Preface

Plants are a source of a wide variety of natural products with a variety of medicinal characteristics that are always being researched to create new medications. Today, the majority of pharmaceutical drugs are made from these natural ingredients. Plants produce a vast array of chemically diverse secondary metabolites with specific biological activities, but their molecular mechanism, pharmacokinetic profile, and safety have not yet been fully analyzed. Natural product research is experiencing a remarkable resurgence of interest in this age of rapidly advancing science and technology, and the findings are quite intriguing. Current research is gaining renewed attention for its ability to produce novel and intriguing scaffolds with improved physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic properties. However, it is still challenging to analyze the mechanisms of action of herbal medications on a holistic level due to the complexity of substances and their linked various targets of traditional herbal medicine. Additionally, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) properties are described as the dynamic alterations in drugs within the body, which are critical in drug discovery and development. The discovery and development of drugs based on natural products are challenging tasks that require a highly integrated interdisciplinary approach. Recent technological innovations, scientific advancements, and research trends all point to the fact that natural products will continue to rank highly as a source of novel medications in the future. Volume 3 (Therapeutic Insights into Herbal Medicine through the Use of Phytomolecules) of Natural Medicine includes different chapters that offer important information about the screening of phytoextracts/phytomolecules for drug discovery.