Medicinal Plants
Code
11762
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
Department
Departamento de Ciências da Terra
Credits
4.0
Teacher in charge
Fernando Henrique da Silva Reboredo
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Português
Objectives
Identify the main medicinal plants of the Portuguese and World´s flora with therapeutic role.
Understand the importance of medicinal plants and its active principles in the illness treatments
Recognize the role of plant biotechnology in the production and maximization of active principles.
Identify the main threats to medicinal plants – from habitat destruction to the non-selective recollection.
Recognize the importance of the world trade of medicinal plants and the socio-economic implications in several world areas.
Demonstrate the linkages between botany/ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and human health.
Subject matter
The concept of medicinal plant. The use of medicinal plants throughout time. From traditional medicine to conventional medicine.
The main plant groups with phytotherapic interest. The importance of the correct identification in plant systematics. Medicinal plants in the Portuguese Farmacopeia.
Phytochemistry and phytotherapy. Extraction, isolation and characterization of active principles
Secondary metabolism compounds with phytotherapic interest – phenolic compounds, alkaloids, terpenes, essential oils
The emergence of the chemical synthesis. The role of plant biotechnology.
Acute toxicity due to the incorrect use of wild plants and/or medicinal plants.
Challenges in drug discovery from medicinal plants
Cultivation and world trade of medicinal plants
Medicinal plants – current threats and protection measures
Bibliography
Balunas M.J. & Kinghorn, A.D. 2005. Drug discovery from medicinal plants. Life Sci. 78: 431-441.
Raven P., Evert R.F. & Eichhorn S.E. 2005. Biology of plants 7th edit. W.H. Freeman (New York) 686 pp.
WHO. 2007/2009. Monographs on selected medicinal plants, Vol. 3 and 4, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland.
Makkar, H.P.S., Siddhuraju, P. & Becker, K. 2007. Plant secondary metabolites (Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol 393), Humana Press, 130 pp.
Hussain, M.S., Fareed, S., Ansari, S., Rahman, M.A., Ahmad I.Z. & Saeed,M. 2012. Current approaches toward production of secondary plant metabolites. J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 4:10–20.
Proença da Cunha A. & Roque O. R. 2011. Plantas medicinais da farmacopeia Portuguesa: constituintes, controlo, farmacologia e utilização. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisboa), 2ª Ed., 710 pp
Proença da Cunha, A. 2014. Farmacognosia e fitoquímica. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisboa), 4ª Ed., 674 pp
Evaluation method
Assessment is continuous, consisting of 3 elements, with a minimum grade of approval (9.5 scale of 20 marks) for each component – the weight of theoretical component is 60% and theoretic-practical 40%.