Why do we need plants?
Chinese wisdom
Rabindranath Tagore
Humans are an integral part of Nature, and their lives are inextricably linked to both the animal and plant worlds. The human body is structured in such a way that all its cells, tissues, and organs are under the constant influence of a whole complex of biologically active substances of natural origin that vary in structure.
In the course of its evolutionary development, the human body has entered into a harmonious metabolic relationship with biologically active substances found in plants (polyphenols, terpenoids, organic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, macro- and microelements), without which the normal course of life processes and the development of the body as a whole would be impossible. As a result of this constant contact and interaction, natural compounds have become vital factors in all metabolic processes for the human body.
Just as there are practically no neutral substances – plant components – for humans, so there are no diseases in nature against which dozens of pharmacologically active compounds have not been formed in the plant world.
In nature, everything is united and interconnected: for every bacterium, fungus, virus, or protozoan that is pathogenic to humans, there are effective active substances – they just need to be discovered, isolated, and learned how to use.
Many of these compounds are active components of plants. Each plant is a kind of factory where the processes of biosynthesis, cleavage, oxidation-reduction of various biologically active substances are continuously taking place. Today, more than 80,000 such active substances with a wide variety of structures are known. Their study is the subject of pharmacognosy, in particular, its integral part – phytochemistry.
Today, there is a steady trend of growing interest in medicinal plants and their active substances. In particular, the scientific world has paid much more attention to the chemical composition and pharmacological activity of fruits and vegetables that are common in the human diet, such as various types of cabbage, carrots, beets, pumpkins, apples, currants, strawberries, etc. These natural products are mild natural metabolism regulators, detoxifiers, and the first reliable helpers when a person encounters toxic environmental factors. In addition, their availability, simplicity and convenience of use, and the absence of pronounced side effects provide a real opportunity to widely use the medicinal properties of familiar foods in everyday life. In particular, vegetable and berry juices, compotes, and fruit drinks, along with traditional medicinal forms (decoctions, infusions, extracts, tablets, capsules, etc.), are promising for use in pediatrics, which is especially important in light of the global trend toward a significant decline in the immune status of children and adolescents in recent years.
Plant and animal cells
Today, the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom are united (together with the fungi kingdom) in the superkingdom of eukaryotes, and cells of this superkingdom are typically characterized by the presence of a membrane envelope, a morphologically separate nucleus, and cytoplasm (matrix) containing various organelles and inclusions.
Plant and animal cells have the following common features:
– similarity of metabolism and energy exchange processes;
– unity of the principle of the genetic code;
– universal membrane structure;
– unity of chemical composition;
– similarity of the cell division process.
What are the differences between us and plants?
Short-term and long-term prospects
The medicinal properties of plants, empirically established in ancient times, are scientifically substantiated in modern pharmacognosy, phytotherapy, and medicine. Thus, currently in Ukraine, about 150 species of medicinal plants are used, which are included in the 11th edition of the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR (1990) and Supplement 2 to the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine (2004).
Today, the efforts of many pharmacognosists and phytochemists around the world are focused on studying plants with the aim of creating new, more effective medicines. Each phytochemical school is developing its own direction, seeking its own path in the vast universe of the majestic science of pharmacognosy. The painstaking work of phytochemists, pharmacognosists, and pharmacologists, armed with the most modern analytical research methods, is helping to reveal the potential of dozens of plants that official medicine does not yet consider official.
Thanks to constant, targeted scientific research, new biologically active substances in plants and even new classes of natural compounds are being discovered (you can read more about this on the page “New Concept of Pharmacognosy”), their structure and pharmacological effects are being studied, and medicinal products are being developed. Today, about 40% of the arsenal of medicines consists of preparations derived from plants. Modern medicine also often uses individual biologically active plant substances and their complexes: alkaloids, essential oils, organic acids, vitamins, tannins, anthracene derivatives, coumarins, chromones, xanthones, resins, mucilage, etc.According to modern concepts, a phytopreparation is a biogenetically formed complex that includes a set of active and accompanying substances – primary and secondary metabolites, macro- and microelements.
Such a complex, initially formed in a living plant cell, has a greater affinity with the cells of the human body than an isolated, chemically pure active substance, is more easily assimilated, and has fewer side effects.
Considering phytochemical research in a promising historical perspective and taking into account modern scientific data, it can be assumed that in the future, the emphasis will be on the use of plants without prior chemical treatment, namely in the form of crushed dried raw materials, in which the entire natural complex of active substances is preserved unchanged in its original form, as well as in the form of infusions, decoctions, and tinctures.
Therefore, perhaps the main paradigm of pharmacognosy in the future lies in the words of Vladimir Levi, a doctor, writer, and psychologist: