ABSTRACT
Drug discovery and development are time-and resource-consuming processes. Thousands of chemical entities must be evaluated to ˜nd a hit, and nevertheless, the outcome usually remains an unpredictable challenge (Drews 2003). Statistics reveal natural sources as the most promising pool for drug candidates or drug leads (Newman and Cragg 2007). Natural compounds derive from the phenomenon of biodiversity as response to the richness in a variety of organisms in the ecosphere (Hadacek 2002). The evolution of these so-called secondary metabolites has resulted in diverse, more or less complex natural chemicals able to interact with a variety of targets from other organisms and the environment. They can therefore be considered as “privileged structures” (Koch and Waldmann 2004). The biosynthesis and selection of these chemical entities enhance the organisms’ survival and competitiveness (Hadacek 2002; Waterman 1992).
