Marine Drugs and Natural Products

Biography

Biography: Dilip Ghosh

Abstract

Standardized extracts are processed products, where some specific and known components, recognized to contribute more than others to the therapeutic activity, are adjusted to a given amount, within the acceptable tolerance. Standardization is achieved by adjustment of natural substance/herbal preparation with excipients or by blending batches of natural substance/herbal preparations. All the other components are still present in the extract, because the action of the plant may result from the synergistic activity of several constituents. According to the concept of phytoequivalence, a chemical profile, such as a chromatographic fingerprint, for a natural product should be constructed and compare with the profile of a clinically proven reference product. Plants are highly variable by nature and it is a common experience that batches of medicinal plants with similar specifications, as species and part of plant, may have quite different chemical compositions. From many reasons, it is clear that the “generic” concept which is valid for conventional medicines is mainly invalid for “Specifically Clinically Proven” natural medicines. Increasing the quantity and quality of clinical and scientific information on herbal medicinal products will reduce uncertainty in assessment and greatly contribute to decision making related to hazard and risk.