plants

Medicinal plants have historically been a valuable source of new drugs. Aspirin (an analgesic), digitoxin (used to treat heart arrhythmias) and artemesinin (one of the most prescribed antimalarial drugs) were all discovered from medicinal plants. One reason that plants with traditional medicinal uses have been extremely valuable sources of leads for new drugs is because many lifetimes of experience have already demonstrated the effectiveness of the chemical constituents of these species in treating human diseases. As an official “biodiversity hotspot”, Southern California possesses a rich collection of native plants, many of which have traditionally been used as medicines by various groups of residents through the years. The objective of this project is to evaluate the biological activity of medicinal plants that have traditionally been used as medicine by the Chumash tribe of Native Americans in Southern California.

Fleming, Matthew C.*; Hester, Victoria*; Allison, Brittany J.*; Foster, Majie C.*; Nofziger, Donna; Joyner, P. Matthew. Immunomodulatory and antibacterial properties of the Chumash medicinal plant Trichostema lanatum. Medicines 2018, 5 (2), 25; doi:10.3390/medicines5020025

Allison, Brittany J.*; Allenby, Mark C.*; Bryant, Shane S.*; Min, Jae Eun*; Hieromnimon, M.*; Joyner, P. Matthew. Comparison of the in vitro bioactivity of a panel of indigenous American medicinal plants and identification of antibacterial flavonoids from Artemisia californica. Natural Product Research 2016, 31, 707-712