Toxicon. 2001 May; 39(5): 603-13.

Plants as source of drugs.

Rates SM.

Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Department of Production of Raw Material, School of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul,Av. Ipiranga, 2752 CEP 90610-000, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

This work presents a study of the importance of natural products, especially those derived from higher plants, in terms of drug development. It describes the main strategies for obtaining drugs from natural sources, fields of knowledge involved, difficulties and perspectives. It also includes a brief discussion of the specific situation in Brazil regarding the use of, trade in, and research into therapeutic resources of natural origin and the general lack of awareness of the use of potentially toxic plants, mainly in folk medicine.