Natural products toxicological properties

This collection comprises short monographs on 75 natural products of plant origins, clearly presented and detailed. Each monograph contains information on physical and chemical properties, toxicology and risk potential, followed by spectroscopic and chromatographic data with clearly indicated measurement conditions and peaks. In addition, structural formulas and illustrations of NMR, mass and IR spectra are provided. Selected and annotated references on each natural product facilitate the search for further information. 

The development of Individual natural product structures as pesticides will be subject to the same economic factors that affect synthetic pesticides. Natural products do not differ from compounds synthesized in the laboratory, but they may, as products of biological processes, be more readily degraded than many man-made structures. Although the potential for facile degradation may have favourable implications for environmental safety, there is little justification for the assumption a priori. that because a compound is a natural product, it possesses no undesirable toxicological properties. Toxicological tests must be performed for both natural and man-made compounds before registration as pesticides. 

Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable gas with important chemical and toxicological properties. It is the product of a number of natural processes, including the decay of sulfur-containing material. Its noxious odor of rotten eggs permits its detection at extremely low concentration (0.02 ppm). Because the olfactory sense is dulled by its action, however, higher concentrations may be tolerated, and the lethal concentration of 100 ppm may be exceeded. Aqueous solutions of the gas were used traditionally as a source of sulfide for the precipitation of metals, but because of the toxicity of H2S, this role has been taken over by other sulfur-containing compounds such as thioacetamide. 

The biological activities of plants and natural products have been known since classic times. There are numerous modern and classic texts and review articles available on the medicinal and toxicological properties of plants and their by-products. An interesting observation is that rarely are the two combined. The readers should also be aware that many modem pharmaceutical drugs are derived from plant preparations which encompass the fields of pharmacognosy and natural products chemistry. 

As more and more biological and toxicological research is performed on commercial natural products, it is increasingly apparent that scientific evaluation of individual purified components from these natural products has rarely produced results that are consistent with the property of the products in toto. Consequently, one should not be prematurely alarmed if one of numerous components in a long-used natural product is shown to have toxic effects in the laboratory, unless further research on the product in its complete form produces the same effects. Conversely, one should not be overoptimistic in claiming a particular herb or natural product as cure for a certain disease after studies have indicated that one of its numerous chemical components exhibits a positive effect on the disease. This is especially tme if this component... 

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