Herbal medicine has been practiced and passed throughout generations for 100s of years (Kamboj 2000). However, as western medicine took the stage, herbal medicinal practices have been challenged due to a lack of scientific evidence of their effectiveness. Today, many are turning back to these herbal medications due to fear of chemical medicinal side effects, lack of modern treatment for various chronic diseases, and due to global interest in natural products (Alum 2024). Thus, herbal medicine is a relevant topic today, and the ways these traditional plants are used and responded to by the body are important to understand (Dababneh et al. 2025).
Herbal medicine is effective due to the presence of bioactive chemicals within it; these chemicals are called phytochemicals. Phytochemicals are able to interact with biological systems in the human body through secondary metabolites (Ghosh et al. 2023). Secondary metabolites are produced by plants as they undergo defense mechanisms to deter insects and respond to environmental stress. When humans consume these secondary metabolites, different effects are seen, as these secondary metabolites can interact with enzymes, cell receptors and signaling pathways, producing therapeutic effects (Ghosh et al. 2023).
There are many classes of phytochemicals that play a part in the biological activity of different medicinal plants, each having different therapeutic effects. Alkaloids are secondary metabolites containing nitrogen that have the ability to interact with enzymes and receptors in the nervous system and other neurotransmitters (Ghosh et al. 2023). Flavonoids are another secondary metabolite that contains a high level of structural diversity due to their having patterns of hydroxylation, methoxylation and acylation. This allows for flavonoids to express anti-inflammatory properties and act as antioxidants (Pietta 2026). Terpenoids help to reduce inflammation and show antimicrobial/ antiviral activity (Ghosh et al. 2023). Due to the fact that all of these secondary metabolites can alter physiological processes like immune response and/or inflammation of the body.
These compounds are studied using chemical extractions or chromatography to allow for isolation and identification of these active molecules involved with therapeutic effects from medicinal plants, and then researchers can test how these active compounds affect cells or enzymes and therefore determine how they can be used to treat medical illnesses or relieve associated symptoms (Chen et al. 2022). This approach helps scientists develop modern drugs we see today from medicinal plants.
All in all, herbal medicinal research is very important to understand past medical practices, and how they shaped modern medicine we see today. Not only is herbal medicine a cure used in the past, but it could be what we see more of in the future!
References
Alum, Esther Ugo. 2024. “The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Advancing the Therapeutic Use of Medicinal Plants: Challenges and Opportunities.” Plant Signaling & Behavior 19 (1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2024.2439255.
Chen, Min, Shan-Shan Wen, Rui Wang, Qing-Xuan Ren, Chen-Wan Guo, Ping Li, and Wen Gao. 2022. “Advanced Development of Supercritical Fluid Chromatography in Herbal Medicine Analysis.” Molecules 27 (13): 4159. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134159.
Dababneh, Nadine Elias, Said Dababneh, Samantha Barakat, Josie Cox, William Chiskamish, Alexandra Sarah, Sammy Pootoo, et al. 2025. “Foundations of Canadian Indigenous Medicine (Part I): The Medicine Wheel, Cultural Frameworks, and Traditional Healing Practices.” Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, June. https://doi.org/10.1177/12034754251341842.
Ghosh, Dipankar, Nibedita Datta, Dishani Banerjee, Sayan Adhikary, Sayani Banerjee, and Abantika De. 2023. “Current Trends on Phytochemicals toward Herbal Medicine Development.” Reference Series in Phytochemistry, November, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21973-3_16-1.
Kamboj, V.P. 2000. “Herbal Medicine.” Current Science 78 (1): 35–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/24103844.
Pietta, Annamaria. 2026. “Flavonoids in Health and Disease, Second Edition.” Google Books. 2026. https://books.google.ca/books?id=HTIiSCLEVs4C&lpg=PA43&dq=flavonoids%20in%20herbal%20medicine&lr&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q=flavonoids%20in%20herbal%20medicine&f=false.
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