Biologically active molecules obtained from plant sources, mostly including secondary metabolites,
have been considered to be of immense value with respect to the treatment of various human
diseases. However, some inevitable limitations associated with these secondary metabolites like high
cytotoxicity, low bioavailability, poor absorption, low abundance, improper metabolism, etc., have
forced the scientific community to explore medicinal plants for alternate biologically active molecules.
In this context, therapeutically active proteins/peptides from medicinal plants have been promoted as a
promising therapeutic intervention for various human diseases. A large number of proteins isolated
from the medicinal plants have been shown to exhibit anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-HIV, anticancerous,
ribosome-inactivating and neuro-modulatory activities. Moreover, with advanced technological
developments in the medicinal plant research, medicinal plant proteins such as Bowman-Birk
protease inhibitor and Mistletoe Lectin-I are presently under clinical trials against prostate cancer, oral
carcinomas and malignant melanoma. Despite these developments and proteins being potential drug
candidates, to date, not a single systematic review article has documented the therapeutical potential of
the available biologically active medicinal plant proteome. The present article was therefore designed
to describe the current status of the therapeutically active medicinal plant proteins/peptides vis-à-vis
their potential as future protein-based drugs for various human diseases. Future insights in this direction
have also been highlighted.
