NUTRACEUTICALS

Black cohosh

Feverfew

First harvest

Lecture series 2003

Plant medicine initiative

Prescription plants

Tissue culture

Team members

Program details

Plant medicine initiative spans research, education and outreach
As an alternative to depleting natural resources, researchers at Clemson University are growing trees and other plants to produce powerful plant-based chemicals used in medicines. Plant physiologist Dwight Camper and graduate students are cultivating plants such as ginkgo, purple coneflower (Echinacea) and St. John’s Wort in the laboratory.

Their research is part of a unique and wide-ranging effort called the Plant Medicine and Toxicology Initiative that includes research, outreach and education.

“The majority of drugs used today are derived from 125 different plants,” said Camper. “We hope to identify additional beneficial compounds produced by the plants and determine if those compounds can be produced commercially using in vitro technology. If it proves economically feasible, this could provide the basis for new or expanded plant-based industries.”

The chemicals that plants produce to protect themselves from insects and disease have also proven effective against human diseases. Chemicals from ginkgo are used to treat toxic shock syndrome, asthma, heart disease and stroke. Chemicals from dogwood can reduce fevers and inflammation. Chemicals from Echinacea stimulate the immune system, and chemicals from St. John’s Wort are used to relieve mild depression.

A new area of study involves using plant-based medicine to prevent cancer. For this, the Clemson researchers are working with Dan Nixon, associate director of the Hollings Cancer Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina, to investigate the ability of plant-based chemicals to prevent tumor growth. In laboratory studies, the scientists have found that chemicals from raspberries, strawberries, grapes and walnuts inhibit the growth of tumors.

The researchers are also developing a comprehensive atlas of poisonous plants in South Carolina.

 “The atlas will provide a quick reference to help health professionals and others identify and treat poisonings caused by plants,” said Camper. “It will be available in print and on the Internet and will contain color photographs, botanical descriptions and growth habitats of the plants, as well as descriptions of symptoms and recommended medical treatments. We will also be conducting workshops around the state to help health professionals become more familiar with plant poisonings.”

A final component of the Plant Medicine Initiative is education. In the classroom, Camper discusses the historical uses of plants and the chemicals derived from them. Topics include biodiversity, chemical ecology, ethnobotany, toxicology and pharmacology for students in the university’s Calhoun Honors College and other undergraduate courses.

Funding for the initiative is provided by the S.C. Agriculture and Forestry Research System based at Clemson, the Greenville Hospital System-Clemson University Biomedical Cooperative, the Clemson Cooperative Extension System and the university’s plant pathology and physiology department.