About Herbs and Nutrition
Echinacea
Ginseng
Ginkgo
Milk thistle
St. John's wort
Saw palmetto
Bay
Bilberry
Black cohosh
Licorice
DHEA
Royal Jelly
Garlic
Ginger
Coenzyme Q10
Lutein
rutin
DreamPharm Products
Triple B Super Vision
Best eye nutritions in one tablet.
A visionary product for eyes.
Lutein-6 and
Lutein-20
Lutein helps to protect your over-worked eyes from aging and environmental harms.
Triple G Super Health
Majestic trio of garlic, ginger, and grapeseed extract. What could be better?
Double G Super Power
Ginseng and Gingko biloba together, for sound body and sound mind.
Slim Essence
Get in shape herbally, and safely.
Natural Wonder Woman
Three best herbs for women's health.
Milk thistle
Silymarin helps to protect your liver, an over-worked organ.
Saw palmetto
A herb that deters prostate enlargement.
DHEA
The hormone of youth and health.
Coenzyme Q10
Strong anti-oxidant and metabolite that also does your heart good.
ProStamina
A formula for nutrition, energy, strength, and stamina.
Good Dream
Good sleep is the best medicine.
Herbal Breath
Fundamentally clean and healthy herbal breath.
St John's Wort
Old wisdom care for depression.
Royal Jelly
Natural nutrition for energy, beauty, and youthfulness.
Echinacea
The most popular herb for the colds, flu, and boosting immune system.
Bye Mygrain
Herbs for headaches.
MySerena
Anxiety and nervousness are enemies of health and happiness.
Golden Ener-Z
This may help if you feel weak or are suffering from chronic fatigue.
LaxaColon
Clean intestine, colon means a lot for your health and fitness.
Ginkgo biloba
Natural, leaf formula for brain and eye health.
Hair Million
Herbal formula for hair loss. Be hairy herbally.
HeartPeace
Herbal formula for healthy and stable heart.
FeminiCare
Helps address lady's fatigue and weakness.
FeminiMate
To help address lady's feminine health problems.
HemoStream
For healthy blood circulation.
Stomagic
Herbal formula for stomach health.
Via Vita
Lecithin supplement for health.
PeptiTonic
For stomach comfort.
MegaNutrition
Complete vitamin and nutritional supplement.
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Plant Secondary Metabolism:
Plant cells produce far more chemical compounds than are necessary
for their basic functions, i.e. biochemical pathways for survival and propagation.
Basic, or primary metabolism refers to all biochemical processes for the normal anabolic and catabolic pathways which
result in assimilation, respiration, transport, and differentiation. By and large, basic, or "primary" metabolism is shared by all cells,
while "secondary metabolisms" generate diverse and seemingly less essential or non-essential
byproducts called "secondary products". The secondary products are what give plants the colors, flavors, and smells. These produces are
sources of fine chemicals, such as drugs, insecticides, dyes, flavours, and fragrances, and the phytomedicines found in medicinal plants.
The concept of secondary metabolism was first introduced by A. Kössel in 1891.
Primary vs. Secondary Metabolisms
While primary metabolim consists of biochemical pathways that are in general common to all cells, secondary metabolisms
consist of a large number of diverse processes that are specific to certain cell types. Plant pigments, alkaloids, isoprenoids, terpenes,
and waxes are some examples of secondary products. The role of many of the secondary products has been rather ambiguous, and initially
they were thought to be just waste materials. However, considering their non-motile nature and the lack of sophisticated immune system that
we have, plants had to develop their own defence system against pathogens and predators, and systems to lure motile creatures for fertilization
and dissemination. Indeed, many of the secondary products are bacteriocidal, repellent (by bad tastes, etc), or even poisonous to pests and
hervibores. Pigments of flowers would give attractive colors for insects
that help with fertilization, or warning colors against predators. Plant pigments also provide protection against environmental harms,
such as free radiacls and UV irradiation. Some of the secondary products perform signalling function as plant hormones.
Many of these secondary products are originally meant for defence against herbivores such as insects which would soon come up with
metabolic pathways to detoxify and even utilize these defence compounds. During eveolutionary processes, animals developed a variety of
dependencies to phytochemicals, including the secondary products that are, with or without modification, used as procursors for
the synthesis of vital or benefitial molecules in animal body.
Secondary plant products have for thousands of years played an essential role in medicine. Traditionally, they have been directly
used as food and herbs. Nowadays, they are used either directly or after chemical modification.
Plant secondary metabolites represent a tremendous resources for scientific and clinical researches and new drug development.
Overall, their pharmacological value not only remains undeminished until today, but is increasing due to constant discoveries of
their pontential roles in healthcare and as lead chemicals for new drug development.
Products of Secondary Metabolisms
There is one rule: Secondary metablic products are more complex than primary metabolites. This is because secondary metabolites are
derived from the primary products, such as amino acids or nucleotides, by modifications, such as methylation, hydroxylation, and
glycosylation.
The products of plant secondary metabolisms, despite their enormous diversity, are grouped into the following categories:
-Alkaloids:
Alkaloids consist of a host of chemicals that are derivatives of nitrogen-containing bases. The large majority of alkaloids are
known as "mind altering drugs" and are
synthesized from amino acids, and a few of them from purine and pyrimidine bases (psuedo alkaloids), the major components of nucleotides.
Important alkaloids are:
1. Ornithine derivatives: nicotine and nornicotine ("tobacco alkaloids" found in plants species in Solanaceae family), cocaine and
hyoscamine that are produced from the metabolic intermediates in the biosynthesis of tropane.
2. Lysine derivatives: Lysine is the precursor of piperidine, which provides a backbone for a number of alkaloids including
bitter-tasting chemicals lupine, lupinine, and lupanine. Lycopodine found in Lycopodium (clubmoss) also belongs to this group.
3. Phenylalanine derivatives: taxine (the alkaloid in Taxus), lunarine and lunaridine (the alkaloids in Lunaria), alkaloids in
Lythraceae family, cytochalasine B and D (microbial alkaloids), and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (found in Ephedra) are some
important members in this group.
4. Tyrosine derivatives: dopamine, atropine, berberine, colchicine, morphine, and benzyl-isoquinone are typical members in this group.
5. Tryptophane derivatives: About 1,200 unique compounds representing about 25% of all known alkaloids have been identified including
indole alkaloids. d-tubocurarine, an active ingredient of curare, the arrow poison used by native South Americans, a host of other
indole alkaloids found in Apocynaceae, Loganiaceae, and Rubiaceae families, and a variety of known fungal poisons belong to this group.
4. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids:
-Glycosides:
Glycosides are compounds containing a carbohydrate (sugar) residue called "glycone", and a non-carbohydrate (non-sugar) residue
called "aglycone" in the same molecule. Some of the compound groups belonging to glycosides are: flavonol, phenol, cyanophore, isothiocyanate,
lactone, anthraquinone, saponine, tannin, alcohol, and aldehyde glycoside groups. Glycyrrhizinic acid found in licorice and ginseng saponins
are glycosides.
-Isoprenoids and Terpenes:
Carotenoids, steroids, and gibberellins are well known members of polymeric isoprene derivatives, which consist of at least thousands
of different phytochemicals found in a wide variety of plant species. Isoprene, the five carbon (C5) unit molecule assembles to build up
carbon skeletons for a remarkable array of isoprenoid compounds through isopentenyl pyrophosphate, the activated form of isoprene, and
the major C5 building block. The fragrances of many plants arises from C10 and C15 compounds called terpenes, which are made up of two or
three isoprene units, as exemplified by myrcene, a C10 compound found in bay, limonene, another C10 compound found in lemon, and a C15
compound zingiberene found in ginger. Successive addition of C5 gives rise to a C40 compound phytoene, which converts to lycopene by
dehydrogenation, and by the cyclization at both ends, the linear molecule lycopene turns into beta-carotene. Carotenoids are essential
light-harvesting molecules for photosynthesis, and also for vision, as exemplified by beta-carotene, which is the precursor of retinal,
the chromophore in all known visual pigments. Natural rubber is a linear polymer of cis-isoprene units.
-Plant Amines:
In general, plant amines are derivatives of ammonia, and generated by decarboxylation of amino acids, or by transamination of aldehydes.
By definition, some amines, such as mescaline, are also alkaloids. Putrescine (diamine), spermidine, and spermine (polyamines) interact
with double stranded DNA, and found in most of the eukaryotic cells. A phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and serotonin are the
amines derived from tryptophan (tryptamines). A variety of aliphatic or aromatic amines are produced by plants as insect attractants.
-Phenolic compounds:
This group consists of thousands of diverse molecules with heterogeneous structure, with common feature of having one or more
phenol rings. Most of the phenolic compounds belong to flavonoids, a group of polyphenolic compounds with 15 carbon atoms (C15)
based on a skeletal structure of two benzene rings joined by a linear C3 chain (C6-C3-C6-system). Flavonoids compounds are highly
characteristic to plants: many of flavonoids are easily recognizable as the pigments in flowers and fruits, and occur in all parts
of plants. Important subgroups in flavonoid compounds are: anthocyanins (red and blue pigments, 250 members), aurones (yellow pigments, 20 members),
biflavonoids (65 members), catechines (40 members), chalcons (yellow pigments, 60 members), dihydrochalcones (bitter-tasting principles,
10 members), flavones (cream-colored pigments of flowers, generally found in herbaceous families such as Labiatae, Umbelliferae, Compositae,
350 members, e.g. apigenin, luteolin), flavonols (repellents in leaves, generaly found in woody
angiosperms, 350 members, e.g. quercitol, kaempferol, myricetin), isoflavonoids (colorless, estrogenic effect, fungicide, 15 members, e.g. rotenone),
proanthocyanidins (50 members)
-Polyisoprenes and Rubber-like polymers:
More than 1,800 plant polyisoprenes have been identified.
Natural rubber is a linear polymer of 1,4-polyisoprenes in cis configuration (caoutchouc), the main source of which is Hevea brasiliensis.
Palaquium gutta is the main source of gutta-percha, which consists of 1,4-polyisoprene residues in trans configuration and has molecuar
weight far lower than that of rubber. Balata is a substance similar to gutta-percha and produced in Mimosops balata. Chicle, the basic substance
of bubble gums, is a polymer containing both cis and trans configurations (in 1:2 ratio), and produced by Achras sapota.
-Rare Amino Acids:
Unlike well-known 20 amino acids, rare amino acids, which are derivatives of regular amino acids, do not incorporate themselves into proteins.
About 220 such derivatives have been found to be synthesized from almost all 20 regular amino acids. These derivatives are found only
in one or a few specific species. In some fungi, the rare amino acids are polymerized to form small, and often cyclic polypeptides
such as phalloidine or the amanitins, the toxins and inhibitors of RNA polymerases. Octopine and nopaline are derivatives of arginine
and found in the Ti plasmids of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a pathogen causing crown gall tumors in leguminous plants. Other examples
are ornithine and citrullines, the common metabloic intermediates, and canavanine, 3,4-dihydroxy phenylalanine, 5-hydroxy tryptophan,
and acetidine-2-carboxylicacide, etc.
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