ABSTRACT
Many times when reading about medicinal plants, you will encounter terms used to describe or name various chemical families. The purpose of this chapter is to provide you with a brief tour of the common families of chemicals found in plants, with an emphasis on those of medicinal interest. For each family a short background is given, followed by structural examples and any terms commonly used to describe the families. You can use this section in two waysyou can skim it to get a general picture of the variety of chemical families that have been found in medicinal plants, or you can simply refer to it when needed. A few of you might like to read it in detail.
