KARACHI, Jan 11: The Pakistani scientists have developed more than thousand products with the help of plants having medicinal properties , which can be used for treating patients suffering from epilepsy and cancer.
This was stated by Higher Education Commission chief and director of the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Prof Attaur Rahman, on Sunday, the second day of the ongoing Ninth International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry. He was making a presentation on "Recent Developments in the Chemistry of Natural Products."
The professor said scientists working for the HEJ institute had produced enzyme inhibitors, besides some edibles with cholesterol-reducing properties, of which at least one product was in a ready-to-market form.
Prof Atta said the main reason why the performance of HEJ institute was better than most other Pakistani institutions was its strict adherence to merit and non-permanence of tenure. "During the first six to seven years the people working for the institute are not given permanent positions."
"They are given permanent positions only after an international assessment of their output. In other words, all the people, who are awarded permanent positions, have a good track record comprising publication of research papers and citations," he said.
Speaking of the importance of medicinal plants, he said these were potential powerhouses, which could benefit people. Each medicinal plant could be used for thousands of natural products, he added.
Presenting a paper on "Investigation on Some Indigenous Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh," Prof Umar Ali said a number of products had been extracted from Cassia Alata, Terminalia Arjuna, Acacia Catechu and Lac Resin, of which many were found to be active against skin disorders and several had anti-bacterial properties.
Fareshteh Pour-Morad, from Iran, told the audience that Ficus Carica Latex, extracted from plants having medicinal properties, was useful against warts and corns. In preliminary clinical trials, too, more than 60 per cent of the patients were satisfied with the products extracted from this type of plants.
Yusuff Ali from Bangladesh, speaking on the downside of excessive use of pesticides and insecticides, urged the scientists present to help produce fertilizers and agriculture chemicals from plants.
He was of the opinion that excessive use of fertilizers and chemicals by farmers had caused a decline in the annual inland yield of fish, which was an important source of food for the Bangladeshis.
The per day yield of an ordinary fisherman in Bangladesh had dropped to 1kg per day, which was more than 20kg per day, 50 years ago, he said. One of the scientists in the audience suggested that before looking for new ways to produce fertilizers and pesticides, the Bangladeshi farmers should be educated to use these only in appropriate quantities. Mr Ali replied that the authorities and international organizations had already launched such a programme.
During the day, meanwhile, a total of 25 papers were presented by local and foreign delegates at the symposium. Meanwhile on Saturday about 20 plenary and invited lectures were delivered during different sessions of the symposium. Ian Fleming of University of Cambridge, UK, Akira Tsuji of Kanazawa University, Japan, and john H P Tyman of Brunel University, Japan, delivered plenary lectures at a session chaired by Prof Wolfgang Voelter.
Prof Akira Tsuji discussed the significant role played by drug transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes in drug disposition, focussing particularly on their potential use during the drug discovery and development process.
Prof John Tyman shared his research findings on the technology and bioactive properties of Phenolic lipids. He informed the participants that cashew (Anacardium occidentale) was uniquely provided by semi-synthesis, organic components for applications in industrial technology and for studies in biochemistry and on biological properties.
Dr Viqaruddin Ahmad of HEJ institute focussed on the isolation, characterization and screening of some new natural products on the basis of various biological assays. Dr Nuzhat Ahmed of KU said that Eco-friendly bacteria were of paramount importance in many applications in biotechnology, including bioremediation, production of biodegradable plastics and bioabsorbants.
I C Dutta of Nepal presented a case study, examining the antibacterial activity of medicinal plants and their contribution to livelihood. Emi Okuyama of Chiba University, Japan, introduced his research on a couple of medicinal foods, such as Logan, a fruit available in South Asian countries, and Star anise, a common spice in Chinese dishes.
Prof Marc Litaudon of France spoke about bioactive compounds from New-Caledonian, an overseas French territory, besides biodiversity. Bassem El-Menshawi of Egypt informed about drug discovery from Egyptian plants and also proposed priorities of research in the area of "drug discovery from natural resources".
Prof Hedvig Bolcskei of Hungary discussed efficient new derivatives, having less side effects. Victor G Kartsev of Russia devoted his lecture to the chemistry of various unconventional natural heterocycles, their biosynthesis, biological activity, and mechanisms of action on key enzyme systems.
Prof Dietrich Spitzner of Germany reported about the isolation and structure elucidation of coloured compounds from some marine natural products. Other scientists, who made their presentations, included Uwe Beifuss (Germany), Bohari Mohammad Yamin (Malaysia), Bidyut Kanti Datta (Bangladesh), Mafel C Ysrael (Philippine), Nam-In Baek (Korea) and Tahir N Majid (USA).