Drug Discovery: The Role of Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Medicinal plants have long been used since prehistoric as sources for drug design. Different standard techniques have been used in the area of drug discovery from medicinal plants. Phytochemicals which are chemical compounds produced from plant secondary metabolism are sources of many of the new drugs and active ingredients of medicines. Plants with medicinal potency have contributed greatly to the discoveries of novel drugs and these have continued to provide an important source of new drug against different diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS, malaria. Several compounds have been isolated from medicinal plants which may act as chemo-preventive agents. This paper reviews the role of medicinal plants towards their application in drug discovery.