Esperanza Carcache de Blanco
The Ohio State University, USA
Title: Studies of Selected Ethnomedically Used Plants to Confirm Potential Health Benefits
Biography
Biography: Esperanza Carcache de Blanco
Abstract
Plants have been used ethnomedically for thousand years. Moreover, about 80% of the population in developed countries continue to use traditional medicine. These medicinal plants contain diverse secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, and tannins. The chemical diversity of these species constitutes the most obvious choice for the discovery of therapeutically effective new drugs intended at the treatment of different diseases states. Also, the health benefits associated with the phytochemicals are derived through several different mechanisms of action. Despite the worldwide use of these species, most of them have not been thoroughly studied to confirm their potential health benefits and exploration of the role of phytochemicals in human health, disease prevention, and treatment is still in its infancy. Hence, the importance of scrutinizing the composition and studying the mechanism of action of the active constituents of these plant species for the benefit of human health. The study of plants with historical ethnomedical uses, therefore, comprises a promising source for the discovery of new drug leads or new phytochemicals with great potential in the prevention and treatment of different diseases.