Natural products utilization

Abstract

In November 2013 in Bansko, Bulgaria, over 230 scientists and exhibitors attended the meeting Natural Products Utilization: from Plants to Pharmacy Shelf (ICNPU-2013; www.icnpu2013.cim.bg), jointly organized by the Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology and Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry. A number of non-profit organizations as the Phytochemical Society of Europe (PSE), the Association for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEEC) and the Southeast European Network on Phytochemistry and Chemistry of Natural Products for Green and Sustainable Growth (SEE PhytochChem NET) supported the meeting. The international organizing committee of ICNPU-2013 assembled an exciting and diverse program, featuring keynote session given by Prof. Dr. Bharat B. Aggarwal (The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, USA), followed consecutively by 17 plenary and invited lectures, 38 short oral presentations and 140 posters. World-renowned experts and attendees from 40 different countries discussed the latest developments on the field with special emphasis on the emerging methods for treatment and prevention of malignancies, sustainable production and use of natural products and the modern analytical platforms (e.g. omics approaches). This editorial article aims at giving insight into natural products-related research covered by the ICNPU-2013 meeting. The broad chemical diversity of plants has been exploited for centuries by humans to diminish and prevent pain, for clothing and shelter, for use in religious ceremony, to produce pleasure, and to cure various human ailments (De Luca et al. 2012; Georgiev 2013). Today, over a quarter of the modern medicines are derived either directly or indirectly from plants, especially in case of cancer therapy (60 %), infectious diseases (75 %), but also in the treatment of metabolic syndrome-related ailments and immunosuppression therapy. Surely, these numbers count on microbial sources as well, though the importance of plants in the production of pharmaceuticals is undoubtful. For instance, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Fulyzaq (from the sap of Croton lechleri), the first anti-diarrheal drug for HIV/AIDS patients. Fulyzaq is, in fact, the second botanical drug approved by FDA after Veregen (extract from green tea leaves). In addition, World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, at least 80 % of the population residing in developing countries still relies exclusively on traditional medicine for their primary health care needs (Georgiev 2013 and the literature cited therein). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of UN (FAO 2009) world population is expected to grow by over a third until 2050, which suggests, in near future, mankind will face multiple challenges as: (1) more food (and fibre) M. I. Georgiev (&) Laboratory of Applied Biotechnologies, The Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 139 Ruski Blvd., 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria e-mail: milengeorgiev@gbg.bg