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In the Latin names for plants created by Linnaeus, the word officinalis indicates that a plant was used in this way. For example, the marsh mallow has the classification Althaea officinalis, as it was traditionally used as an emollient to soothe ulcers. [2] Pharmacognosy is the study of plant sources of phytochemicals.
[4] [48] The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated in 2002 that over 50,000 medicinal plants are used across the world. [49] The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew more conservatively estimated in 2016 that 17,810 plant species have a medicinal use, out of some 30,000 plants for which a use of any kind is documented. [50]
phytotherapy: the study of medicinal use of plant extracts; phytochemistry: the study of chemicals derived from plants (including the identification of new drug candidates derived from plant sources); zoopharmacognosy: the process by which animals self-medicate, by selecting and using plants, soils, and insects to treat and prevent disease;
Paraherbalism is the pseudoscientific use of extracts of plant or animal origin as supposed medicines or health-promoting agents. [1] [7] [8] Phytotherapy differs from plant-derived medicines in standard pharmacology because it does not isolate and standardize the compounds from a given plant believed to be biologically active. It relies on the ...
Some components of these toxins such as enzymes and inorganic salts are used in modern medicine. [21] For example, drugs such as Captopril and Lisinopril are derived from snake venom and inhibit the angiotensin-converting enzyme. [22] [21] Another example is Ziconotide, a drug from the cone snail, Conus magus, that is used to reduce pain. [21] [23]
This article contains a list of useful plants, meaning a plant that has been or can be co-opted by humans to fulfill a particular need. Rather than listing all plants on one page, this page instead collects the lists and categories for the different ways in which a plant can be used; some plants may fall into several of the categories or lists ...
Human uses of plants include both practical uses, such as for food, clothing, and medicine, and symbolic uses, such as in art, mythology and literature. Materials derived from plants are collectively called plant products .
Culinary: used as a nutritionally minor flavoring component in foods or beverages Tea: brewed in hot water to make a beverage (for primarily culinary rather than medicinal or ritual purposes) Medicinal: used, either directly or as a simple extract such as a tea, to cause some physiological effect, usually to treat some ailment or disease