Explainers
Natural ProductsNatural Products
Natural products are compounds and extracts produced by living organisms such as plants, microbes, fungi and marine life. Research centers on secondary metabolites — molecules not essential for growth but involved in defense, signaling and adaptation — spanning alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolics, polyketides, peptides and polysaccharides.
Key topics
- 01Authentication & sourcing
Taxonomic identification and voucher specimens
- 02Extraction & isolation
Solvent and supercritical extraction, chromatographic separation
- 03Structure elucidation
NMR and mass spectrometry
- 04Biosynthesis
Pathways and metabolic engineering
- 05Marine & microbial sources
Discovery from marine organisms and microbes
- 06Sustainable use
Access and benefit-sharing under the Nagoya Protocol
This page describes the field in general terms and makes no claims about specific ingredients or products.
References
- Newman DJ, Cragg GM. Natural products as sources of new drugs over the nearly four decades from 01/1981 to 09/2019. J Nat Prod 2020;83(3):770–803.
- Atanasov AG, Zotchev SB, Dirsch VM, et al. Natural products in drug discovery: advances and opportunities. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2021;20:200–216.
- Convention on Biological Diversity. Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (2010, 2014 발효).