Antimalarial agents from plant sources

The success of the antimalarial drug quinine and the discovery of artemisinin, the most potent antimalarial drug, both from plant sources, has led to the study of plants as antimalarial agents. The ethnopharmacological approach for the search of new antimalarial agents from plant sources has proved to be more predictive. This article gives a critical account of crude extracts, essential oils and secondary plant metabolites with diverse chemical structure possessing antimalarial activity against different malarial parasites. The major leads have been highlighted and some reported structure–activity relationships and their possible modes of action discussed.