Professor, University of the Philippine College of Medicine
Food Supplement
Foodstuffs meant to supplement the normal diet and which are concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological function, alone or in combination, marketed in dose form.
- EU Food Supplement Directive 2002/46/CE/
Functional Food
A functional food is "consumed as part of a usual diet that is similar in appearance to, or may be, a conventional food, and is demonstrated to have physiological benefits and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions."
- National Research Council Canada
Nutraceutical
A product isolated or purified from food that is generally sold in medicinal forms not usually associated with food. A nutraceutical has been demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease.
- National Research Council Canada
When a functional food aids in the prevention and/or treatment of disease(s) and/or disorder(s) (except anemia), it is called a nutraceutical. The proposed definition can help form distinction between functional foods, nutraceuticals, and dietary supplements.
- Kalra, EK. Nutraceutical – Definition and Introduction. AAPS PharmSci 2003; 5 (3) Article 25 (http://www.pharmsci.org)
Introduction to Herbal Medicine
Plants may have been used for medicinal purposes since prehistoric times, as evidenced by eight species of plants found buried with the remains of a Neanderthal man living 60,000 years ago in the Shanidar Cave in Iraq. These same plants are still being widely used in ethnomedicine around the world today.
The number of higher plant species on earth is 250,000, and it is estimated that 35,000 to 70,000 species have, at one time or another, been used in some cultures for medicinal purposes. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the world's population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.
Herbal medicine is a major component in all traditional medicine systems. In fact, the word "drug" as we know it today has been, according to some sources, derived from the Swedish "drug" which means "dried plant". It is only during the rapid development of physical sciences in the 20th century that herbal medicine was slowly replaced by chemical drugs as the dominant form of pharmacotherapy. But the past several years have witnessed an increasing demand for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) with herbal medicine being the most commonly used CAM therapy (18.9% - with exclusion of the use of prayer) according to a survey released in May 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants as part of their normal metabolic activities. These include primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, fats, and pigments, and secondary metabolites which are substances found in particular plants serving various functions ranging from pheromones that attract pollinators to toxins that deter predators. Many of these phytochemicals have been identified and isolated to produce about 25% of the modern drugs we know today.
Plants produce a plethora of these pharmacologically active phytochemicals but most are derivatives of a few biochemical motifs:
1. Carbohydrates and Related Compounds
- Carbohydrates are the first products of photosynthesis from which the plant builds its structural skeleton.
- Mannitol from /Fraxinus ornus /is used as an osmotic diuretic and laxative.
- Psyllium husk from /Plantago psyllium/ is used as a bulk-forming laxative.
- Pectin from citrus rind has gastric protectant and toxin adsorbent
properties.
2. Lipids
- Lipids primarily serve to store energy for the plant.
- Castor oil from /Ricinus communis /is a stimulant cathartic.
- Various seed and vegetable oils are used as dietary supplements, emollients and bases in various topical drugs and cosmetics.
3. Glycosides
- Glycosides are sugar ethers that play an important role in the regulatory, protective, and sanitary functions of the plant.
- Barbaloin from Aloe barbadensis, sennosides from Cassia acutifolia, cascarosides from Rhamnus purshianus have cathartic properties.
- The anticoagulant dicumarol is derived from coumarin from Melilotus officinalis.
- Psoralens from Ammi majus is used to treat vitiligo.
- Digitoxin from Digitalis purpurea is used to treat congestive heart failure and arrythmias.
4. Volatile Oils
- Volatile oils are odorous principles found in various plant parts which may serve as insect repellants for protection or insect attractants for pollination.
- Peppermint oil is a widely used flavoring with carminative, stimulant, and counterirritant properties.
- Clove oil is employed as a toothache remedy with antiseptic and carminative properties.
- Wintergreen oil from /Gaultheria procumbens/ has local irritant, antiseptic, and antirheumatic properties.
- Various aromatic oils such as chamomile and lavender are used in aromatherapy.
5. Resins and Resin Combinations
- Resins are complex amorphous end-products of plant metabolism.
- Cannabis resin contains tetrahydrocannabinol used to control nausea in
cancer chemotherapy. - Capsicum oleoresin is used as a rubefacient and stimulant.
- Myrrh from /Commiphora molmol/ is used in mouthwashes as an astringent.
- Oleoresin from white pine has expectorant properties.
6. Alkaloids
- Alkaloids are organic nitrogenous compounds occurring in various plant parts distributed among certain plant families and genera.
- Atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine are anticholinergic alkaloids found in certain plants of the family Solanacae.
- Cocaine from /Erythroxylum coca/ served as the model for a large number of synthetic local anesthetics.
- Quinine from /Cinchina succirubra/ continues to be used for malaria in many parts of the world.
- Tubocurarine from /Strychnos castelnaei/ is employed as a skeletal muscle relaxant in surgical procedures.
References
Tyler VE et al, Pharmacognosy 9th ed., 1988, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia
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