UNAM
Revista Digital Universitaria
Revista Digital Universitaria ISSN: 1607 - 6079 | Publicación mensual | 1 de agosto de 2014 vol.15, No.08

ABSTRACT

Biotechnology For The Production of Medicines From Mexican Plants



María Luisa Villarreal, Alexandre Cardoso-Taketa, Anabel Ortíz y Ashutosh Sharma


Higher plants are a major source of compounds which can be used as medicines. These are produced in very small amounts and their synthesis depends on genetic and environmental factors. Hence, it is required to standardize and increase the production levels of active compounds in plants. Biotechnology offers novel procedures to adequately exploit the medicinal flora by using in vitro cultures systems of plant cells, tissues and organs, that produce these compounds. In silico procedures as metabolic profiling are leading technologies for the analysis of plant extracts that offered a fast and simultaneous detection of a high number of metabolites. México possess an enormous plant diversity, and herbal medicines are widely used for health-care needs. In this work we present the scientific investigation of the species Galphimia glauca which produce important sedative and anxyolitic metabolites. This study reflects the benefits of a multidisciplinary project focused in biotechnological procedures for the study of a native plant from México.



Keywords: medicinal plants, biotechnology, in vitro cultures, metabolic profiling.