Medicinal herb

Medicinal herbs are whole plants or plant parts valued for their therapeutic properties due to their diverse secondary metabolites and bioactive phytochemicals. They are central to traditional and modern herbal medicine, and comprise a large range of species from numerous botanical families, including Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Malvaceae, and many others[2][4][6]. Bioactive constituents can target a wide spectrum of human molecular pathways: enzymes (e.g. tyrosinase, phosphodiesterases), hormone receptors (e.g. androgen receptor), ion channels, and others[1][3][8]. Each individual medicinal herb, or compound within an herb, must be separately classified to generate meaningful structured data on molecular target, mechanism, disease roles, and pharmacology. Medicinal herbs as a category cannot be considered a single drug target. Instead, their therapeutic activities depend on hundreds of unique plant-derived chemicals, each with distinct actions, mechanisms, and safety profiles. For detailed molecular target information, identification of a specific bioactive compound or clear plant source is required.

Other names

herbal medicinemedicinal plantsbotanicalsphytomedicine