed immensely to our existing arsenal of drugs. Many widely used medicines such as morphine, quinine, artemisinin, aspirin, taxol, atropine and emetine are derived from nature either directly or through semi-synthesis. Additionally, compounds derived from plant or animal sources have served as lead compounds and inspired the development of clinically useful molecules such as captopril and other angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors.