Phytopharmaceuticals - Fighting Disease With Natural Substances

Phytopharmaceuticals are herbal medicines whose efficacy is down to one or several plant substances or active ingredients. They have been used for treating diseases since time immemorial. This traditional knowledge is still the basis for many medicinal products made from plants or parts thereof.

- Dr. Ariane Pott

Plants produce an incredible variety of natural compounds. It is therefore not surprising that humans make use of this huge diversity. Historical sources show that the use of medicinal plants goes way back to the Bronze Age. Europe has a culture of using medicinal plants that starts with Hildegard von Bingen, continues with Friedrich Sertürner who was the first to isolate morphine in pure form and ends with the modern-day production of herbal medicines.

Plant extracts as the basis for ointments, tablets and teas

The secret of phytopharmaceuticals, i.e. herbal medicines lies in plants. Plants or parts thereof are used for the production of herbal medicines. In pharmacology, crude drugs are, amongst other things, defined as the naturally occurring, unrefined material of plant, animal or microbial origin used for medicine. Herbal crude drugs (also called herbal material, starting material) are therefore plants or parts (e.g. flowers, seeds, fruit and stems) thereof in an unprocessed state, in either fresh or dried condition, whole or reduced in size by grinding or chopping. They usually contain a large number of chemical compounds with or without medical effect. They are the basis for finished herbal products, i.e. phytopharmaceuticals. Herbal crude drugs are processed into herbal extracts (i.e. herbal preparations) by drying, extracting, etc., thus leading to an enrichment of the bioactive compounds. Phytopharmaceuticals, i.e. herbal medicines, therefore consist of several compounds with a therapeutic effect. Herbal medicines are sold in dry form as granules, tablets, capsules and lozenges. Medicinal oils such as arnica flower oil can be used to make ointments.1

Phytotherapy is not the same as homoeopathy