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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.

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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).
• The entire issue of Phytochemistry Reviews vol 8, no 1, December 2008 is devoted to glucosinolates.

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).

Terpenes

• Gershenzon J. and Dudareva, N. "The function of terpene natural products in the natural world" Nature Chemical Biology (2007) vol. 3 no. 7 408-414.

Carotenoids

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

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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.

Moraceae: Ficus spp. (fig trees)

• E. P. Lansky et al "Ficus spp. (fig): Ethnobotany and potential as anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents" J. Ethnopharmacology2008, 119, 195-213.

Passifloriaceae (Passion Flower family)

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

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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.
• Reich, E. & Schibili, A. High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography for the Analysis of Medicinal Plants Theime 2007.
  • Note: this book has more theory behind TLC and information about how to develop methods, lots of good charts etc. than the book below by Wagner et al. Wagner's book focuses on conditions for specific herbs and what kind of results to expect.  The two books complement each other nicely, but are sufficiently expensive that you'll want your local library buy them!
• 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.
• Tracy, T. S. & Kingston, R. L. Herbal Produts: Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology Humana Press, 2008.
• 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)

• Higdon, J. An Evidence-Based Approach to Dietary Phytochemicals Thieme 2007.
• 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.
• Raguso, R. A. "Wake Up and Smell the Roses: The Ecology and Evolution of Floral Scent" Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. (2008) 39:549-569.

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The background on this page is a 19th century woodcut of Phytolacca americana.
Last updated Friday, March 20, 2009 Contents & layout copyright 2008 Prof. Bryan Hanson