David, I wouldn’t necessarily associate a secondary bioactive compound with one that can be considered medicinal for humans. Nicotine and urushiol are among the many that can be produced in short order, so I would argue that a plant’s secondary compounds can be produced rapidly and not necessarily have a human medicinal value.
There are many problems with medicinals; perhaps the most important reason that they don’t reach the American market is that a natural product cannot be patented, thus there is no profit motive until it can be “isolated” and tweaked chemically. This discounts the effect of other compounds working together. In addition, there is no oversight of herbal remedies in terms of quality, safety or efficacy. Soapbox alert… I am growing many perennial medicinal plants in the Amazon although I have no need nor desire to use any of them personally. Disturbingly, ayahuasca is becoming ever more popular. A vine with mind-altering capability, it can addle the brain. While on the soapbox, I might recommend Leslie Taylor’s The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs. The author does a nice job of tying together folk lore to peer-reviewed research. Not a commercial, just a personal favorite. … end of soapbox. Don Dean Oakland NJ Schools projectamazonastree.org On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 6:36 PM, David Inouye <ino...@umd.edu> wrote: > I'm wondering whether it's possible to generalize about the life histories > of medicinal plants. My guess is that annual plants in general don't > invest much in secondary plant compounds, so that most medicinal plants > would be perennial (herbs or shrubs). Do you know of any annuals that are > important as medicinal plants? > > David Inouye > > > Dr. David W. Inouye, Professor Emeritus > Department of Biology > University of Maryland > College Park, MD 20742-4415 > > 2014-15: President, Ecological Society of America > > Principal Investigator > Rocky Mtn. Biological Laboratory > PO Box 519 > Crested Butte, CO 81224 > > ino...@umd.edu > 301-405-6946
