1 - PHA611 LEC - Introduction To Plant Science

Pharmaceutical Botany
Introduction
BOTANY- “Plant Biology”
is the scientific study of plants

What is a plant?
• Most plants have green leaves, stems, roots and
flowers.
• Conifers have cones rather than flowers.
• Cacti and succulents do not appear to have

leaves.
• Ferns (r, s, l) and mosses.
• Bryophyes are non-vascular plant such as

mosses; least in common of all terrestrial plants;
no roots
What about these?
All photosynthetic organisms
• blue- greens, red algae, brown algae, green algae

• Fungi (including “water molds”) –never green, diff.
tissues/physiology fr plant
• bacteria
“Declaring whether these
organisms are plants or not
solves nothing: the important
thing is to understand the
concepts involved and why
disagreement exists”.
Why are plants important?
• Oxygen
• Primary producers
• Economically important to humans

> agricultural plants
> flavoring plants
> euphoric/hallucinogenic plants
> fiber, wood plants
> medicinal plants
Plants are primary producers in a food chain
Agriculture- became a foundation for human civilization,
development of culture, art and government.
Plants are our fundamental source of food.
Many medicines come from plants.
The Cinchona tree

and quinine. Quinine
is for the treatment of
malaria.
Many medicines come from plants.
Many flavors come from plants. Volatile oils, glycosides
Plants provide fuel, shelter, and paper products.
Green jet fuel made from the Jatropha plant

Natural Selection
-Species having specific features caused then to adapt and reproduce and
passed these features to their offspring.
-Det w/c features are eliminated and passed into next generation.
-Plant sp. have ability to adapt in harsh conditions

ex. During winter
leaves are drop in autumn, bark formation on stem decreases surface area ,
dec water lost
bulbs, corms, tubers – persist and prod new shoot during spring cutinized
leaves/ stems of evergreens prevent water loss
Conservation Biology is critical area for research. Prevents
extinction of species
Biotechnology seeks to develop new plant products. The
creation of genetically modified plants.
Biotechnology seeks to develop new plant products. The
creation of genetically modified plants.
Using plants to modify animal responses. A study of this animal’s high
tolerance for chilies may yield information that will help humans control pain.
Counterirritant
Top 10 GMOs
• Biofortified soya beans – pest resistance
• Edible cotton seeds
• Jatropha – biofuel
• Golden rice – inc beta carotene
• Flood resistant rice
• Sugar beets- weed resistant
• Yeast – feed on agricultual waste and
excrete crude oil
• Cassava- Biocassava plus – vit, proteins,
virus resistant
• Papaya- pest resistant
• Castor beans- blocks ricin prodtn, inc castor
oil w/c is used as lubricant in shampoo
http://news.discovery.com/tech/bio
technology/ten-genetically-
modified-crops.htm 2012
Plant Characteristics and Diversity
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TYPICAL PLANT.

The 5 Kingdom System of Classification
• Prokaryotes- w/o nuclei
• Bacteria, cyanobacteria
• Kingdom Monera
• Eukaryote- nuclei, mitochondria
• Protista/Plantae- w/ chloroplasts
• Fungi/ Animalia – w/o chloroplast
The 4 Groups of Plants
Ferns are the largest group of seedless

Mosses are bryophytes.
vascular plants.
Angiosperms are the largest group of

Most gymnosperms are conifers. modern day plants.
Scientific method- 1400s
• A means of analyzing the physical universe
• Observations are used as the basis for constructing a
hypothesis that predicts the outcome of future observations or
experiments.
• All accepted informations can be derived from documented and
controlled expt.
Sir Francis Bacon was a firm believer in the power of experimentation
and the scientific method to uncover truth.
Charles Darwin’s experiment with stems detecting light.
The Three principal methods for analyzing and explaining the universe
• Religious method
• Metaphysical system
• Speculative philosophy
Religious Method
• Universe is assumed to be created by
or to contain deities.
• Important feature is that the actions of
gods cannot be studied.
• Crops might flourish or fail due to
god’s intervention to reward or punish
people
• Faith as fundamental principle of all
religion
Metaphysical System
• In addition to natural forces, there are
supernatural , hidden forces that can never
be observed or studied.
Examples:
• luck,
• bad omens,
• accurate horoscopes,
• reliable method for picking the winning
numbers in a lottery
Speculative philosophy
• Started with Greek philosophers
• Sought to develop logical
explanations for simple observations.
• Philosophical postulations of atoms
by Democritus (400 BC)
• Atom- smallest unit
• No verification, no expt were done
Unifying Concepts to understand plants
Plant metabolism is based on the

principles of chemistry and physics
2nd Concept
Plants must have means of storing
and using information
Genes – means of storing
information
3rd Concept
Plants reproduce,
passing their genes
and information on
their offspring
4th Concept
Genes, and the information

they contain, change
• Mutations may occur and may affect the gene,

causing change
• Gradual evolution ( mutants)
• variation may occur in certain species
5th Concept
Plants must survive in
their own environment
• conifers in cold areas,

Cutinized
6th Concept
• Plants are highly integrated

organisms
• Structure and metabolism of 1

part have impact on other parts
of the plant
7th Concept
An individual plant is the
temporary result of genes
and environment interaction
Plant interacts with environment

- Absorbs nutrients, attract pollinator,
reproduce, resist pathogen
8th concept
Plants do not have purpose

(teleology) nor decision making
(anthropomorphism) capacity.
Which of the two statements is correct?
1. Plants have roots in order to absorb water and minerals.

2. Plants’ roots absorb water and mineral salts.
What properties are present in living things?
All living beings have the following characteristics (5); if

even one is missing, the material is not alive
1. Metabolism
Exchange of energy and
matter with the environment
must be present
Organisms absorb energy/ matter,

convert it to their own bodies and
excrete the rest
2. Non-random organization must be present
All organisms are highly

structured, and decay is the
process of its molecules
returning to a random
arrangement.
3. Growth
All organisms increase in size from the time they are
formed
4. A system of heredity and reproduction
An organism must produce offspring very similar to itself
such that when an organism dies, life persists within its
progeny
5. A capacity to respond to the environment
When conditions become dry, an

organism can respond by becoming
dormant, conserving water, or by
obtaining water more efficiently
• In addition, to the 5 characteristics:
• Develop ( young and adult ones have distinctive char)
• Evolve ( changing with time as envt changes)
Botany includes many fields of study.
1. Plant systematics– evolutionary
history of plants.
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

- Father of Taxonomy
- His system for naming, ranking, and
classifying organisms is still in wide use
today (with manychanges).
SPECIES NAME
○ By convention:
● first word of binomial name is genus and is always capitalized
● second word refers to specific epithet and is not capitalized
○ together form scientific name, written in italics
● a complete scientific name includes the authors name.
Ex. Nepenthes madagascariensis Poir.

Tinospora rumphii Boerl.
The Taxonomic Hierarchy
• Species
• Genus
• Family
• Order
• Class
• Phylum
• Kingdom
• Domain
The Kingdoms of Life
• Most biologists use a six-kingdom system.
• Animalia
• Plantae
• Fungi
• Protista
• Archaebacteria
• Bacteria
• Domains - taxonomic level above kingdoms
Classifying Living Organisms
Plant Physiology – aspects such as photosynthesis, flowering and hormones
Plant anatomy– relation of structure to functions
Paleobotany– evolutionary relationship of fossil plants to living plants.

Plant morphology – plant life cycle, evolution of plants.
Plant ecology – plants relate to the environment, human effects

to increased rate of plant extinction.
Plant genetics – transfer of genetic information from one

generation to the next.
Botanists also study:
Algae ( Phycology)
Fungi (Mycology)
Disease-causing microorganisms ( Microbiology)
Ornamental plants (Horticulture)
Important plant compounds ( Phytochemistry)
e.g. papain in papaya
momordicin in ampalaya
beta carotene in tomato
capsaicin in chilies
nicotine in tobacco
caffeine in coffea
ginkgolides in ginkgo
resins in pines
latex in rubber tree
Traditional uses of plants

( Herbal medicine and
Ethnobotany)
Forest and products
(Forestry)
Crops and soil management

(Agriculture)
Fruit trees (Pomology)

• “Plants are fascinating life-
forms in and of themselves,
and you must consider
yourself to be studying plants
as if your life depended on
them-which it does”
10 Philippine Medicinal Plants (approved by DOH):
VERNACULAR NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME Family USE / FUNCTION
Lagundi Vitex negundo Lamiaceae Cough preparation,

Ascof®
Sambong Blumea Asteraceae Diuretic, anti-

balsamifera urolithiasis
Bayabas Psidium guajava Myrtaceae Astringent
Ampalaya / BitterMomordica Cucurbitaceae Anti-diabetes

gourd charantia mellitus supplement
Tsaang-gubat Carmona retusa Boraginaceae Stomachic

Ulasimang bato Peperomia Piperaceae Lowers uric acid
pellucida in gout
Yerba Buena Mentha Lamiaceae Analgesic,

cordifolia antipyretic
Bawang Allium sativum Alliaceae Antihypertensive
Niyog-niyogan Quisqualis Combretaceae Anthelminthic

indica
Akapulko Cassia alata Fabaceae Antifungal
(“Ringworm
bush”)
Instructions
1. Each group is assigned 1 medicinal plant to work on.
2. Prepare an infographic containing the following information
1. Common Name of the plant
2. Scientific Name of the plant
3. Vernacular Name of the plant
4. Botanical description
5. Plant uses
6. Method of preparing the plant
3. Reference
4. Infographic size: 800 x 2000 px
5. Save the file in PDF format with a file name: Section_Medicinal Plant (example: 1A_Bayabas.pdf)
6. Attached are the rubrics for the grading

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Pharmaceutical Botany

is the scientific study of plants

• Conifers have cones rather than flowers.

• Cacti and succulents do not appear to have

• Ferns (r, s, l) and mosses.

• Bryophyes are non-vascular plant such as

• blue- greens, red algae, brown algae, green algae

• Economically important to humans

The Cinchona tree

Green jet fuel made from the Jatropha plant

-Plant sp. have ability to adapt in harsh conditions

CHARACTERISTICS OF A TYPICAL PLANT.

Ferns are the largest group of seedless

Angiosperms are the largest group of

Plant metabolism is based on the

Genes, and the information

• Mutations may occur and may affect the gene,

• conifers in cold areas,

• Plants are highly integrated

• Structure and metabolism of 1

Plant interacts with environment

Plants do not have purpose

1. Plants have roots in order to absorb water and minerals.

All living beings have the following characteristics (5); if

Organisms absorb energy/ matter,

All organisms are highly

When conditions become dry, an

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Ex. Nepenthes madagascariensis Poir.

Plant anatomy– relation of structure to functions

Paleobotany– evolutionary relationship of fossil plants to living plants.

Plant ecology – plants relate to the environment, human effects

Plant genetics – transfer of genetic information from one

Traditional uses of plants

Crops and soil management

Fruit trees (Pomology)

VERNACULAR NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME Family USE / FUNCTION

Lagundi Vitex negundo Lamiaceae Cough preparation,

Sambong Blumea Asteraceae Diuretic, anti-

Ampalaya / BitterMomordica Cucurbitaceae Anti-diabetes

Tsaang-gubat Carmona retusa Boraginaceae Stomachic

Yerba Buena Mentha Lamiaceae Analgesic,

Bawang Allium sativum Alliaceae Antihypertensive

Niyog-niyogan Quisqualis Combretaceae Anthelminthic

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