Phytochemistry, history, and progress in drug discovery

Since the start of civilization, humans have been reliant on the plant. Historical records suggest that they have been continuously domesticating plants and utilizing various plant parts as food. They have also been trying to find remedies for their diseases and health issues. This sowed the seed of later-day phytochemistry. In olden times, people used to have crude plant extracts for treating various diseases. With the advancement of age and the development of technology, the curiosity of humans about the details of plant extracts increased. This led to the introduction of a new phytochemical era. By the initiation of the 18th century, the scientific community was quite enthusiastic about investigating the chemical constituents of plants. With the help of fundamental chemical techniques of separation and chromatography, they were able to isolate several phytomolecules of pharmacological importance. The 20th and 21st centuries provided further thrust in the research and development of phytochemistry and yielded several phytomolecules of immense importance to medical science. This chapter makes an effort to provide an outline of phytochemistry development in the modern age. Efforts are made to highlight the discovery of selected biomolecules of pharmacological importance.