Chapter 16 Extraction and production of drugs from plant

Plants are producers of many secondary metabolites with biological activities like alkaloids, terpenes, lignans, tannins, and phenolic compounds which can be used in the development of pharmaceutical drugs. Because of the complex chemical structure, these compounds are difficult to synthesize at an industrial level. Thus, using appropriate extraction methodologies to obtain extract rich in these phytochemicals is crucial. In this context, infusion, maceration, percolation, and soxhlet are currently used traditional extraction methodologies to produce drug from medicinal plants. However, to improve the extraction performance, other innovative techniques like ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction have been developed in the recent years. The parameters and procedures of these techniques play an important role in the extraction performance and yield of these metabolites. This chapter aims to present and compare extraction procedures of phytochemicals from medicinal plants as well as describe some trends in the natural compounds biology to improve the production of the secondary metabolites from medicinal plants.