Journal of Ethnopharmacology 92 (2004) 163–166

Review
The role of weeds as sources of pharmaceuticals
John R. Stepp
Tropical Conservation and Development Program, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7305, USA
Received 5 January 2004; received in revised form 9 March 2004; accepted 10 March 2004

Abstract

Primary tropical forest is generally considered to be the most likely habitat to discover new pharmaceuticals, due to high biodiversity and
endemism. However, many indigenous groups rely on non-forested disturbed environments for medicinal plants. An ethnobotanical approach
to drug discovery suggests that these disturbed environments may also harbor potentially useful medicinal compounds. Despite the neglect by
current researchers to conduct drug discovery in disturbed environments, many source plants for modern pharmaceuticals thrive in disturbed
areas. An analysis of the 101 plant species from which 119 contemporary pharmaceuticals are derived shows that at least 36 of these plants
are considered weeds (χ2 = 343.34, P < 0.0001). These results are an order of magnitude higher than what would be predicted by random
occurrence of weeds in the modern pharmacopeia. Biochemical evidence based on literature is presented to explain this occurrence. This
finding suggests that disturbed habitats may be important areas to search for novel compounds in drug discovery.
© 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Weeds; Pharmaceuticals; Drug discovery; Medicinal plants

1. Introduction drugs are currently derived is reported here. While pri-

Natural products can be important sources for new phar-
maceuticals (Abelson, 1990). With regards to plants, primary
tropical forest is often considered to be the most promising
habitat for this search due to high biodiversity and endemism
(Gentry, 1993; Macilwain, 1998). Many researchers have
combined this assumption with an ethnobotanical approach
to drug discovery in order to maximize the chance of a
successful drug discovery (cf. Prance et al., 1994). How-
ever, this focus on tropical forests overlooks the fact that
disturbed environments are preferred habitats for medici-
nal plant procurement by many traditional peoples (Kohn,
1992; Voeks, 1996; Frei et al., 2000). For a more com-
plete literature review on this issue see Stepp and Moerman
(2001).
Meanwhile, the role of weeds in the present pharma-
copeia has been overlooked, despite significant evidence that
weeds in particular, are an important source of medicines
for indigenous peoples and have a highly significant over
representation in indigeous pharmacopoeias in relation to
other types of plants (Stepp and Moerman, 2001). The sig-
nificant representation of weeds in the flora from which
E-mail address: stepp@anthro.ufl.edu (J.R. Stepp).
mary tropical forests likely contain many undiscovered
novel compounds that could have medicinal applications,
disturbed habitats may also hold promising leads for drug
discovery. There are also policy implications in these find-
ings related to conservation of medicinal plants utilized in
traditional societies. The undervaluing and even destruction
of weeds could have an impact on availability of certain
medicinal plants. Also, the realization that medicinal plants
are readily available in a “living pharmacy” right outside
the door and along trailsides rather than deep in the forest
could lead governments and NGO’s to encourage and pro-
mote traditional medical practices rather than discourage
them.
Vascular plants continue to play a role both as sources of
current drugs and in drug discovery. In 1991, almost half of
the best selling pharmaceuticals were either natural prod-
ucts or their derivatives (O’Neill and Lewis, 1993). Over
25% of prescriptions filled in the United States in 1973
contained one or more active principles still derived from
higher plants (Farnsworth and Soejarto, 1985). As sources
of new anti-cancer and anti-infective agents, natural prod-
ucts play an even larger role. From 1989 to 1995, over 60%
of approved drugs and pre-NDA candidates in these disease
areas were from natural products (Cragg et al., 1997). While
natural products drug discovery efforts increasingly focus

0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jep.2004.03.002
164 J.R. Stepp / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 92 (2004) 163–166
more on micro-organisms and fungi, research continues
with vascular plants and much of this work is in areas of
high biodiversity and endemism such as the humid tropics
(Rosenthal, 1997).
2. An analysis of weeds in the modern pharmacopeia
An analysis was undertaken to determine the role that
weedy plant species currently play as source plants for
modern pharmaceuticals. A species was considered to be a
weed if it was included in the standard reference for weeds
worldwide, containing over 8000 species based on a global
literature search (Holm et al., 1979). Because it is a global
compendium based on a comprehensive survey of the liter-
ature, Holm et al. (1979) do not offer a singular definition
of weeds. However, they do classify each species as to
whether it is a serious, principal, or common weed; whether
its rank is unknown; and whether a species is present in
the flora but unconfirmed that it behaves as a weed. For
the purpose of this analysis, only weeds that were consid-
ered to be serious, principal, or common are included. A
good general definition of a weed that corresponds to those
species included in this analysis is “a plant . . . if, in any
specified geographical area, its populations grow entirely
or predominantly in situations markedly disturbed by man,
without, of course, being a deliberately cultivated plant
(Baker, 1965).” Weeds are those plants that are successful
in disturbed environments, short-lived, fast-growing and
oftentimes, herbaceous.
Based on a World Health Organization survey (Farnsworth
et al., 1985) and more recent review articles based on
literature searches for drugs of natural plant product ori-
gin (Farnsworth and Soejarto, 1991; Cragg et al., 1997),
there are 121 pharmaceutical compounds used as medicine
worldwide that are derived from plants. Of these, 101 plant
species are the primary sources for 119 of these compounds.
The remaining two compounds (borneol and pinitol) are
regularly obtained from dozens of different species and
were not included in this analysis. Using a conservative es-
timate of 250,000 flowering plants (Heywood, 1993) and an
estimate that 8000 of these plants are weeds (Holm et al.,
1979), one would expect that 3% of these 101 species would
be weeds. However, the actual number is more than an or-
der of magnitude higher. Forty-five of the 101 are noted as
weedy species in Holm et al. (1979), the definitive global
reference guide for weeds. It should be noted that the overall
concept of a “weed” contains a variety of features, not all
present in any one weed. However, if we take the definition
stated above the vast majority of these 45 species fit this
definition.
There are some notable exceptions. For example, Taxus
brevifolia Nutt. is a long-lived understory tree of the Pacific
Northwest. Even so, it shares some traits of a weed, in that it
is aggressive and quickly colonizes a disturbed area. Prior to
the development of paclitaxel (TaxolTM ) it was considered to
Table 1
Weed species as source plants for pharmaceuticals
Weed Not weed Total species
Pharmaceutical source plant 36 65 101
Not pharmaceutical source plant 7964 241935 249899
Total 8000 242000 250000
χ2 = 343.34, P < 0.0001.
be a nuisance species by foresters because of its invasiveness.
Other woody species on the list are Azadirachta indica Juss.,
Erythroxylum coca Lam., Larrea divaricata Cav., and Salix
alba L. Despite their habit as trees or shrubs, these species
are considered invasive enough in certain regions to warrant
their inclusion in the list of world weeds (Holm et al., 1979).
Also, a few of the species on the list are cultivated (Cannabis
sativa L., Gossypium sp., Nicotiana tabacum L., and Thymus
vulgaris L.).
While both woody species and cultivated species may be
considered weeds in the broad sense due to their potentially
invasive nature, they were not considered in this analysis.
With their subtraction, there remains 36 species from which
pharmaceuticals are derived that are considered weeds. A
Chi-square analysis demonstrates that this is highly signifi-
cant (χ2 = 343.34, P < 0.0001). A list of the weedy species
used in the analysis and their derived compounds are pro-
vided in Tables 1 and 2.
3. Biochemical explanations for weeds as medicinals
There is increasing evidence to support the hypothesis
that weeds are relatively high in bioactive secondary com-
pounds and are thus likely to hold promise for drug dis-
covery. Secondary compounds in weeds are important for a
variety of ecological functions. Chief among these are al-
lelopathy, where secondary compounds inhibit germination
and growth of other plants; and, as chemical defense against
herbivory (Harborne, 1993). At least 50 species of weeds
have been shown to interfere with crops through allopathic
secondary compounds (Putnam, 1994). However, because
allelopathy usually occurs through the complex chemical
matrix of the soil it is difficult to conclusively show a causal
relationship (Zimdahl, 1999).
Investigations into plant anti-herbivore defense are per-
haps further developed. The two major anti-herbivory
chemical defense strategies for plants are metabolically
inactive immobile (or quantitative, as defined by Feeny,
1976) defenses such as tannins and lignins that reduce
digestibility; and mobile (or qualitative) defenses such as
alkaloids, cardiac glycosides or terpenoids (Feeny, 1976;
Coley et al., 1985). It is these latter types of compounds that
are the basis for plant-derived pharmaceuticals. Ephemeral,
successional or r-selected species (all common charac-
teristics of weeds) tend to rely on these sorts of toxic
 J.R. Stepp / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 92 (2004) 163–166 165

Table 2 4. Conclusions
Weeds from which pharmaceuticals have been derived
Plant species Drug Ecological data can provide important clues in the search
Adonis vernalis L. Adoniside
for plants with bioactive compounds. The evidence presented
Agrimonia eupatoria L. Agrimophol here suggests that screening of the 8000 plant species con-
Ammi visnaga (L.) Lamk. Khellin sidered to be weeds may yield more medicinal compounds
Anabasis aphylla L. Anabasine when compared to a random screening of flora.
Andrographis paniculata Nees Andrographolide, Some drug discovery programs are screening or plan to
neoandrographolide
Artemisia annua L. Artemisinin
screen secondary growth species. The prematurely termi-
Atropa belladonna L. Atropine nated Maya International Cooperative Biodiversity Group
Berberis vulgaris L. Berberine (ICBG), for example, concentrated almost exclusively on
Brassica nigra (L.) Koch Allyl isothiocynate secondary growth herbaceous species (Berlin et al., 1999).
Cassia senna L. var. senna Sennosides A & B Other ICBG projects that focus on indigenous pharma-
Cassia spp. Danthron
Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don Vinblastine, vincristine
copoeias are also screening plants found in secondary and
Centella asiatica (L.) Asiaticoside disturbed habitats (Lewis et al., 1999; Kingston et al.,
Cissampelos pareira L. Cissampeline 1999).
Colchicum autumnale L. Colchiceine amide, Will new pharmaceuticals be found in weedy floras? The
colchiceine, demecolcine possibility exists that because weeds are so well known, their
Convallaria majalis L. Convallatoxin
Crotalaria spectabilis Roth Monocrotaline
chemistry is also well known and unlikely to yield novel
Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link Sparteine compounds. On the other hand the search for pharmaceuti-
Datura metel L. Scopolamine cals in far off remote jungles may have led to some of the
Digitalis purpurea L. Digitalin, digitoxin, ditalin weedy species being overlooked as a potential source for
Dioscorea spp. Diosgenin novel compounds. Regardless, their current use as sources
Glaucium flavum Crantz Glaucine
Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Glycyrrhizin
of pharmaceuticals has certainly been overlooked and its
Hyoscamus niger L. Hyoscyamine time that the much maligned weeds be given more respect
Lobelia inflata L. Lobeline for their use as phytomedicines.
Mentha spicata L. Menthol
Papaver somniferum L. Codeine, morphine,
papaverine, noscapine
Ricinus communis L. Castor oil
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