Antioxidant activity of natural products from medicinal plants

Abstract

Ethnobotanical study is an important activity related to the research and development of drugs. The growing need to find alternatives for the treatment of chronic degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome, among others, justifies the study of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine. The therapeutic effects of plants are due to the content of different secondary metabolites such as essential oils, tannins, phenolic acids, sesquiterpenes, and flavonoids—for example, several reports about the beneficial effects of a wide range of plants to treat diabetes. In Mexico, most of the traditional knowledge about medicinal plants comes from pre-Hispanic times, and different ethnic groups still retain it.