NATURAL PRODUCTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Natural products have various applications.
1) Drugs and Drug leads.
2) Cosmetic and Perfume industry.
3) Paints and Varnishes.
4) As foods.
5) In defence( military).
6) For pest control.
A natural product is usually considered as a pure chemical. However, even the raw materials from which they are obtained are considered natural products by some schools.
The important applications are elaborated below.
1) Drugs and Drug leads:-
This is a familiar field as far as pharmacy is concerned. Quinine was first used for malaria and later quines were developed. Thus, quinine is both a drug and drug lead, same is the case with vinicristin and viniblastin for a number of years. They were used as such to treat cancers, mainly lukemia before semi-synthetic derivatives were prepared. The latest example of natural products acting as drug leads is the venum of a viper. Based on the structure of a peptide isolated from this, majority of the "prils"(Enalapril) were developed. This is to emphasize the importance of natural products as drugs and drug leads in short.
2) In cosmetics and perfumes:-
All the materials used in perfumes and majority of the chemicals used in cosmetics are of natural origin. The volatile oils used in these are of natural origin. Though it is a multi billion dollar industry the importance of natural products un-noticed. Even the fixatives use are of natural origin.
3) In Defence:-
Though there is no evidence to sight, I believe that natural products can play a great role in defence, war-fare, rockets etc. While some can act by causing allergy, some can help ignition processes. Some can even have propellant action. It is possible that some can modulate the burning materials. Rockets of Diwali were being manufactured in India much before the Space technology development. This is the basis for the above mentioned hypothetical uses.
4)As Pesticides:-
The most famous example is Azadirachtin, the source of which is the neem tree. Bio-pesticides have caught up the attention of the whole world after this discovery.
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manthan.janodia
Sun, 02/22/2009 - 17:37
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Difference
Dear Sir,
Is there any difference between natural products, herbal products, plant based products and ayurvedic products? This may sound a silly question but a lot of confusion exist even today with respect to these terminologies. I shall be grateful if you can throw some light on these terminologies.
avnapparao
Sat, 02/28/2009 - 09:57
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Dear Sir, Manthan D.janodia
Dear Sir, Manthan D.janodia
Your question doesn't sound silly, at least to me. It is a valid question. Your are right, there is lot of confusion in this regard. Let me try to clarify it.....
An ayurvedic drug is one which is mentioned in any of the ayurvedic treatises. It is prepared following the procedures mentioned in them. All other products are herbal or plant based. People are wrongly labelling some of these as "ayurvedic". This is not correct. They are doing it for commercial reasons. Labelling them that way is perhaps bringing them profits. But it is causing loss to "Ayurveda".
A natural product is, by and large, a chemical isolated from any natural source(plant, animal etc..). But according to some people even the source material is a natural product.
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zarrinfaria
Tue, 02/24/2009 - 04:44
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paints and varnishes....
Thank you sir for providing the valuable information....sir can you please elaborate the role of natural products as paints and varnishes??...i have heard of natural colors derived from turmeric being used ...but varnishes being derived from natural product is a very new concept.......
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avnapparao
Sat, 02/28/2009 - 10:02
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Dear zarrinfaria,
Dear zarrinfaria,
varnish is mainly pine oil. Gomboge is used to coat/colour wood.
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Himanshu saurabh
Tue, 02/24/2009 - 05:02
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natural products....
Dear sir.....
Though natural products are a source of immense knowledge.....has wide applications....but it is not booming as a very big profitable industry..sir can you plaese tell me the reason for the cause???
avnapparao
Sat, 02/28/2009 - 09:59
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Dear Himanshu saurabh,
Dear Himanshu saurabh,
You are right. It is not booming for the simple reason that there is no planning, it is not organized. Mainly, it is not a priority of the governments.
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Kaushalpathak
Thu, 02/26/2009 - 12:41
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Respected Sir...
I am very much interested in learning more about various Natural products and their specific use and what is the current standing of natural products in comparison to synthetic products/drugs....looking forward for your more informative blogs
Thanking you