The Science and Health Benefits of Plants: Germination, Defense, and Phytochemicals

Dr. Fathi Neana
Consultant Orthpaedics and Traumatology
Dr. Ayat Neena
Healthcare professional pharmacist
July 13, 2026
In The Plant
Kingdom

Anyone who loves collecting plants will realize that
they are living organisms, but God has endowed
them with the ability to remain in their places and
provided them with numerous means to adapt to
their surrounding environment.
For example, when the light is dim, you'll find that the
leaves are large and tend towards a dark green color
because they contain large numbers of chlorophyll, or
chloroplasts, enabling them to collect as much
available light energy as possible.

What's remarkable is that the growing tip of the plant
always points towards the light source, and over time,
the entire plant tends to grow towards the light.
How do plants, which don't have eyes to see, know
the source of light and move towards it?.
Plants go through multiple stages of activity that vary
throughout the year. There are seasons of rapid
growth, like spring, and others of dormancy, like
winter. Do plants possess a biological clock or a
biological mechanism to recognize the months and
seasons?.

Plants have the ability to repurpose their cells to
regenerate tissues. For example, in propagation by
cuttings, a section of the stem is taken, and roots and
leaves develop. Glory be to God who instilled this
program within them!
If the growing tip is cut, lateral branching is stimulated.
Farmers are aware of this, which is why the methods
they use to prune trees differ. Ornamental plants differ
from fruit trees, and so on.

Farmers observe that after sowing seeds in the
ground, they only germinate if the conditions are
suitable for germination.
How do seeds recognize the environmental
conditions in the surrounding soil?.
This explains why the land has become barren due to
climate change despite abundant rainfall.

A research team at the University of Birmingham in the
UK has discovered that a group of cells within the
seeds of the *Thale cress* plant (scientifically known as
*Arabidopsis thaliana*) possesses the ability to assess
the environmental conditions surrounding the seeds in
the soil in order to decide whether to germinate.
Remarkably, this process is similar to how the human
brain decides whether or not to move!.

Communication between the two groups of cells,
inhibiting and promoting germination, occurs via
hormones, resembling a dialogue or discussion,
ultimately leading to the decisive decision regarding
the initiation of germination.
Although this scientific discovery is revolutionary and
changes our understanding of plants (from brainless
organisms to beings capable of making decisions
based on data), it also promises another revolution in
addressing the anticipated food crisis of the future.

The study, published in early June of this year in the
journal *Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences* (PNAS), reveals that these brain-like cells
are primarily located within the embryonic root of the
seed.
The study divides these cells into two groups:
one that promotes dormancy and prevents
germination, and another that stimulates germination
and plant growth from the seed.

A precise understanding of how seeds germinate will
help in finding ways to increase food yields.
George Basil, the research team leader and a
professor at the School of Biological Sciences at the
University of Birmingham, explains:
"This discovery will help in genetically modifying plant
seeds to synchronize germination and seed growth
simultaneously, leading to increased agricultural
harvests through mechanization, which is one of the
biggest challenges we face due to climate change."

Plants have defense mechanisms.
1- The antioxidants
present in plants, which we benefit from, are
produced within the plant to protect itself as an
immune response when exposed to threats such as
drought, bacteria, and fungi.
Therefore, plants in protected environments on farms
that are regularly sprayed often lack antioxidants
because they are not exposed to external threats.

2- The phytochemicals
plant also produces chemical substances called
phytochemicals.
Phytochemicals can protect against and treat many
diseases even the most serious diseases such as
cancer.
Such as salvestrol and allicin, in addition to vitamins
such as vitamin C and minerals necessary for life.

Phytochemicals are byproducts (other than the food
substances) from which many of the medicines we
use are derived.
These substances have numerous medical uses, such
as aspirin, which is used to relieve pain and fever and
to thin the blood to prevent blood clots.
A countless number of phytochemicals have been
discovered. At least 12,000 of these compounds have
been isolated so far, representing less than 10% of the
total.

Phytochemicals occur naturally in various fruits and
vegetables (the word "phyto" comes from the Greek
for "plant") and are responsible for the color, aroma,
and flavor of plants.
Medical studies show that natural phytochemicals
reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer and stroke.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
recommends consuming fruits and vegetables to
obtain these beneficial substances.

The health benefits of
phytochemicals

The health benefits of phytochemicals come from
several mechanisms:
1- As antioxidants:
They provide protection against oxidants and some
types of cancer.
Examples include allyl sulfides in onions and garlic,
carotenoids in carrots and other fruits, flavonoids in
vegetables and fruits, polyphenols in grapes and tea,
and glutathione in olives.

2- Hormonal effect:
Isoflavones in soy activate estrogen, which protects
against postmenopausal symptoms.
3- Enzyme activation:
Indole, found in cabbage, protects against breast
cancer by inhibiting estrogen production.
Terpenes, which inhibit protease enzymes, are found
in fruits such as citrus and berries.

4- DNA replication inhibitors:
These prevent the proliferation of cancer cells, such as
saponins in grains and capsaicin in chili peppers,
which also activate autophagy.
5- Antibacterial:
Such as allicin in garlic. Please see the articles: Allicin,
that magical substance in garlic, and Onions, that
giant pharmacy.

6- Physical action:
To prevent harmful gases from adhering to cell walls,
such as proanthocyanidins in cranberries, which
maintain the cleanliness of teeth and the urinary tract.
7- Precursors (pro - drug):
This is activated only in the presence of specific
enzymes within cancer cells, transforming into a toxic
substance that destroys them.

Examples of cancer-killing
phytochemicals

First: Salvestrol:
This is a phytochemical, one of the natural
polyphenols, a large group of approximately one
hundred thousand compounds.
Salvestrol compounds (numbering around 50) are
responsible for the bitter taste of some foods, such as
olives, citrus peels like lemons, tangerines, and
oranges, apricot kernels, bitter gourd, and some
plants like chicory and yarrow.

It has recently been discovered that salvestrol is a
precursor to the active drug (pro-drug) meaning it is
ineffective unless it enters a medium containing a
specific enzyme called CYP1B1, which activates it
and transforms it into a toxic substance.
This enzyme (CYP1B1) is found only inside cancer cells
and not in normal cells.
Consequently, its toxic effect is selective, targeting
only cancer cells, unlike conventional chemotherapy,
which also poisons the body's normal cells.

Salvestrol is called a "Trojan horse" for cancer cells
because it enters cells in a harmless, non-toxic form (a
precursor).
Once inside the cell, it reacts with the CYP1B1
enzyme, transforming into an active, toxic substance
that kills the cancer cell, much like smart weapons
that destroy the target without causing collateral
damage to civilians.
This enzyme is not present in non-cancerous cells, so
salvestrol does not cause side effects in normal cells.

Salvestrol is found in the following foods:
1- Cruciferous vegetables Cabbage, broccoli,
cauliflower, radishes, arugula, mustard greens, turnips,
kale, and others. lettuce, artichokes, legumes such as
green beans and peas, red and yellow bell peppers,
avocados, squash, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumbers,
melons, and olives.
2- Fruits such as: all berries, especially red ones
(strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, etc.),
grapes (resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes),
citrus fruits (lemons, pomelos, grapefruits, and oranges),
apples, pears, and pineapples.

3- Medicinal and aromatic plants and well-known
culinary herbs such as: basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary,
sage, and mint.
4- Generally, salvestrol imparts
a bitter taste. The more bitter
the taste, the better, indicating
higher levels of salvestrol. As
they say in the West, the more
bitter the taste, the greater the
benefit.

Second: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid):
Vitamin C is essential in an individual's daily diet and is
found in fruits and vegetables.
Vitamins are not only necessary for strengthening the
immune system but also for improving bodily
functions.
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that promotes
growth and supports the function of the circulatory
system.

It is also beneficial in preventing cancer, reducing the
risk of heart disease, slowing the aging process, aiding
in the absorption of iron and calcium, boosting the
immune system, and reducing stress levels.
Unlike other nutrients, our bodies cannot produce
vitamin C; therefore, the only source is the food we
consume.

Recently, it has begun to attract attention in several
scientific studies as a potential cancer treatment, but
at high doses of 30 to 50 grams per day, administered
intravenously, rather than in the usual doses obtained
through food or even as an oral medication.
The approach is similar to a Trojan horse, where
oxidized vitamin C (lacking an electrons) enters the
cancer cell and then kills it from within.

This is because its molecular structure is identical to
glucose (a monosaccharide).
Vitamin C is (C6 H8 O6), while glucose is (C6 H12 O6).
Both are six-carbon sugars.
But vitamin C contains four fewer hydrogen atoms.
This structural difference gives vitamin C an unstable
ring with an "enediol" group, turning it into a powerful
antioxidant and reducing agent.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid): Structurally a lactone (a
cyclic ester), it is an organic sugar acid derived from
glucose in most animals.
Because it is a sugar derivative, it competes with
glucose to get into cells via glucose transporters
(GLUTs).
At high, pharmacological doses, vitamin C behaves as
a potent pro-oxidant rather than an antioxidant.
It exploits the metabolic differences between normal
and cancer cells, effectively targeting tumors without
harming healthy tissues.

Cancer requires large quantities of glucose, which is
transported by special carriers called GLUT1, 2, 3, and 4.
These carriers can also transport oxidized vitamin C
(dehydroascorbate), meaning there is competition
between glucose and oxidized vitamin C for these
carriers.
If one is deficient, the other will take precedence.

This explains why several studies have observed an
increased incidence of cancer in individuals with
vitamin C deficiency.
Therefore, cancer patients are advised to eliminate
sugars and starches to starve cancer cells by depriving
them of their primary fuel source.
This also allows oxidized vitamin C to enter cancer cells
via GLUT1,1,3,4-carriers, as glucose no longer
competes with it.

Vitamin C destroys cancer cells in several ways,
including:
1- When vitamin C replaces glucose, it deprives cells of
the essential fuel used for energy production through
fermentation in the absence of oxygen, resulting in a
significant decrease in energy production.
2- The oxidized vitamin C act as an oxygen-type free
radical (ROS - H2O2), damaging the cell from within.
Outside the cell, vitamin C acts as a precursor (a
precursor to the active drug) and becomes active
inside the cancer cell.

3- Oxidizing vitamin C reduces iron
(from iron-3 to iron-2), thereby inhibiting enzymes
that depend on the presence of minerals, including
enzymes that cause oxygen deficiency.
These enzymes are secreted by cancer cells (the
preferred environment for cancer to produce energy
is the absence of oxygen).

By inhibiting these enzymes and increasing oxygen
levels, the environment becomes unsuitable for
cancer cell activity and conducive to the function of
the mitochondria, which operate using oxygen
(aerobic respiration).
This leads to changes in the metabolic processes of
cancer cells, damaging them.
4- Vitamin C may help enhance the effectiveness of
anti-cancer drugs.

Foods rich in vitamin C:
Guava. All types of peppers.
Parsley. Kiwi. Broccoli.
Papaya. Strawberries.
Oranges. Lemons.
Cauliflower.
Other foods rich in vitamin C
include: Spinach, carrots,
tomatoes, and mint.

Third: Allicin and Cancer:
The health benefits of garlic, that magical plant.
Garlic is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to
the lily family (Liliaceae).
It is cultivated worldwide. The garlic plant consists of
cloves encased in transparent cellulose leaves that
protect them from drying out.
It contains an organosulfur compound called allicin.

Allicin has a pungent odor that is released when
fresh garlic is crushed or chopped.
This occurs when the enzyme alliinase converts alliin
into allicin.
Allicin was isolated and studied in the laboratory in
1944 by Chester J. Cavaletto, who discovered its
antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Allicin and Cancer:
1- In addition to being a powerful antioxidant that
protects DNA from free radical (oxidant) attack, allicin
has other benefits for cancer prevention and
treatment, and it also has properties that strengthen
the body's immune system.
2- It inhibits and suppresses cancer in humans, thus
slowing tumor growth.

3- It forces cancer cells to self-destruct (apoptosis).
4- It inhibits the proliferation and development of
cancer cells.
5- It activates autophagy mechanisms that kill and
recycle cancer cells.

Plants Can Learn and
Remember Specific Behaviors
Through Conditioning!!

It has been found that plants can learn and
remember specific behaviors through conditioning,
just like in Pavlov's famous dog experiment!.
Dr. Monica Gagliano, a researcher at the University of
Western Australia and editor of "The Language of
Plants," says: "Plants lack a brain or nervous tissue, but
they have a very complex network of signals based
on chemical compounds within their cells, similar to
the memory processes in animals."

When a plant is moved from its native habitat to
another location, it initially experiences shock, just like
other living organisms such as animals and humans.
It then gradually adapts to the new environment
within a few weeks.
Humans are affected when they decide to migrate
and experience life in a foreign land, but over time
they adapt to the new conditions, and their new life
may even become more fulfilling and stable.

Animals also need time to adapt. Those who raise
cats know this well.
When you bring in a new cat, it will explore the place
inch by inch, sniffing around, then settle in one spot
and may disappear before reappearing to resume its
life after learning where everything is in its new home.
Plants are similar because they are living organisms
that are naturally affected by changes in their
location and surrounding conditions.

They are also affected when their roots are
damaged, the soil around them changes, or even
when their watering regime is altered.
When transplanting a plant from one place to
another, it may experience a shock known as
transplant shock.
Therefore, some prefer to buy young seedlings to
make it easier for them to adapt to the new
environmental conditions.

Plants have feelings,
experience pain, and even
reason!

It is remarkable that plants have feelings, experience
pain, and even reason.
After their father passed away and left behind his
garden, which he had meticulously tended, his
children noticed that many of the plants had
deteriorated and died, even though they followed
his exacting methods of caring for them.

Another man, who spent long hours tending to his
plants, noticed that their condition differed when he
arrived at his villa compared to when he left.
It was as if the plants were saddened by his
departure, and he was deeply affected, often with
tears in his eyes.

As for the incident of the palm tree trunk yearning for
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), it is
perhaps one of the most criticized incidents by
skeptics and atheists, who asked: Is it conceivable
that a plant can feel, yearn, and suffer?.
A recent scientific answer from American researchers
confirms that plants possess feelings, experience pain,
and even have reason.
A study titled "Don't Underestimate the 'Minds' of
Plants" confirms that plants do indeed have minds.

Planting and growing plants
are acts of great merit

Plants recognize their Creator and prostrate to God,
as stated in the verse:
"And the stars (Najm - Asteraceae plants) and the
trees prostrate themselves" (Ar-Rahman: 6).
Trees are known to have stems, while "stars" (Najm -
Asteraceae plants) does not refer to the stars in the
sky but rather to plants "without stems" or with very
hidden stems.

Asteraceae plants appear "without stems" or with very
hidden stems, and characterized by the growth of
their leaves in the form of a ground rosette.
It is attached to the soil, and their short flowers spring
directly from the center of the leaves.
Such as the types of flower aster. examples and
related plants, Dandelion, Daisy and Stellaria.

Hence, the reward for watering plants is immense;
indeed, providing water is among the greatest acts of
devotion to God.
As for the virtue of planting and sowing, it is clear from
the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings be upon him): “There is no Muslim who plants a
tree, but that whatever is eaten from it is charity for him,
and whatever is stolen from it is charity for him, and
whatever a wild animal eats from it is charity for him, and
whatever a bird eats from it is charity for him, and no one
takes anything from it except that it is charity for him.”
(Narrated by Muslim).

Finally: What we witness in the actions of some people,
such as cutting down or damaging trees, as well as
some of the behavior of those who frequent parks, is
undoubtedly negative conduct that Islam has
condemned and considered a form of corruption on
earth.
Cutting down trees without necessary reasons
contradicts the purpose of human creation and
stewardship of the earth, which is to cultivate it.
This is why God forbade corruption on earth.

God Almighty says: “And do not cause corruption on
the earth after its reformation. And invoke Him in fear
and hope. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the
doers of good. ”[Surat Al-A'raf: 56].
And in a hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) used to advise his army commanders,
saying: “Go forth in the name of God and in the way
of God against those who disbelieve in God, and do
not betray… Do not cut down palm trees or any other
trees, and do not demolish any buildings.”

If Islam forbids cutting down trees during war, then
caring for and protecting them in ordinary times is
an obligation upon every Muslim, male and
female.
Plants are living beings , like all other living things,
and are not inanimate objects.
And God knows best.

References:
Don't Underestimate the “Minds” of Plants - Scientific American
Do Plants Feel, Suffer, and Think?
Planting Plants and Trees Has Great Reward - Dr. Hassan Tayseer
Shamout - Member of the Jordanian Scholars Association
Watering: Virtues and Methods - Dhafer bin Hassan Al Jabaan -
Islam Way
Plants Suffer... Glory be to God - By Abdul-Daem Al-Kaheel
Phytochemicals
Plant Chemicals - Wikipedia
Phytochemical - Wikipedia
List of Plants Used in Herbal Medicine - Wikipedia

https://www.slideshare.net/fathineana/the-metabolic-approach-
to-cancer-2
Iraq's Grandeur Forums - From the General Medicine and Herbal
Medicine Forum
https://www.f-iraq.com/vb/showthread.php?t=378229
Natural Salvestrol Kills Cancer Cells - Al-Marsal
http://www.alaalsayid.com/index.php?artid=3719
Metabolomic alterations in human cancer cells by vitamin C ...
https://www.slideshare.net/fathineana/the-metabolic-approach-
to-cancer-2

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6384696/
Vitamin C as a Modulator of the Response to Cancer Therapy
Vitamin C and Immune Function - NCBI
Effect of vitamin C on inflammation and metabolic markers in ..
Information from artificial intelligence.

Dr. Fathi Neana - Dr. Ayat Neena
Thank you for
watching

The Science and Health Benefits of Plants: Germination, Defense, and Phytochemicals

The Science and Health Benefits of Plants: Germination, Defense, and Phytochemicals

More Related Content

Similar to The Science and Health Benefits of Plants: Germination, Defense, and Phytochemicals

More from fathi neana

Recently uploaded

The Science and Health Benefits of Plants: Germination, Defense, and Phytochemicals