GOSSYPIUM HIRSATUM[PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF METHONOLIC EXTRACT OF COTTON PLANT]

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Medicinal plants have been the mainstay of traditional herbal medicine amongst rural dwellers worldwide since antiquity to date. The therapeutic use of plants certainly goes back to the Sumerian and the Akkadian civilizations in about the third millennium BC. Hippocrates (ca. 460–377 BC), one of the ancient authors who described medicinal natural products of plant and animal origins, listed approximately 400 different plant species for medicinal purposes. Natural products have been an integral part of the ancient traditional medicine systems, e.g. Chinese, Ayurvedic and Egyptian (Sarker & Nahar, 2007). Over the years they have assumed a very central stage in modern civilization as natural source of chemotherapy as well as amongst scientist in search for alternative sources of drugs.  About 3.4 billion people in the developing world depend on plant-based traditional medicines. This represents about 88 per cent of the world’s inhabitants, who rely mainly on traditional medicine for their primary health care. According to the World Health Organization, a medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or more of its organs, contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes, or which are precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi synthesis. Such a plant will have its parts including leaves, roots, rhizomes, stems, barks, flowers, fruits, grains or seeds, employed in the control or treatment of a disease condition and therefore contains chemical components that are medically active. These non-nutrient plant chemical compounds or bioactive components are often referred to as phytochemicals (‘phyto-‘ from Greek – phyto meaning ‘plant’)  or phytoconstituents and are responsible for protecting the plant against microbial infections or infestations by pests (Abo et al., 1991; Liu, 2004; Nweze et al., 2004; Doughari et al., 2009). The study of natural products on the other hand is called phytochemistry. Phytochemicals have been isolated and characterized from fruits such as grapes and apples, vegetables such as broccoli and onion, spices such as turmeric, beverages such as green tea and red wine, as well as many other sources (Doughari & Obidah, 2008; Doughari et al., 2009).

The science of application of these indigenous or local medicinal remedies including plants for treatment of diseases is currently called ethno pharmacology but the practice dates back since antiquity. Ethno pharmacology has been the mainstay of traditional medicines theentire world and currently is being integrated into mainstream medicine. Different catalogues including De Materia Medica, Historia Plantarum, Species Plantarum have been variously published in attempt to provide scientific information on the medicinal uses of plants. The types of plants and methods of application vary from locality to locality with 80% of rural dwellers relying on them as means of treating various diseases. For example, the use of bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and cranberry juice (Vaccinium macrocarpon) to treat urinary tract infections is reported in different manuals of phytotherapy, while species such as lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), garlic (Allium sativum) and tee tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) are described as broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents (Heinrich et al., 2004). A single plant may be used for the treatment of various disease conditions depending on the community. Several ailments including fever, asthma, constipation, esophageal cancer and hypertension have been treated with traditional medicinal plants (Cousins & Huffman, 2002; Saganuwan, 2010). The plants are applied in different forms such as poultices, concoctions of different plant mixtures, infusions as teas or tinctures or as component mixtures in porridges and soups administered in different ways including oral, nasal (smoking, snoffing or steaming), topical (lotions, oils or creams), bathing or rectal (enemas). Different plant parts and components (roots, leaves, stem barks, flowers or their combinations, essential oils) have been employed in the treatment of infectious pathologies in the respiratory system, urinary tract, gastrointestinal and biliary systems, as well as on the skin (Rojas et al., 2001; R´ıos & Recio, 2005; Adekunle  & Adekunle, 2009).

Medicinal plants are increasingly gaining acceptance even among the literates in urban settlements, probably due to the increasing inefficacy of many modern drugs used for the control of many infections such as typhoid fever, gonorrhoea, and tuberculosis as well as increase in resistance by several bacteria to various antibiotics and the increasing cost of prescription drugs, for the maintenance of personal health (Levy, 1998; Van den Bogaard et al., 2000; Smolinski et al., 2003). Unfortunately, rapid explosion in human population has made it almost impossible for modern health facilities to meet health demands all over the world, thus putting more demands on the use of natural herbal health remedies. Current problems associated with the use of antibiotics, increased prevalence of multiple-drug resistant (MDR) strains of a number of pathogenic bacteria such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Helicobacter pylori, and MDR Klebsiela pneumonia has revived the interest in plants with antimicrobial properties (Voravuthikunchai & Kitpipit, 2003). In addition, the increase in cases of opportunistic infections and the advent of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients and individuals on immuno suppressive chemotherapy, toxicity of many antifungal and antiviral drugs has imposed pressure on the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies to search alternative and novel drug sources.