initial characterization of crude extracts from phyllanthus amarus

Suriname has a multicultural society, not all plants that are used as medicinal plants are
native to Suriname; some of them came along with the various ethnic groups. As in many
other developing countries, the use of traditional medicine forms an integral part of the
cultural patterns of the population.
The history of natural product use in ancient times and in folk medicine around
the world is the basis for the use of many therapeutic drugs in modern-day medicine.
Primitive cultures used plants as a source not only of medicines but also for toxic
substances for killing animals, and for stimulants and hallucinogens used in religious
rites. Traditionally, natural plant products have been the source in the search for new
drugs by pharmaceutical companies (Dillard and German, 2000). Currently, 25% of all
modern medicines are directly or indirectly derived from higher plants.
Ethnopharmacological information can be used to provide three levels of
resolution in the search for new drugs: (1) as a general indicator of non-specific
bioactivity suitable for a panel of broad screens; (2) as an indicator of specific bioactivity
suitable for particular high-resolution bioassays; and (3) as an indicator of
pharmacological activity for which mechanism-based bioassays have yet to be developed
(Cox, 1994).
Historically, ethnobotanical leads have resulted in three types of drug discovery:
(1) unmodified natural products where ethnomedical use suggested clinical efficacy (e.g.
digitalis); (2) unmodified natural products of which the therapeutic efficacy was only
remotely suggested by indigenous plant use (e.g. vincristine); and (3) modified natural or
synthetic substances based on a natural product used in folk medicine (aspirin) (Cox,
1994).
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