We live in a "Demon-Haunted World". Human health care requires the ever increasing resistance of pathogens to be confronted by a correspondingly fast rate of discovery of novel antibiotics. One of the possible strategies towards this objective involves the rational localization of bioactive phytochemicals. The conceptual basis of the method consists in the surprisingly little known gearings of natural products with morphology, ecology and evolution of their plant source, i. e. an introspection into the general mechanisms of nature.

A análise das características flavonoídicas da ordem Zingiberales (superordem Zingiberiflorae, Monocotyledonae) reforçou a separação das suas famílias em dois grupos: grupo I (Strelitziaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae e Lowiaceae) e grupo II (Zingiberaceae, Costaceae, Marantaceae e Cannaceae). Baseado nos dados químicos e morfológicos sugeriu-se um esquema que caracteriza os diferentes estádios de avanço evolutivo dessas famílias.

The analysis of flavonoids in the order Zingiberales (superorder Zingiberiflorae, Monocotyledonae) reinforced the separation of its families into two groups: group I (Strelitziaceae, Heliconiaceae, Musaceae and Lowiaceae) and group II (Zingiberaceae, Costaceae, Marantaceae and Cannaceae). Chemical and morphological data suggested the relative stages of evolutionary advancement of these families.