Further Research

In this section of my blog I will try and answer some questions pertaining to our selected learning objectives and research questions.

Our final LOs and RQs are as follows: 

1- Analyze 9 medically active, secondary metabolites.

What is the structure, bioactive effect, and cultural contexts of the each compound as well as the ecological niche and taxonomy of the plants that produce them?

2- Diagram and compare the different systems used to classify secondary metabolites.

What are the properties by which the 9 chosen compounds are classified?

3- Explore, diagram and identify patterns to how the bioactivity of secondary metabolites produced responds to environmental pressures.

What are some ways that outside influences inhibit or assist the proceses by which plants ensure their survival to the next generation?

4- For each secondary metabolite analyzed, compare the taxonomy of the plants that produce them.

For each secondary metabolite analyzed, in which taxa is the compound found to be produced by plants?

In previous posts I have answered most of #1. One component of #1 that I will try and explain in this section is the ecological niche of the plants in which my metabolites are found. In other words where are these plants native?

I have posted about #4 and displayed taxonomy. I will try and touch up on #2 and #3 in this post and futures posts.

Chilli peppers (containing capsaicin) are native to north and south America but spread around the world in the 1500s during the spice trade. The first chilli peppers to be domesticated were in Central America. The earliest date chilli peppers are thought to have been consumed is 7500 B.C.

The origins of ginger (containing gingerol) are not currently known since it has not been found in the wild. Some biological evidence supports the theory that it originated in India and the ginger root also has been used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine. I found using Dr. Dukes phytochemical and ethnobotanical database, that ginger also contains capsaicin. Although the amount is unknown, It is the only other plant found to produce capsaicin besides chilli peppers. Looking at the taxonomy, this shows that capsaicin spans through all different classifications all the way up to class. The level of taxa in which gInger and chilli peppers relate is the division Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants. I am curious whether ginger containing capsaicin would contain evidence to suggest that ginger originated in the Americas. Perhaps the production of capsaicin in ginger and chilli peppers is used to deter the same predators. Are these predators native to the same area? 

Botanists believe chilli peppers produce capsaicin to deter mammalian predators. The fruits are then reserved for birds, which can tolerate the spice and spread the seeds over long distances. 
Capsaicin is a phenylproponoid. Capsaicin, is found in the fruits (primarily the seeds) of the capsicum family. It stimulates the vanilloid receptors subtype 1 or "VR1", which releases nueropeptide and acts as a neurotransmitter for pain messages in the brain. This causes the release of the bodies natural endorphins, resulting in a reduction of pain. There is actually no chemical burn in the body, rather capsaicin just triggers the brain to believe there is burning. 


Gingerol is a  polyphenol found in the Rhizome of the ginger plant. It is an antagonist on the same receptor as capsaicin, "VR1". Gingerol can reduce gastric contractions, gastric secretions, and prevent vomiting. 


Turmeric (containing curcumin) is found in Southeast Asia or India. Curcuma Longa, the common species used today is thought to have arose from artificial selection and cultivation originally coming from wild turmeric (Curcuma aromatica), which is thought to be native to India, Sri Lanka and the eastern Himalayas. 


Curcumin is a polyphenol in the family curcuminoids. Curcuminoids are responsible for the yellow color in Turmeric. Curcumin is found in Curcuma aromatica in lesser amounts than in longa. Curcumin depletes nerve endings of substance P, the nuerotransmitter of pain receptors, which is similar to the effect of capsaicin. Curcumin can lower cholesterol by converting cholesterol to bile acids. Curcumin prevents increase in the liver enzyme SGOT and SGPT, which can help prevent liver diseases. 


Curcumin is also found in ginger (Zingiber officinale). This is not entirely surprising because ginger and turmeric are in the same family Zingiberaceae. This family is largely classified by its large tuberous rhizomes. The family spans across Africa, Asia and the Americas. The most diversity is found in southeast Asia.  




Web Sources: 

http://www.kew.org/plant-cultures/plants

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0703.htm

http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/

http://www.erowid.org/plants/capsicum/capsicum_article1.shtml
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1573550/
http://www.fcf.usp.br/Ensino/Graduacao/Disciplinas/Exclusivo/Inserir/Anexos/LinkAnexos/gengibre.pdf
http://www.phenol-explorer.eu

Books: 
Indian Medicine: An Illustrated Dictionary by C.P. Khare