- Plant secondary metabolites have more drug like-ness and better modulate cellular processes affected by disease states.
- Their chirality is a clear advantage as interactions between molecules in living systems take place in a chiral environment.
- Plants are a treasure trove of amazingly complex molecules of outstanding chemical diversity that are NOT feasible for chemical synthesis on a commercial basis.
- Today natural products and their derivatives represent about 50% of all drugs in clinical use with higher plant-derived natural products representing approximately 25% of the total.
- Genetically manipulating plant cells to generate secondary metabolites is difficult as they are not products of single genes.
- Natural product research has unravelled novel action mechanisms and concepts that are redefining the erstwhile ‘drug activity’ equation.
- Multiconstituent herbs/extracts/polyherbals simultaneously and effectively address the causative factors of multifactorial human diseases better than pure single drugs.
- Attempts to prepare standardized herbal drugs using approaches applicable to pure drugs compromise on their intended traditional functions/biological activity thus discounting on their holism.
- Though relatively safe, herbal drugs can precipitate unwanted herb-drug interactions.
- Metal-based traditional drugs should be subjected to newer evaluation methods before being relinquished as toxic.
- Several herbs of proven therapeutic efficacy in traditional medicine wait to be understood, identified and introduced into mainstream modern herbal medicine, because of the inability to prove their therapeutic efficacy by modern methods of activity assessment.
- Natural biodiversity conservation efforts must be the urgent priority of all global and national policies.
- Within the framework of the convention are the concepts of the sovereignty of states over genetic resources and their obligation to facilitate access. The contracting parties are expected to establish measures for benefit sharing in the event of commercial utilization. This involves collaboration between the collector, the source country and the industrial partner.
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