Ethnomedicine for Drug Discovery

Abstract

We human beings are blessed by mother Earth for her enormous wealth of medicinal plants and their remedies against various diseases. The discovery of drugs flows along the history of ethnic groups around the world. Our ancestor was using various types of ethnic medicines to cure multiple diseases, and this practice was further inherited in today’s society where everything can be scientifically validated. Modern drug discoveries are more or less based on ethnomedicine. This folklore medicine system could be a breakthrough in treating and recovering some of the medical needs. The practice of folklore medicine system includes Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, Unani, ancient Iranian medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Irani, Kampo, traditional Korean medicine, Muti, Ifa, traditional African medicine, Islamic medicine, etc. All these traditional products for medicine can be evaluated for drug discovery. The bioactive molecules present in natural products are of great interest in synthesizing modern drugs. The bioactive molecule such as polyphenols can possess antidiabetic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The chemical compounds (flavone and flavopiridol) isolated from a plant species Dysoxylum binectariferum Hook can prevent cancer cell formation by the mechanism of inhibiting the class of protein kinases. A certain polysaccharide compound such as lentinan derived from Lentinula edodes, krestin derived from Coriolus versicolor, polysaccharopeptide (PSP) derived from Coriolus versicolor, and Schizophyllan derived from Schizophyllum commune have been clinically tested and succeeded against cancer. More than 50% of the modern drugs are derived from natural products, and researchers are now focused on drug discovery from herbal medicines. The lack of standardization methods, quality control, and other methods of monitoring are the primary lacunae in promoting traditional medicines. In this study, typical examples of successful drug discovery from various plants and their ethnomedicine approaches were evaluated. In addition, the problems in drug discovery from folklore medicines and different types of traditional medicine against diseases were described.