Approaches to select plant material for natural product drug discovery

Question 1

Random approach

Answer 1

Random selection of extracts from different plant species, enriched fractions, or isolated natural products, mainly on the basis of their availability.

Question 2

Ethnopharmacological approach

Answer 2

Selection of the test samples based on traditional medicinal applications of the plant species.

Question 3

Chemosystematic approach

Answer 3

Selection of the test samples based on chemotaxonomy and phylogeny taking into account that plant species from some genera or families are known to produce compounds or compound classes associated with a certain bioactivity or therapeutic potential.

Question 4

Ecological approach

Answer 4

Selection of test samples based on the interactions between organisms and their environment, considering that plant secondary metabolites possess ecological functions from which a potential therapeutic use for humans can be derived

Question 5

Computational approach

Answer 5

Selection of test samples relying on in silico bioactivity predictions for constituents of certain plant species.