Plant Products with Antimicrobial Properties
- Plants are susceptible to attack by micro-organisms, such as bacteria and fungi
- This can cause damage to the plant and may even kill them
- Plants have developed a range of chemical defences against these microbes
- These may include antiseptic compounds and antibiotics
- Antimicrobial chemicals from plants can be exploited by humans to develop new drugs to treat bacterial and fungal diseases
- It is possible to produce a plant extract containing these antimicrobial chemicals to test its effect on the growth of bacteria
Other therapeutic drugs sourced from plants
- Plants may also produce a variety of other compounds that can treat a range of ailments in humans, from pain killers to cancer drugs
- Scientists were able to extract the active ingredient from willow bark, used by people for pain relief over the centuries, which led to the development of modern-day aspirin
- Quinine is a drug sourced from the cinchona tree, used to treat and prevent malaria
- An advantage of extracting and purifying active plant compounds is the ability to produce medication that contains a known concentration of the active ingredient
- This ensures a reliable dosage of medication
- Analysing the chemical structure of the active ingredients enables scientists to create synthetic versions of the compound in a laboratory
- This reduces the need to remove large amounts of plant material from the environment
- Modifications can be made in the laboratory to make the active ingredient more effective
- The development of therapeutic drugs from plant products has enabled humans to be more successful at treating diseases
