A Brief Report on Effects of Natural Products

Kidane Aaron^*
*Correspondence: Kidane Aaron, Department of Pharmacy, University of Asmara, Asmara, Eritrea, Email:

Introduction

In many cultures, traditional medicine has been based on plants for thousands of years, and it will continue to play a significant role in global health care. Natural products have a lot of potential, but only about 10% of the world's biodiversity has been tested for biological activity. Since a long time ago, phytochemicals with distinctive structural diversity have been the primary source of potential drug leads, and many of these phytochemicals are now officially recognized as drug candidates. Since ancient times, natural constituents and their derivatives have been recognized as a source of therapeutic agents and ailments' treatments. As a result, they have become an essential component of numerous traditional medicine systems worldwide. Antioxidant, antiseptic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, cytotoxic, neuro protective, and other bioactivities are attributed to numerous natural constituents, such as phenolics, terpenoids, and alkaloids. Plants and their bioactive molecules are utilized as natural therapeutics and significantly contribute to the production of commercial drugs due to their wide range of activities. Due to a lack of ethno botanical information, significant utilization of plants remains limited, despite their long history of medicinal use worldwide. It is common knowledge that natural compounds combined have synergistic effects and are non-toxic [1-3].

Description

Organic compounds can be broken down into two main categories based on how they are used in metabolism: essential and auxiliary metabolites. While essential metabolites can be characterized as those atoms that are engaged with the biosynthetic pathways of fundamental parts of living cells, for example, amino acids in proteins, nucleotides in nucleic acids, sugars as an energy asset and in polysaccharides, or phospholipids as significant constituents of cell films, auxiliary metabolites have frequently been viewed as those that were excessive and that were, generally, results of the essential digestion. However, decades of study into these metabolites have demonstrated that, despite their restricted distribution (i.e., characteristic of particular taxa), they perform a plethora of distinct functions; As a result, the concept of "specialized metabolites" has been proposed. These metabolites are produced by all living things, but bacteria, plants, and fungi are the most important. Their sedentary way of life is probably to blame for this. Microorganisms, plants, and fungi, on the other hand, are unable to behave in ways that allow them to adjust to their surroundings, avoid unfavorable conditions, or engage with other organisms in numerous ways. The vast metabolomic diversity of plants and, to a lesser extent, fungi is well-known. Although the estimated number of plant taxa and, at times, massive genomes (especially in polyploid taxa), as well as the capacity of some enzymes to produce more than one specialized metabolite, the number of estimated metabolites may very well exceed 200,000. No one knows how many different metabolites plants produce [4].

Based on their chemical nature, specialized metabolites can be divided into several groups. Terpenoids, alkaloids, and phenolics are the three groups that make up the most. Glucosinolates organic disulfides (Amaryllidaceae), unusual fatty acids (Gymnosperms and Angiosperms), cyanogenic glucosides (Rosaceae), and other groups exist, but their distribution is fairly restricted. With over 30,000 compounds, terpenoids are the most diverse group of natural compounds. Based on the number of isoprene units (C5) they possess, they can be categorized as follows: Monoterpenes have two, sesquiterpenes have three, diterpenes have four, triterpenes have six, and polyterpenes have seven or more isoprene units, while hemiterpenes only have one isoprene unit. Terpenoids are found in all taxa, albeit occasionally in insignificant quantities. They are crucial in the interactions between plants and their environment, such as attracting pollinators, repelling herbivores, or shielding plants from microorganism-caused infections. They are non-polar compounds that are frequently produced in resin ducts or specialized glands on the surface of plant organs. The majority of the studied compounds are components of oleoresins or complex, volatile mixtures known as EOs. With more than 20,000 distinct structures, alkaloids are the second-largest group of natural products after minerals. Alkaloids are organic nitrogen compounds that are heterocyclic and soluble in water. Amino acids typically provide the nitrogen in their structure, but not all groups do. In light of their biosynthetic pathway, they are isolated into genuine alkaloids, protoalkaloids and pseudoalkaloids [5].

Conclusion

Amino acids are used to synthesize both true and protoalkaloids, though protoalkaloids do not contain heterocyclic nitrogen. However, pseudoalkaloids are produced in a different manner, such as from terpenes or other specialized metabolites. These compounds, which have a bitter taste and are frequently toxic to mammals and other animals, protect plants from herbivores. Despite their significance, these compounds are restricted in their distribution and can only be found in particular families. The third most diverse category of specialized metabolites is phenolics. They include more than 10,000 distinct compounds that can be categorized into the following groups: tannins, flavonoids, and coumarins The chemical characterization of plant extracts and the identification of their components are essential for comprehending the medicinal properties of these extracts, which may contain up to one hundred distinct phytochemicals that vary in abundance. Eliminating potentially toxic compounds is one of the primary reasons for the pharmaceutical development process's focus on the isolation, identification, and synergistic effects of active natural compounds. Multi-target effects or the modulation of drug transport, permeation, and bioavailability are two examples of synergistic mechanisms.

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