70th Birthday of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h. c. Adolf Nahrstedt

“Planta Medica weekend 2004”. The deck on the right side shows the submitted manuscripts, that on the left side the edited manuscripts.

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr. h. c. Adolf Nahrstedt, Editor in Chief of Planta Medica from 1993 to 2004, celebrated his 70th birthday on August 9th this year. Professor Nahrstedt studied Pharmacy and Food Chemistry at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and received his PhD degree in 1971 from the same University. After the habilitation in 1976, he was appointed Associate Professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Since 1986 he has been a Full Professor at the University of Muenster, Germany, and Emeritus since 2005. Beyond his activities as academic teacher and researcher, Professor Nahrstedt accepted various appointments within the University administration, as well as duties outside of academia. He served as Vice-Dean and elected Dean of the College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and as a member of the Founding Commission for the Institute of Pharmacy at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He was a long-standing member of the Pharmacopoeia Commission of the German health authorities (BGA and later, BfArM) and a board member of the German Society of Phytotherapy (GPhyt). He is an honorary member of the European Academy of Natural Medicine, a recipient of the Rudolf Fritz Weiss Award of the German Society of Phytotherapy and of the Varro Tyler Award of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP). He holds an honorary doctorate from the Ovidius University in Constanta, Romania, and has been appointed as Guest Professor at the University of Mahasarakham in Thailand and the Sinai University in El Arish, Egypt.

Professor Nahrstedt's research in the earlier years of his scientific career focused on the biochemistry and physiology of secondary metabolites, in particular the role of cyanogenic glycosides in plants and insects. He then shifted his research interests increasingly towards the phytochemistry of traditional herbal drugs and science-based phytotherapy. Professor Nahrstedt is today probably best known for his major contributions on St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.), in particular his studies of the subtle interplay of pharmacologically active compounds with constituents of the extract matrix. He demonstrated that the coeffectors procyanidin B2 and hyperoside improve the biopharmaceutical properties of hypericin, one of the compounds which contribute to the antidepressant activities of St. John's wort. He studied a number of other important medicinal plants such as Piper methysticum, Cimicifuga racemosa, Crataegus species, Harpagophytum procumbens, Hedera helix, Salix species, Cynara scolymus, Zingiber officinale, Aesculus hippocastanum, Hamamelis virginiana, and Chelidonium majus. He published over 200 research and review articles, as well as numerous book chapters. 50 PhD theses and 2 habilitations were carried out under his supervision.

Professor Nahrstedt is an eminent member of the Society of Medicinal Plant and Natural Products Research (GA). He served for many years on the GA Advisory Board where he continuously gave valuable input to the Society. His balanced and thorough opinions on scientific issues in nearly all fields of phytotherapy and phytochemistry were highly respected and appreciated. His most important service to GA, however, has undeniably been his editorial activity for its official journal, Planta Medica. Professor Nahrstedt has been associated with the journal for more than 25 years, first as Co-Editor (1983–1992), later as Editor in Chief (1993–2004), and currently as Senior Editor (2005 – present). In recognition of his outstanding service the GA bestowed him in 2005 with an honorary membership.

It is appropriate to recall here the circumstances under which Adolf Nahrstedt started as Editor in Chief (EiC) of Planta Medica. A change of a journal editor usually implies a change of the editorial office and staff with a period of recruitment and re-training. When Professor Nahrstedt was handed over the reins from his predecessor, the late Professor Ernst Reinhardt, however, there was no editorial office. Professor Nahrstedt's editorial office consisted of his secretary or one of his graduate students who assisted in filing and archiving the manuscripts. Professor Nahrstedt handled the tremendous and ever increasing work load of the EiC during the weekends: Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 7 pm were reserved for Planta Medica, which he tenderly called his “weekend affair”.

Those who had the opportunity to visit Professor Nahrstedt's office, were impressed by a huge organizational board, the centerpiece of his unique system for managing the workflow with the numerous manuscripts: for incoming manuscripts – at that time as a hardcopy in triplicate – a file in form of an index card was opened containing the manuscript number, the title of the manuscript, name of authors, their addresses, as well as the date the manuscript was received. These cards were then filed according to their manuscript number in the organizational board under the category “submitted”. The corresponding author received a postcard containing the confirmation of receipt and the manuscript number. Before distributing manuscripts to the Co-Editors, Professor Nahrstedt brought extreme attention to every single manuscript. The corrections and comments penciled in virtually all submitted papers were witness to his thoroughness and acute sense for scientific accuracy. One manuscript copy remained at the EiC's office while the other two were sent to the Co-Editors who then distributed them to the referees, together with an evaluation sheet supposed to be sent back to the EiC latest after 4 to 6 weeks – which sometimes did not happen. However, Professor Nahrstedt carefully tracked the timelines with the aid of the above mentioned organizational board. Based on the report of the corresponding Co-Editor and the referees' reports he made a decision which was communicated to the authors via postal mail. On the organizational board, the index card then moved from “submitted” to “minor” or “major” improvements or to “reject”. The authors then had 4 to 6 weeks to work on their re-submission. Very rarely a second review cycle was necessary; the EiC finally made the ultimate decision. The acceptance was communicated to the authors on a postcard. Accepted manuscripts were collected by the EiC and sent to the publisher. A few weeks later the publisher would forward the galley proofs to the EiC who then assembled the manuscripts to be published in a particular issue. The entire process from submission to the final acceptance usually took 5 to 6 months, and 4 to 6 months passed before the paper finally was published.

With an increasing number of manuscripts to be processed and rising pressure for timely publication some adjustments were made to maintain the high standards of a modern journal. Thus, Professor Nahrstedt introduced in the mid-1990's the submission of manuscripts on floppy discs. However, submission of three hardcopies remained compulsory. The electronic version allowed the publisher a faster printing process. At the end of the 1990's the communication with the authors shifted from postal mail to e-mail, saving time and costs for all parties involved.

During his tenure as EiC, Professor Nahrstedt edited 97 issues of Planta Medica. He handled a total of 7350 submitted manuscripts, 2629 of which were ultimately published. In addition, a total of 45 invited review articles were published. A special feature of Planta Medica has been (and still is) the cover page which presents for every issue a different medicinal plant. Professor Nahrstedt wrote, and still continues to write, the cover legends which consist of a concise and up-to-date summary of the current knowledge on the plant in question. Up to now, he has prepared over 130 of these cover legends.

During Professor Nahrstedt's tenure as EiC the journal underwent a profound change, from a Europe-centered specialist journal to a truly international, highly regarded interdisciplinary forum for pharmaceutical biologists and other scientists interested in the multifaceted field of natural products. The steady increase of the impact factor from 0.9 (1993) to 2.28 (2002), and of total cites per year from less than 2000 to 4733 are a testimony of this development. No wonder that the rising profile of Planta Medica has attracted, and still attracts, a growing number of manuscript submissions. Without Professor Nahrstedt's personal dedication to the journal and an enormous amount of hard work and time spent such a success story would not have been possible.

At 70 years of age Adolf Nahrstedt remains a superior, quiet personality, and a sharp and critical observer of the medicinal plant scene. He expresses his views and opinions in a carefully balanced way, occasionally with a touch of self-irony. For those who have had the privilege to know him more personally he remains the very much appreciated, sensitive, and interested listener who exudes natural human warmth and cherishes faithful and enduring friendship.

Today we pay tribute to a great natural products scientist, an international leader, and an exceptional man, to his ever-alert mind and unbroken vitality. On behalf of GA and the editors of Planta Medica, we thank Adolf Nahrstedt for his outstanding contribution to furthering our discipline in Europe and in the world, and we wish him all the best on the occasion of his 70th birthday.

Veronika Butterweck and Matthias Hamburger