SPECIAL LECTURES

1. ¹ Universitatea de Vest Vasile Goldis, Arad, Romania, 2Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany There is a great potential for medicinal plants in the South East European Countries. Dominant fi eld of current research is the occurrence, frequency and distribution of medicinal plant species, mostly restricted to one of the member countries. Pharmacists or chemists analyse medicinal plants for their active contents. There is an urgent need for fundamental research on geographical and biochemical races, on the infl uence of soil, climate and weather; secondary metabolites (active matter) frequently are increased by water stress conditions: drought or salinity. Little is known about medicinal value or mode of action, in particular on synergistic effects of several contents. For isolated active compounds their proof of activity against a disease is compulsory. Another interesting fi eld is the production of active matter by cell and tissue cultures or by hairy root cultures, examples will be shown. A more recent fi eld of research studies the chemical structures of active compounds, and uses them as leading structures for more active or more specifi c preparations. Coordinated interdisciplinary research will be required. Since medicinal plants are an important field in all the involved countries, and since South East Europe may be supported by the European Union, the setup of a good program could be useful. Possibilities will be discussed.

Published in Pharmacognosy Magazine