Introduction to

Medicinal Plants
& Quality
Control
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Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
 Introduction

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
Definition of medicinal plants:

-The use of plants and

plant extracts to treat
illness and remain healthy
in face of chronic stress
and pollution.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -
Rajaa Abueideh
- It is also called herbalism ,
folk medicine ,herbal
medicine, botanical
medicine or herbology

-Sometimes herbal medicine is

extended to include fungi, bee
products, minerals and shells
beside certain animal parts.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Definition of Medicinal Plants
Rajaa Abueideh
 Plants that are considered as
medicinal plants, those
whose roots, leaves, seeds,
bark or other constituent
possess therapeutic, tonic or
other pharmacologic activity
when administrated to higher
animals. (WHO's definition)
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Definition of medicinal plants
Rajaa Abueideh
Or any plant which provides
health-promoting
characteristics, temporary
relief or symptomatic problems
or has curative properties.)

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Definition of medicinal plants

Rajaa Abueideh
- Medicinal plants are used both in
herbal and conventional medicine
and offer benefits that pharmaceutical
drugs often lack, helping to combat
illness and support the body's efforts
to regain health.
- The active constituents found in
plants have a direct action on the
body.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Definition of medicinal plants
Rajaa Abueideh
 What are the medicinal
plants?
-Plants (70,000 species)
including lichens to higher
plants (herbs, shrubs or
trees).
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -
Rajaa Abueideh
-herbs (annual, biennial or
perennial plants without woody
tissues) have been used and
described more, because they
have an important historical
and tradition in healing.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - What are the medicinal

Rajaa Abueideh plants?
 - Few drug plants are
cultivated. Most of the supply
of drugs is obtained from
wild plants growing in all
parts of the world especially
in the tropics

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - What are the medicinal

Rajaa Abueideh
plants?
Brief Historical Background:
-Herbs have been used for medical
treatment since the earliest days of
mankind.

- 50 years ago, humans have relied almost

entirely on plants to treat all kinds of
illness, from minor problems such as
coughs and colds to life-threatening
diseases such as tuberculosis and
malaria.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
-Various Chinese, Egyptian,
Babylonian, Geek, Arab and
Moslem- Scientists enriched
our today's knowledge with
their expertise in herbal
medicine.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Brief Historical Background

Rajaa Abueideh
-The advancement of synthetic
medicine overshadowed
traditional herbal medicine for
over 50 years. Thus, herbal
medicine became less common in
the last decades, but existed in
remote areas or for small and
poor sections of the population.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Brief Historical Background
Rajaa Abueideh
 Today herbal remedies come
back because efficiency of
conventional medicine such as
antibiotic become weaker,
since infectious organisms
have developed resistance to
synthesized drugs.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Brief Historical Background
Rajaa Abueideh
 For example the herb Artemisia
annua and its active constituent
artemisin are now being used to
treat malaria in areas of the world
where the protozoa causing the
infection no longer respond to
conventional treatment.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Brief Historical Background

Rajaa Abueideh
2-It found that herbal medicine has
advantages over conventional
medicine as:
*Some synthetic drugs are with serious side
effects
(10-20% of hospital patients in the West are
there due to the side effects of
conventional treatment) where as herbal
medicine is considered as a gentle form of
treatment)
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at all
Rajaa Abueideh levels in the society ?
 Why herbal medicine developed
at all levels in the society ?

1-The recent call for "back to nature" has

affected all public people.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
*or conventional medicine could not
cure discovered illnesses including
AIDS.

*Herbal medicine provides safe, well-

tolerated remedies for chronic illness
which many of them still have no
effective conventional treatment as
asthma, arthritis.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at all
Rajaa Abueideh levels in the society ?
3-The majority of the world's
populations in developing
countries still rely on herbal
medicines to meet their health
needs

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at all

Rajaa Abueideh levels in the society ?
4-There are considerable
economic benefits in the
development of the use of
medicinal plants in treatment
of various diseases.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at

Rajaa Abueideh all levels in the society ?
5- Where Synthetic medicine could
not relieve patients who suffer
from hard-to-cure illnesses, they
have found peace of mind and
psychological comfort with folk
medicine practitioners.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at

Rajaa Abueideh all levels in the society ?
In the developed countries 25% of the
medicinal drugs are based on plants
and their derivatives.

-Some researchers trained in both western and

Chinese medicine have attempted to reconstruct
ancient medicinal texts in the light of modern
science.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed

Rajaa Abueideh at all levels in the society ?
-So herbs have again become popular
in the developed world as people
strive to stay healthy in the face of
chronic stress and pollution and to
treat illness with medicines that work
in concert with body's defenses. It is a
type of resolution has been taking
place.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed

Rajaa Abueideh at all levels in the society ?
 For example tens of millions of
people now take herbs as ginkgo
(Ginkgo biloba) to help to
maintain mental and physical
health.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed

Rajaa Abueideh at all levels in the society ?
 Ginkgo biloba

http://www.dickcontino.com
http://en.wikipedia.org.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
-Increasingly too scientific evidences is
accumulating to show that herbal medicine
can provide treatment that is as effective
as conventional medicine but with few side
effects.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed

Rajaa Abueideh at all levels in the society ?
Sales of herbal medicines have
grown dramatically and several
pharmaceutical companies now
manufactures and market herbal
products within conventional
medicine, although whole plants
are rarely used .

Why herbal medicine developed

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - at all levels in the society ?
Rajaa Abueideh
- in general the herbs provide
the starting material for the
isolation or synthesis of
conventional drugs:

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at all

Rajaa Abueideh levels in the society ?
*Digoxin drug used
for heart failure
was isolated from Digitalis purpurea
plant foxglove

(Digitalis purpurea)

http://no.wikipedia.org.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
*Contraceptive pills Dioscorea villosa
was synthesized
from constituents
found in
wild yam

(Dioscorea villosa)

http://wisplants.uwsp.edu.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
But the scientifically well-oriented and
experienced herbalists are few and
many have found a good trade, started to
deal with herbal medicine without proper
background.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Why herbal medicine developed at

Rajaa Abueideh all levels in the society ?
Ecological Effect:
-The increased use of medicinal herbs
has important environmental
implications. Growing herbs as an
organic crop offers new opportunities
for farmers, but the rise in the
popularity of herbal medicines also
directly threatens the survival of some
wild species.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -
Rajaa Abueideh
 How Medicinal plants work:

-The ability of herbal system to affect body

systems depends on the chemical
constituents that it contains. Plants contain
hundreds if not thousands of different
constituent chemicals that interact in
complex ways. The detail of how a
particular herb works is not well known.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
-Extracting and isolating chemicals from
plants first started in the 18th century and
since that time the interest in herbs and
their effects in terms of their active
chemical constituents, started to develop.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - How Medicinal plants work

Rajaa Abueideh
Research into isolated plant
constituents is important in giving
rise to many of the world's useful
drugs. For example:
-The strongest painkiller of all,
morphine, comes from opium poppy
(Papaver somniferum)

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - How Medicinal plants work

Rajaa Abueideh
 Papaver somniferum

http://explorepharma.wordpress.com.
botanical.com

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
-The
Erythroxylum coca
anesthetic
cocaine
comes from
coca
(Erythroxylum
coca)

http://dying-pharmacist.blogspot.com.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
- The cough-
Ephedra sinica
relieving
properties of
ephedrine from
Ephedra sinica)

http://www.physiciansselect.co.uk.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
 Plants as food & medicines:
Since we have evolved side by-side with
plants over hundreds of thousands of
years and our digestive system and
physiology as a whole are used to
digestion and utilizing plant-based foods
which often have medicinal value as well
as providing food

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
 so the human body is much
better suited to treatment with
herbal remedies than with
isolated chemical medicine.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Plants as food & medicines

Rajaa Abueideh
-The dividing line between foods and
medicines may not always be clear. Are
lemons, onions and oat " foods" or
"medicines"? They are both.
Lemon (Citrus limon) improves resistance
to infection
Onion (Allium cepa) relieves bronchial
infections
Oats (Avena sativa) support
convalescence.
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Plants as food & medicines
Rajaa Abueideh
 http://no.wikipedia.org.
http://www.metafro.be/prelude.

Citrus limon

http://hsb.wikipedia.org.

Avena sativa
Allium cepa
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -
Rajaa Abueideh
Herbal Treatments:

There are many thousands of medicinal

plants in use throughout the world, with
many different actions and degree of
potency. Most of them have a specific
action on particular body systems and are
known to be suitable for treating certain
types of ailments.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
For example medicinal plants can treat:
- Digestion, Respiration and
Circulation
- Cleaning Toxicity and Smoothing
Skin
- Nervous, Endocrine and Immune
systems

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Herbal Treatments

Rajaa Abueideh
-Herb is not a magic with a single action, but
a complex natural medicine composed of
many active constituents that work on
different body systems. By combining
scientific research into active
constituents with clinical observation
and traditional knowledge of whole
plant, a round picture of each herb's
range of medicinal plants can be
developed.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Herbal Treatments

Rajaa Abueideh
Using herbs wisely:
-Most commonly used herbs are
extremely safe to use. However some
plants have side effects, so herbal
remedies of some plants must be
taken or use only under the guidance
of well-trained practitioners to avoid
adverse consequences.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Herbal Treatments

Rajaa Abueideh
For example Ephedra can be
extremely toxic at the wrong
dosage.
When an herbal medicine is used
correctly, the chances of
developing a serious side effect
are remote.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Herbal Treatments

Rajaa Abueideh
 http://www.loupiote.com.

Quality Control

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
Quality Control:
-Means to make herbal
medicine, herbs and herbal
products of good quality
(properly grown, well dried,
correctly processed and within
their sell-by date)

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
-Little benefit will be received
when poor-quality herbal
products are used.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
-Quality is vital for herbal medicine.
Without a guarantee that the correct herb
of the right quality is being used, it is hard
to be confident that the medicine will prove
effective.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
 http://www.lookfordiagnosis.com.

-Reasons why may we get poor-quality

herbal products and so no medicinal value
are that:
1- Herb may be poorly harvested, dried or
stored.
2- Old and decayed material or even the
wrong herb, may have been used.
3- Manufacturing process could be at fault

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
 -Strict quality-control procedures
must be used to guarantee
that good-quality products are
made and manufactured,
which involves:

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
 comparing the dried herb
material with listing in a herbal or
national pharmacopoeia
(a standard reference work that
gives the characteristics one
would expect to find when
analyzing a specific herb)

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
 routine checks to establish the
herbal material (check using naked
eyes and microscopes to see if its
botanical profile matches the
standard, check to see if it contains
appropriate levels of active
Constituents (fingerprint of plant) and
to ensure that the material is free
from contamination

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
What should you look for
when buying herbal
medicine; dried herbs or
herbal products?

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
-Herbal medicine includes:
capsules, pills, essential oils,
peccaries and tinctures or
infusions, decoctions and
syrups that you may made by
your self.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
-Buy this medicine:
* from reputable herb stores, staffed by
people knowledgeable about herbal
medicine.
* only mail order from established herbal
suppliers.
* buy organic herbs and products where
available.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
When buying dried herbs:
-Buy from shops better than
mailing order, since you can
examine herbs before
purchasing.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
- Notice that herbs
*should not be stored in clear glass
jars or in direct sunlight, since this causes
oxidation, which affects their efficiency.
*Good-quality aromatic herbs should
have a distinct scent and taste.
*Check for signs of adulteration or
infestation due to poor drying techniques and
this can be recognized by presence of dried grass
or other nonmedicinal material in the jar.
*Look for the bright material that has
been well dried and stored which are not too
old; herbs lose their colors as they age so.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 - Quality Control

Rajaa Abueideh
When buying herbal products:
-Herbal products include capsules,
pills, essential oils, peccaries and
tinctures
-Always check the label on the jar or
packet. If label is not found do not
buy.

Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -

Rajaa Abueideh
The label should include the following
information:
*Name all constituents in the product
*state the recommended daily dosage
* state the weight of each capsule or pill
or volume of bottle
*list the weight of each constituent in a
capsule, pill etc.
* list the ratio of herb in the product
(1:3,1 part herb:3 parts liquid)
Medicinal Plants- Lec No.1 -
Rajaa Abueideh