Faculty of Science

Objectives

To provide an introduction to the study of plant secondary metabolites, the mechanisms underlying their formation, their extraction, isolation, purification and structure determination as well as the concept of chemotaxonomy, and role of plant secondary metabolites in shaping the course of modern pharmacotherapy.

Contents

Biogenesis of terpenoids; steroids; alkaloids (especially indole alkaloids), flavonoids; essential oils; polyketides; polyisoprenoids and shikimic acid metabolites; Methods of extraction, isolation, purification, and structure determination; A survey of the pharmacological activities associated with selected metabolite classes.