Abstract

AMIDE-CONTAINING SECONDARY METABOLITES FROM MEDICINAL PLANTS: DISTRIBUTION, BIOLOGICAL ROLES, AND DRUG DISCOVERY POTENTIAL

Sushil Eknathrao Jamale*

Abstract

Medicinal plants represent one of the most important sources of structurally diverse bioactive molecules used in modern drug discovery. Among plant secondary metabolites, amidecontaining natural products constitute a chemically versatile and biologically significant class that has received comparatively limited systematic attention. These compounds include phenolic acid amides, alkaloid-derived amides, fattyacid amides, hormone-conjugated amides, and structurally diverse nitrogen-linked derivatives distributed across numerous plant families and associated microorganisms. Increasing phytochemical and pharmacological investigations demonstrate that plant amide metabolites participate in defence signalling, environmental adaptation, and metabolic regulation while also exhibiting diverse therapeutic activities including antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antiparasitic, and metabolic regulatory effects. Recent developments in metabolomics, artificial-intelligence-assisted screening, and multi-omics natural-product discovery platforms have further accelerated the identification of novel amide scaffolds. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the occurrence, biosynthetic relevance, biological functions, and pharmaceutical potential of amide-containing secondary metabolites from medicinal plants.

Keywords: Amide-containing natural products, Medicinal plants, Plant secondary metabolites, Natural-product drug discovery, Bioactive phytochemicals.