Quality Control and Standardization of Plant-Based Pharmaceuticals
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2026 | Viewed by 378
Editors
Interests: pharmacognosy; medicinal plants; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology; ethnopharmacy; natural products; quality control; drug discovery; pharmacological validation; safety and toxicological assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: natural products chemistry; phytochemical analysis; pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical formulation; drug discovery from natural sources; phytotherapy and herbal medicines
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant-based pharmaceuticals and herbal medicines are increasingly recognized as valuable sources of therapeutic agents and innovative drug leads. Natural products continue to contribute significantly to modern pharmacotherapy, with many clinically relevant drugs originating from plant secondary metabolites. The growing global demand for phytotherapeutic products reflects renewed scientific and industrial interest in plant-derived bioactive compounds. However, despite their widespread use, important challenges remain regarding quality control, reproducibility, safety, and regulatory acceptance of herbal medicines. Variability in phytochemical composition caused by geographical origin, cultivation practices, harvesting conditions, and processing methods often leads to inconsistencies in efficacy and safety profiles. Consequently, the establishment of standardized analytical approaches and scientifically validated quality assessment strategies has become a priority for both academic research and pharmaceutical development.
This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances related to quality control, standardization, and pharmaceutical development of plant-based products. We consider contributions addressing phytochemical characterization, authentication methods, analytical quality assessment, pharmacological validation, safety evaluation, and innovative formulation strategies for herbal medicines and natural products. Original research articles, reviews, and methodological studies that strengthen scientific evidence and promote reproducibility in phytomedicine and natural product drug discovery are particularly encouraged.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Quality control strategies for herbal medicines and plant-based pharmaceuticals;
- Phytochemical analysis and characterization of secondary metabolites;
- Natural products chemistry and metabolomic approaches;
- Authentication and standardization of medicinal plants;
- Relationship between phytochemical composition and pharmacological properties;
- Safety assessment and toxicological evaluation of herbal products;
- Pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical formulation of plant-derived compounds;
- Drug discovery from natural sources;
- Advances in phytotherapy and evidence-based herbal medicines;
- Regulatory perspectives and quality assurance of plant-based therapeutics.
Dr. Maryam Malmir
Dr. Emran Habibi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- quality control and standardization of plant-based products
- authentication of medicinal plants
- phytochemical characterization
- secondary marker metabolites
- pharmacological validation
- safety and toxicological assessment
- pharmaceutical formulation
- evidence-based herbal medicine
- ethnopharmacology
- regulatory aspects of herbal medicines
- reproducibility in natural products research
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