Alireza Heidari
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8* 
, Abdelkader Zarrouk
9 1 Department of Biology, Spelman College, 350 Spelman Lane Southwest, Atlanta, GA 30314, USA
2 Faculty of Chemistry, California South University, 14731 Comet St. Irvine, CA 92604, USA
3 BioSpectroscopy Core Research Laboratory (BCRL), California South University, 14731 Comet St. Irvine, CA 92604, USA
4 Cancer Research Institute (CRI), California South University, 14731 Comet St. Irvine, CA 92604, USA
5 American International Standards Institute (AISI), Irvine, CA 3800, USA
6 Albert–Ludwigs–Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Baden–Württemberg, Germany
7 Research and Innovation Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), Legnaro, Padua, Italy
8 Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Legnaro, Padua, Italy
9 Laboratory of Molecular Spectroscopy Modelling, Materials, Nanomaterials, Water and Environment (CERNE2D), Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco
Abstract
The discipline of phytomedicine is entering a transformative period—what we might term "Phytomedicine 4.0"—where high throughput omics technologies, nano-enabled delivery systems, and frameworks for green and sustainable chemistry converge together to change the ways in which plant-derived therapeutics are discovered, developed and translated into practice. In this commentary, we outline the current state of the art, highlight major translational and regulatory challenges and propose a research agenda that will further advance the discipline through the mid-2020s and beyond.
Keywords: Omics, Phytochemistry, Phytomedicine, Sustainability, Phytotherapy