Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Abstract

Medicinal plants is growing in about 10000 species in Turkey, one third of them is endemic. About 500 species have been used as medicinal plants in Turkey. There have been a lot of ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies for screening the medicinal plants used in Turkey. In the course of our ethnopharmacological and ethnobotanical studies, it was decided to perform both phytochemical and biological activity studies on some of them. First, it was studied on some Onosma species (family Boraginaceae). The roots of Onosma armeniacum, O. nigricaule and O. obtusifolium have been used for wound healing and burn. Shikonin derivatives from the roots of O. armeniacum, O. nigricaule, and O. obtusifolium were isolated. Also, it was found that shikonin derivatives isolated from this species had fibroblast growth stimulating effect. Second, it was studied some Thymus species ( T. pseudopulegioides, T, sypileus subsp. sypileus var. sypileus , T. praecox subsp. grossheimii var. grosheimii ). Thymus species are used for cold and as herbal tea in Turkey. Ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid, luteolin, and luteolin glycosides from these Thymus species were isolated. Some other medicinal plants are in progress such as Origanum species ( O. acutidens, O. micranthum, O. rotundifolium, and O. minutiflorum ) and Rosa pimpinellifolia.

Biography

Ufuk Özgen has completed her PhD from Ankara University, Department of Pharmacognosy in 1997 and Postdoctoral studies from King?s College London in 2001. She is the Head of Department of Pharmacognosy. She has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of Turkish Journal of Chemistry.