Each of these species offers biochemicals that have been tapped to develop important compounds used in the fields of medicine. They are examples of the concept of bioprospecting. In short, bioprospecting is the search for, and commercialization of, new products derived from nature. Let's go over this concept in more detail and explore some examples of how it works. Bioprospecting is about looking for these special plants and animals. Plants, fungi, animals, bacteria and plenty of other organisms may contain chemical compounds that could be of benefit for us. The search is also on for important genes that can be used to our benefit. More recently, bioprospecting has also included research conducted into indigenous knowledge about the use of biological resources. While that is the upside of bioprospecting, everything has its shadow. And bioprospecting's shadow involves a few things. Firstly, it is largely a commercial process. In other words, it's about the search for economically valuable products. Compounds could be found that are of great benefit to a few people, but they may be ignored if they cannot be commercially successful. A timely and comprehensive review of literature on recently isolated endophytes and their metabolites was conducted. Worldwide literature from the last 2 years demonstrating the importance of ethnobotanical knowledge as a useful approach to discover endophytic microbes was documented. The unique Cape Floristic region in South Africa demonstrates the greatest extra-tropical concentration of higher plant species in the world. In this area 8 600 species are available and 68% of them were reported to be endemic