Medicinal Plants: Technical Literature

Listed below are a number of texts and articles on technical topics related to medicinal plants. If you are looking for more general reading, click here. To find a topic of interest, use your browser's search capabilities, as I don't alphabetize this list, There are however, three main categories: Chemical Class, Plant Families, Miscellaneous.

Alkaloids

Hesse, M. Alkaloids: Nature's Curse or Blessing? Wiley-VCH, 2002
Friedman, M. "Potato Glycoalkaloids and Metabolites: Roles in the Plant and in the Diet" J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006 54 8655-8681.

Cyanogenic Glycosides

Zagrobelny, M. et al "Cyanogenic Glucosides and Plant-Insect Interactions" Phytochemistry 2004 65 293-306.
Bjarnholt, N. & Moller, B. L. "Hydroxynitrile Glucosides" Phytochemistry 2008 69 1947-1961.

Saponins

Vincken, J.-P. et al "Saponins, Classification and Occurence in the Plant Kingdom" Phytochemistry 2007 68 275-297.

Resins

Langenheim, J. H. Plant Resis: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology Ethnobotany Timber Press 2003.

Glucosinolates

Halkier, B. A. & Gershenzon, J. "Biology and Biochemistry of Glucosinolates" Ann. Rev. Plant Biology 57:303-333 (2006).

Flavonoids

Ø. M. Andersen & K. R. Markham, editors Flavonoids: Chemistry, Biochemistry & Applications CRC/Taylor & Francis, 2006. A huge compendium of good info (1237 pgs!).

beta-Glucosidases

A. V. Morant et al " beta-Glucosidases as Detonators of Plant Chemical Defenses" Phytochemistry 69:1795-1813 (2008).

Carotenoids

Britton, G. "Structure and Properties of Carotenoids in Relation to Function" FASEB Journal 9:1551-1558 (1995).

Annonaceae (the Sour-Sop family): Chemistry

Review of the acetogenins (the tasty guanabana, Annona muricata, is a member of this family): A. Bermego, et al. "Acetogenins from Annonaceae: Recent Progress in Isolation, Synthesis and Mechanisms of Action" Nat. Prod. Rep. 2005, 22, 269-303.

Aristolochiaceae (the Birthwort family): Chemistry

Terpenes review: T. S. Wu, et al. "Terpenoids of Aristolochia and Their Biological Activities" Nat. Prod. Rep. 2004, 21, 594-624.
Aristolochic Acids review: V. Kumar et al. "Naturally Occuring Aristolactams, Aristolochic Acids and Dioxoaporphines and Their Biological Activities: Nat. Prod. Rep. 2003, 20, 565-583.

Passifloriaceae (Passion Flower family)

K. Dhawan, S. Dhawan & A. Sharma "Passiflora: A Review Update" J. Ethnopharmacology 2004, 94, 1-23.

Plant Systematics & Related Topics

Judd, W. S. et al Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach 2nd Edition Sinauer Associates, 2002.
Keller, R. Identification of Tropical Woody Plants in the Absence of Flowers 2nd Edition Birkhauser Verlag 2004.
Simpson, M. G. Plant Systematics Elsevier 2006.
Zomlefer, Wendy B. Guide to Flowering Plant Families Univ. of North Carolina Press 1994.

Laboratory Techniques

Jackson, B. P. & Snowdon, D. W. Atlas of Microscopy of Medicinal Plants, Culinary Herbs, and Spices CRC Press, 1990.
Wagner, H., Bladt, S. & Zgainski E. M. Plant Drug Analysis: a Thin Layer Chromatography Atlas Springer-Verlag, 1984.

Biosynthesis of Natural Products

Derwick, P. M. Medicinal Natural Products 2nd Edition Wiley, 2002

Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Natural Products Chemistry, Phytochemistry etc

Abraham, D. Burger's Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, 6th edition. 6 volume set, Wiley 2003
Bruneton, J. Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Medicinal Plants Lavosier, 1995.
Cooper, J. R, Bloom, F. E and Roth, R. H. The Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology 7th edition Oxford University Press, 1996.
Cupp, M. J. Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology of Herbal Products Humana Press, 2000.
Foye, W. O. Ed. Cancer Chemotherapeutic Agents American Chemical Society, 1995.
Hanson, J. R. Natural Products: The Secondary Metabolites Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003.
Gringauz, A. Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry: How Drugs Act and Why Wiley-VCH, 1997.
Heinrich, Barnes, Gibbons and Williamson Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy Churchill Livingstone 2004.
Kinghorn, A. D and Balandrin, M. F. Ed. Human Medicinal Agents from Plants American Chemical Society, Symposium Series #534 1993.
Lawson, L. D. and Bauer, R. Eds. Phytomedicines of Europe: Chemistry and Biological Activity American Chemical Society Symposium Series #691 (1998).
Lewis, W. H. and Elvin-Lewis, M. P. F. Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health 2nd Edition Wiley 2003.
Lullman, H., Mohr, K., Ziegler, A. and Bieger, D. Color Atlas of Pharmacology Thieme Medical Publishers, 1993.

Phytochemicals in Food (Nutriceuticals, Antioxidants etc)

Huang, Osawa, Ho and Rosen Food Phytochemicals for Cancer Prevention I: Fruits and Vegetables. American Chemical Society Symposium Series #546 1994.
Ho, Osawa, Huang, and Rosen Food Phytochemicals for Cancer Prevention II: Teas, Spices and Herbs. American Chemical Society Symposium Series #547 1994.
Risch, S. J. and Ho, C.-T. editors Spices: Flavor Chemistry and Antioxidant Properties ACS Symposium Series 660, American Chemical Society 1996.
Teuscher, E. Medicinal Spices: A Handbook of Culinary Herbs, Spices, Spice Mixtures, and Their Essential Oils, CRC Press 2006.

Native (North) American Ethnopharmacology

Moerman, D. E. "The Medicinal Flora of Native North America: An Analysis" J. Ethnopharmacology 31:1-42 (1991).
Moerman, D. E. "An Analysis of the Food Plants and Drug Plants of Native North America" J. Ethnopharmacology 52: 1-22 (1996).

Chemical Ecology

Rosenthal, G. A & Berenbaum, M. R. editors Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites 2nd ed. Vol I "The Chemical Participants" Academic Press 1991
Karban, R. & Baldwin, I. T. Induced Responses to Herbivory University of Chicago Press, 1997.

The background on this page is a 19th century woodcut of Phytolacca americana.
Last updated Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Contents & layout copyright 2008 Prof. Bryan Hanson