Wound healing: Contributions from plant secondary metabolite antioxidants

Plants possess a wide variety of phytochemicals to perform their normal physiological functions and to protect themselves from microbial pathogens and animal herbivores. These phytochemicals are classified either as primary or secondary metabolites. The secondary metabolites have been identified in plants as alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolics, anthraquinones and triterpenes. Although plants synthesise these compounds for their own use, the phytochemicals are believed to have diverse medicinal properties including antioxidant properties. Plants have therefore been a potential source of antioxidants. Antioxidants have received a great deal of attention due to increased oxidative stress that has been identified as a major causative factor in the development and progression of several life-threatening diseases, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases and wound infection. Many medicinal plants, therefore, have been cited and known to have antioxidant properties and healed wounds successfully. Thus, this presentation considers it necessary to highlight on the antioxidant and wound healing properties of some medicinal plants.