The Synergy Principle at Work with Plants, Pathogens, Insects, Herbivores, and Humans

L.) .............................................................................................. 489 13.5.14 Goitrogens ....................................................................................................................... 490 13.5.15

Hypericum

....................................................................................................................... 490 13.5.16 Hypertension ................................................................................................................... 492 13.5.17

Melissa

............................................................................................................................. 492 13.5.18 Duke on Dragon’s Blood ................................................................................................ 493 13.5.19 Duke’s Plea for Reason: Malaria, Politics, Economics, and a Simple Plant ................ 494

13.6 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................. 495 References .............................................................................................................................................. 497

Medicinal plants may never be completely understood by analyzing their component parts. Proponents of medicinal plants argue that their properties come from the interactions of multiple constituents (Kliger, 2004; Thoison et al., 2004). These interactions, in the case of medicinal plants, are known to some as

chemical synergy

. In our definition, chemical synergy exists when the action of many chemicals is greater than the arithmetical sum of the actions of individual components. Such concepts are in direct opposition to reductionist science, particularly the principle of

parsimony

, also known as

Ockham’s Razor

, which states that it is futile to do with more, with what can be done with less. Few scientists

realize, however, that this principle is inherited from seventeenth century theology (Hoffman et al., 1997). Moreover, the simple modeling invoked by Ockham’s Razor disallows for more complex models, such as synergy, which may delay the progress of science.