BIOB38H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Shennong, Apiaceae, Willow
Document Summary
Plants that heal the sick: secondary compounds, short history about herbal medicine, ethnobotany, case studies in herbal medicine: old and new, secondary compounds. Main classes of secondary compounds: phenolics (tannins, medicinal uses for cancer prevention, irregular apoptosis, terpenoids (essential oils, have many types and uses, glycosides, cardioactive group: found in foxglove which slows heartbeat and increases power of heart muscle. Can be toxic if taken too much: alkaloids, many different types with different purposes for healing, short history about herbal medicine. Ancient civilizations: used by neanderthals 60,000 years bp. Used for medicinal purposes, not for beauty: sumerians used in 4000 bp and knew how to use different plants for different purposes, egyptians used 4000-2000 y bp for medical purposes. Examples shown on the side: chinese shen nung used 4500 bp and passed through oral history on thousands of herbs. Nunge pen ts"ao ching = divine husbandmans classic of meria medica 1065-771 bc.
