When patients take some herbal medicines, they usually use water as a solvent. Lab scientists test the same herb for efficacy and toxicity using Hexane, DCM, Et-Ac, MeOH/EtOH..., rarely do some include water. To make it alittle more complicated, the patient may wish to boil the meds for 10 minutes or so. Do our lab tests, which rarely adapts the users' prep. conditions reflect the truth about the medicinal and toxicity effect of the herb?
Dear Dr. Athar,
Thank you for your response. I have seen invivo studies directly using methanolic extracts, in antitumor studies. However, I get the point, the various solvents are maximizing the availability of a particular group of compounds (polarity dependent, mostly). Your respnse has clarified stuff to me. Thank you once again.
It is true that most locals and herbal medicine users water as solvents. However, some users also use alcohol in preparing their herbs for use. Therefore, use of other solvents like ethanol / methanol by researchers may not be totally invalid. On the issue of boiling herbs before use, it depends on the solubility of the active agents and that is why some researchers also use both cold and hot extractions.
Thank you Dr. Ewere for that valuable input as well. the lab is still adopting the user's recipe. interesting to note. Enjoy your day
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