Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally medicinal plants are used by many nations in the world. Their use even goes back thousands of years in human history.

Our oldest date are from 4,000 B.C., mentioning the use of opium of the poppy plant among the Sumerians, who lived in the Middle East of today. Egypt was also one of the oldest nations, using medicinal plants. In the 1500 B.C. this nation already used drugs of botanic origin, e.g. using onions, saw-dust of the coarse fir-tree, fruits of the juniper-berry, tree resin, pulses, wild cummin, pomegranate, acacia leaves, cassia, fresh dates,vegetable oil, etc. to tret gynecological disorders. Indian medicine (Ayur Veda : ca 3,000 years ago) and Chinese medicine are even of an older era.

Nearer to the West and to our time, the Greeks made use of the knowledge of traditional Indian and Chinese medicine. Altreya, a Greek physician, used,around 500 B.C., already ca 700 species medicinal herbs.

In the meantime our knowledge on drugs of botanical origin in creases. Around 1630 the use of cinchona bark against malaria, found in the New Worid, became known. The 18^th and the 18^th centuries were periods of important fundamental discoveries in the field of medical sciences, also in relation of medicinal plants. In Colombia the therapeutic action of botanical substances, also useful in modern medicine, like ipecacuanha (emetic) and Peruvian balsam (wound ointment), has been discovers. In 1785 Withering succeeded in discovering the action of digitalis (from the digitalis plant) on the heart. The 19^th century is the century of further research on the therapeutic action of botanical substances: morphine from the poppy plant, iodine from sea-weed (treatment of struma or goiter), quinine from cinchona bark. Meanwhle more progress has been archieved in the field of research on drugs from plants. In 1856 the weakening action of the Indian arrow toxine curare on the muscle was discovered and four years later Niemann extracted cocaine from the leaves of plant Erythroxylon coca found in the Andes mountains. Only after 20-24 years cocaine was used as a local narcotic in medicine for the first time.

The discovery of the bactericidal action of the fungus Penicillium notatum by Fleming in 1926, introduces the age of the application of antibiotics, which has become an integral part of the modern fight against bacteria. However, one has to wait until 1939, before the discovery of Fleming became available for practical application by preparation of a stable form of pinicilline. Even the use of corticosteroids (examples: cortisone, hydrocortisone) for 1948-1949) and the introduction of the anticonception pill, are made possible by plants. The necessary chemical hormone-like substances are namely drawn from the roots of some Dioscorea species, e.g. from Mexico.

Looking into the drugs used by our present physicians, it is shown, as remarked earlier, that many drugs of today, which probably can be synthesized in their natural from or as extracts are derived from plants. Their use is made possible by the traditional native medicine. The problem is still, hw to select the good ones from the mass of at least 20,000 used medical plants in the world. The following drugs of botanic origin (direct or indirect) are still in use.

Painkilling drugs (analgesics)

An example from the plant world is opium, prepared from the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. In the course of the time opium has become a narcotic drug, like its most important alkaloids morphin/heroine. Codeine, also an alkaloid of opium, is practically irreplaceable as cough medicine. Papaverine, also found in opium, is used to treat angaina pectoris.