Abstract

CHEMICAL MARKERS AND BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS FROM PLANTS: AN OVERVIEW

Dr. Kavita Chahal*

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Abstract

Nature is a never-ending source of healing plants and, without a doubt, the best chemist on the planet. The phytomedicines or chemical markers or bioactive compounds derived from herbal plants constitutes the chemical compounds obtained from plant parts that can be used to improve health and treat ailments. They play a crucial role in evaluating the quality of herbal medicines, and are used in many research areas, including authentication of genuine species, search for new resources or substitutes of raw materials, structure elucidation and purity determination. Herbal medicine quality control seeks to assure consistency, safety, and efficacy. Systematic investigations using chemical markers may lead to discoveries and development of new drugs. This article deals with an overview about the chemical markers, their mother plants, advantages, limitations and future perspective.

Keywords: Herbal medicines, Chemistry, Bioactive Compounds, Chemical Markers, Quality control.