Medicinal Plants: Technical Literature

If you are looking for more general reading, click here.

Listed below are a number of texts and articles on technical topics related to medicinal plants. Consider this a list of my personal favorites and recommendations. You can obviously search to find newer primary literature references, but the books given here are perhaps a bit harder to locate. 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
Fattorusso, E. & Taglialatela-Scafati, O, editors. Modern Alkaloids: Structure, Isolation, Synthesis and Biology. Wiley-VCH, 2008.
Friedman, M. "Potato Glycoalkaloids and Metabolites: Roles in the Plant and in the Diet" J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006 54 8655-8681.

Anthocyanins

Yoshida, K., Mori, M. and Kondo, T. "Blue flower color development by anthocyanins: from chemical structure to cell physiology" Natural Products Reports 2009 26 884-915.
Gould, K. Anthocyanins: Biosynthesis, Functions and Applications (2009).

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

Podolak, I., Galanty, A. & Sobolewska, D. "Saponins as cytotoxic agents: a review" Phtyochemistry Reviews 2010 6 425-474.
Vincken, J.-P. et al "Saponins, Classification and Occurence in the Plant Kingdom" Phytochemistry 2007 68 275-297.

Resins

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

Glucosinolates

Fahey, J. W., Zalcmann, A. T. & Talalay, P. "The Chemical Diversity and Distribution of Glucosinolates and Isothiocyanates Among Plants" Phytochemistry 2001 56 5-51.
Halkier, B. A. & Gershenzon, J. "Biology and Biochemistry of Glucosinolates" Ann. Rev. Plant Biology 2006 57 303-333.
Traka, M. & Mithen, R., "Glucosinolates, Isothiocyanates and Human Health" Phytochemical Reviews 2009 8 269-282.
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

Breitmaier, E. Terpenes: Flavors, Fragrances, Pharmaca, Pheromones Wiley-VCH, 2008.
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).

Annonaceae (the Sour-Sop family)

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)

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

Convolvulaceae (morning glory family)

E. Eich "Solanaceae and Convolvulaceae: Secondary Metabolites; Biosynthesis, Chemotaxonomy, Biological and Economic Significance" Springer 2008.

Moraceae: Ficus spp. (fig trees)

E. P. Lansky et al "Ficus spp. (fig): Ethnobotany and potential as anticancer and anti-inflammatory agents" J. Ethnopharmacology 2008, 119, 195-213.

Passifloriaceae (Passion Flower family)

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

Solanaceae (tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant family)

E. Eich "Solanaceae and Convolvulaceae: Secondary Metabolites; Biosynthesis, Chemotaxonomy, Biological and Economic Significance" Springer 2008.

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 2nd Edition 2010.
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 3rd Edition Wiley, 2009

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 8th edition Oxford University Press,2002.
Tracy, T. S. & Kingston, R. L. Herbal Produts: Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology Humana Press, 2008.
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.
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.

Toxins

Barceloux, D. G. Medical Toxicology of Natural Substances: Fungi, Medicinal Herbs, Plants and Venemous Animals Wiley and Sons, 2008.

Tropical Diseases & Plants

Sen, R. and Chatterjee, M. "Plant derived therapeutics for the treatment of Leishmaniasis" Phytomedicine 18 1056-1069 (2011).

The background on this page is a 19th century woodcut of Phytolacca americana.
Last updated Friday, January 20, 2012 Contents & layout copyright 2011 Prof. Bryan Hanson