Dear Colleagues,

For thousands of years, medicinal plants have been used to benefit human health. Currently, they are used as herbal medicines, dietary supplements or tonics, with their application and demand increasing worldwide. However, continued scientific investigation is required to further enhance our understanding of medicinal plants, particularly with regard to their production and efficacy. To date, a large number of phytochemicals have been identified in medicinal plants. These have a wide range of biological activities, including antibacterial, antivirus, and anticancer effects, as well as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. Naturally occurring compounds can exert complicated bioactivities and their efficacy can be difficult to ascertain. Therefore, comprehensive studies on the biosynthesis of phytochemicals and on their biological functions are needed.

This Special Issue aims to publish recent innovative studies on medicinal plants, ranging in scope from bioinformatics, biotechnology, multi-omics, pharmacology, plant biology, systems pharmacology, chromatography techniques and plant secondary metabolites. Also welcome are studies on anti-inflammation, anti-oxidative stress, treatments for cancer and for neurological, liver and cardiovascular diseases, and applications in nanomedicine, nanotechnology and drug delivery systems.

Prof. Dr. Jen-Tsung Chen

Guest Editor