Plant Phytochemicals on Drug Development

Dear Colleagues,

The journals Pharmaceuticals and Plants will jointly be publishing a Special Issue on plant phytochemicals. Plant-derived products and their corresponding metabolites have garnered huge interest at the clinical, pharmacological, cosmetic and even industrial levels. Indeed, natural products are extremely rich sources of biomolecules useful for a multitude of applications. Nonetheless, and with regard to the pharmacological approach, it is of utmost importance to highlight that natural products are not drugs, but instead are a pool of phytochemicals for drug development. In the last decades, a wide variety of methods/techniques have been used to assess the renowned historical significance of natural products, also emphasizing their potential as a source of novel compounds that can be directly applied as therapeutic agents, and even as a source of inspiration for medicinal chemists generating new synthetic organic compounds. On the other hand, with regard to the high demand by consumers for healthy products, a wide variety of plant-derived foodstuffs have also been introduced into worldwide markets, contributing to shelf-life extension, the maintenance and even improvement of organoleptic and nutritional attributes, the formulation of functional products, among other biotechnological approaches. In this context, and considering that most secondary metabolites are produced for the protection of the own plant, some of the bioactive constituents have also been increasingly screened for crop protection, including biocide formulation. Thus, considering the high interest in plant-derived secondary metabolites as an emerging challenge for modern drug development, crop protection and biotechnological processes, this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas, aiming to contribute to the overall knowledge of medicinal plants from several aspects.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Plants.

Dr. Natália Martins
Dr. Javad Sharifi-Rad
Dr. Bahare Salehi
Guest Editors

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