Abstract:
Modern drug discovery uses HTS (high throughput screening) to screen compound libraries to find hit compounds. However, it is not easy to design an appropriate screening library. All cultures have used plants for their medicinal properties. In New Zealand, there are diverse and unique flora which potentially offers many unique bioactive compounds. In traditional Māori culture, there was a significant usage of native plants for medicinal purposes. To evaluate if the bioactive compounds can act as leads in modern drug discovery and development, we collected 374 molecules existing in New Zealand indigenous plants from the book New Zealand Medicinal Plants. Their physiochemical properties were evaluated with molecular descriptors using the QikProp software. Results show that nearly half of these compounds lie within drug-like chemical space, and 6.7% of the compounds are lead-like (i.e. they are relatively large). This suggests that the bioactive compounds do have a potential to be used in screening campaigns.