International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

Production of bioactive alkaloids from Turkish geophytes*

B. Sener, M. Koyuncu, F. Bingöl, and F. Muhtar

Gazi University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, P.O.Box 143 06572, Maltepe-Ankara, TURKEY
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The variation in climate in different regions of Turkey has resulted in a very rich flora and a long history of many beautiful bulbous plants. Some of them have been cultivated in European and American gardens as ornamental plants for centuries. A number of them have also some importance for biological activities. The bulbs of Galanthus, Narcissus and Leucojum have an interest because of their content of galanthamine in order to be used in the treatment of poliomyelitis. For the past thirty years, 25 % of prescriptions dispensed from the community pharmacies in Turkey contained active principles that are still extracted from higher plants. Therefore, medicinal plants have a great potential for producing new drugs of great benefit to human. Phytochemical and pharmacological studies have led to the development of several important compounds as medicinal agents. Turkey exports geophytes for horticultural purposes mainly collected from the wild. The amount of material exported from Turkey has increased each year.

The loss of biological diversity due to human activities has become one of the major problems. It was also directed at the potential permanent loss of unique chemicals which may have enormous importance to people. The sustainable utilization of medicinal plant diversity forms a complex. Saving, studying and using are the three basic elements of the conservation of bioresources. The major task of the parties concerned is to cultivate the awareness among the general public of the importance of conserving the biological diversity and develop it sustainably. For this purpose, the bulbs of exported geophytes have been examined for their bioactive compounds. In this study, the characterization of these compounds along with some regulations to conserve the native flora will be reviewed.

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