THE ROLE OF PHYTOMEDICINE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

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THE ROLE OF PHYTOMEDICINE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The emphasis on the use of medicinal plants had hitherto been placed on the treatment rather than prevention of diseases. However, there exists in the literature considerable report in recent times on research work on the use of medicinal plants and their constituents in disease prevention. A World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Group defined Traditional Medicine as the sum total of all knowledge and practices, whether explicable or not, used in diagnosis, prevention and elimination of physical, mental, or social imbalance and relying exclusively on practical experience and observation handed down from generation to generation, whether verbally or in writing (WHO, 1976). For Africa, this may be extended further by including an expression, such as ‘while bearing in mind the original concept of nature which includes the material world, the sociological environment whether living or dead and the metaphysical forces of the universe’.

Over 90% of traditional medicine recipes/remedies contain medicinal plants but this paper will address, specifically, the medicinal plants that have been implicated with preventive measures in disease control strategies. However, it must be noted that only a very thin divide exists between treatment and prevention in some cases. A quick example is the fact that by treating mild elevation of blood pressure renal disease can be prevented.

1.2 Statement of the problem

A medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or more of its organs, contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes or which are precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs. This description makes it possible to distinguish between medicinal plants whose therapeutic properties and constituents have been established scientifically, and plants that are regarded as medicinal but which have not yet been subjected to a thorough scientific study.

A number of plants have been used in traditional medicine for many years. Some do seem to work although there may not be sufficient scientific data (double-blind trials, for example) to confirm their efficacy. Such plants should qualify as medicinal plants. The term ‘crude drugs of natural or biological origin’ is used by pharmacists and pharmacologists to describe whole plants or parts of plants which have medicinal properties.