Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Nov 18;12(22):4073.
doi: 10.3390/nano12224073.

Improved Activity of Herbal Medicines through Nanotechnology

Mayang Kusuma Dewi  1 , Anis Yohana Chaerunisaa  2 , Muhaimin Muhaimin  3 , I Made Joni  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Improved Activity of Herbal Medicines through Nanotechnology

Mayang Kusuma Dewi et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Phytochemicals or secondary metabolites are substances produced by plants that have been shown to have many biological activities, providing a scientific basis for using herbs in traditional medicine. In addition, the use of herbs is considered to be safe and more economical compared to synthetic medicine. However, herbal medicines have disadvantages, such as having low solubility, stability, and bioavailability. Some of them can undergo physical and chemical degradation, which reduces their pharmacological activity. In recent decades, nanotechnology-based herbal drug formulations have attracted attention due to their enhanced activity and potential for overcoming the problems associated with herbal medicine. Approaches using nanotechnology-based delivery systems that are biocompatible, biodegradable, and based on lipids, polymers, or nanoemulsions can increase the solubility, stability, bioavailability, and pharmacological activity of herbals. This review article aims to provide an overview of the latest advances in the development of nanotechnology-based herbal drug formulations for increased activity, as well as a summary of the challenges these delivery systems for herbal medicines face.

Keywords: bioactivity; drug delivery; herbal medicine; nanotechnology; phytochemical.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic showing the deficiencies of the phytochemicals that limit their clinical application. Nanotechnology-based delivery system methods can overcome these limitations, mostly by increasing their bioavailability and absorption, thereby increasing their activity [20,21,22,23].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The nanotechnology-based delivery system for phytochemical constituents [19,26].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Classification of the lipid-based delivery system.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The classification of polymeric nano carriers (adapted from [44]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ijaz S., Akhtar N., Khan M.S., Hameed A., Irfan M., Arshad M.A., Ali S., Asrar M. Plant Derived Anticancer Agents: A Green Approach towards Skin Cancers. Biomed. Pharmacother. 2018;103:1643–1651. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.04.113. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Enrico C. Studies in Natural Products Chemistry. Volume 62 Elsevier; Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 2019. Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery of Natural Compounds and Phytochemicals for the Treatment of Cancer and Other Diseases.
    1. Martins-Gomes C., Souto E.B., Silva A.M. Systems of Nanovesicular Drug Delivery. Elsevier; Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 2022. Nanophytosomes: A Novel Approach for the Delivery of Herbal Drugs; pp. 239–257.
    1. Hussein R.A., El-Anssary A.A. Herbal Medicine. IntechOpen; London, UK: 2019. Plants Secondary Metabolites: The Key Drivers of the Pharmacological Actions of Medicinal Plants.
    1. Mendoza N., Silva E.M.E. Phytochemicals-Source of Antioxidants and Role in Disease Prevention. InTech; London, UK: 2018. Introduction to Phytochemicals: Secondary Metabolites from Plants with Active Principles for Pharmacological Importance.

LinkOut - more resources