ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to present the value of certain medicinal plants of the genus Teucrium, used in both traditional and modern medical studies as natural bioactive compounds. It discusses morphological, chemical and medicinal properties, of geographical distribution as well as of ethnobotanical and commercial application of selected species of the genus Teucrium. Analyses of quantitative and qualitative content of flavonoids in greater number of the species of the genus Teucrium have shown that flavonol glycosides are characteristic of this taxon whereas neo-clerodane diterpenes are regarded as taxonomic markers. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of secondary metabolites in watery and alcoholic extract have shown that flavonoids apigenin and luteolin are the most frequently found secondary metabolites in the ground plant parts of Teucrium polium. The extracts of Teucrium fruticans L. species from Spain have antimicrobial and antioxidant effect and may be used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.
