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International Journal of Innovative
Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research
www.ijipsr.com
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
1
N.Madana Gopal, 2J.Tejaswini, 3Shubhrajit Mantry*, 4S.Anil Kumar
Kottam Institute of Pharmacy, Mahaboobnagar, Telangana, INDIA
Abstract
Plants have been used in treating human diseases for thousands of years. Medicinal plants are used at
the household level by women taking care of their families, at the village level by medicine men or
tribal shamans, and by the practitioners of classical traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda,
Chinese medicine, or the Japanese Kampo system. According to the World Health Organization, over
80% of the world's population, or 4.3 billion people, rely upon such traditional plant-based systems of
medicine to provide them with primary health care. It is clear that a set of interventions at various
levels could lead to the promotion of the sustainable and equitable development of the sector and help
to avert a crisis. With the tremendous increase in the global use of medicinal plants, several concerns
regarding the safety and quality of herbal medicines have also been observed.hence it has become
necessary to standardize the quality and safety assurance measures so as to ensure supply of
pharmaceutical industry has been focusing on herbal drugs, it is generally belived that standardization
is not required when used by the rural community of their primary health care. Therefore it is a very
important point for clarify the main active ingredients which can be extracted from medicinal plants.
Key words: Medicinal plant, International Standards, WHO.
Corresponding Author:
J.Tejaswini
Department of Pharmacognosy,
Kottam Institute of Pharmacy,
Mahaboobnagar - 509125, Telangana, INDIA
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +91 9581454929
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INTRODUCTION
A medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or more of its organ, contains substance that can be
used for therapeutic purpose or which is a precursor for synthesis of useful drugs. This definition
of Medicinal Plant has been formulated by WHO. Cultivation of medicinal plants especially high
value medicinal plants is creating new dimension in the field of Agriculture. The medicinal plant
industry puts together the various facets of this multidisciplinary industry and its global interest.
The need for developing countries to acquire technologies and techniques for programmed
cultivation of medicinal plant cultivation includes old philosophies, modern impact of traditional
medicines, and methods of assessing the spontaneous, process technologies, phytochemical
research and information sources. India has the oldest, richest and most diverse cultural traditions
in the use of medicinal plants. According to a report by the WHO over 80 percent of the world
population relies on traditional medicine, largely plant base, for primary healthcare. Medicinal
plants are the local heritage with global importance, World is endowed with a rich wealth of
medicinal plants. Herbs have always been the principle form of medicine in India and presently in
they are becoming popular throughout the developed world, as people strive to stay healthy in the
face of chronic stress and pollution, and to treat illness with medicines that work in concert with
the body’s own defense. People in Europe, North America and Australia are consulting trained
herbal professionals and are using the plant medicines. Medicinal plants also play an important
role in the lives of rural people, particularly in the remote parts of developing countries with few
health facilities [1].
The term of medicinal plants include a various types of plants used in herbalism and some of
these plants have a medicinal activities. These medicinal plants consider as a rich resources of
ingredients which can be used in drug development and synthesis. Besides that these plants play a
critical role in the development of human cultures around the whole world [2].
In all countries of the world there exists traditional knowledge related to the health of humans and
animals. The importance of traditional medicine as a source of primary health care was first
officially recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the primary Health Care
Declaration of Alma Ata (1978) and has been globally addressed since 1976 by the Traditional
Medicine Programme of the WHO. That P rogramme defined traditional medicine as: “the sum
total of all the knowledge and practices, whether explicable or not, used in diagnosis, prevention
and elimination of physical, mental or social imbalance and relying exclusively on practical
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experience and obser- vation handed down from generation to generation, whether verbally or in
writing.” [15] Ever since ancient times, in search for rescue for their disease, the people looked
for drugs in nature. The beginnings of the medicinal plants’ use were instinctive, as is the case
with animals. In view of the fact that at the time there was not sufficient information either
concerning the reasons for the illnesses or concerning which plant and how it could be utilized as
a cure, everything was based on experience. In time, the reasons for the usage of specific
medicinal plants for treatment of certain diseases were being discovered; thus, the medicinal
plants’ usage gradually abandoned the empiric framework and became founded on explicatory
facts. Until the advent of iatrochemistry in 16th century, plants had been the source of treatment
and prophylaxis. Nonetheless, the decreasing efficacy of synthetic drugs and the increasing
contraindications of their usage make the usage of natural drugs topical again [16].
Those plants that have healing properties are termed as medicinal plants or herbs. The plant
kingdom is divided into several groups, but the botanical classification is beyond the scope of this
section. However, medicinal plants can be simply classified as trees, shrubs, woody perennials,
annuals and biennials, and climbers. In this page, only the flowering plants are mentioned, with
little or no references to fungi, ferns, mosses and algae. Medical herbalism is the practice of
healing with medicinal plants. Modern western treatment is different from medical herbalism, but
at some point these two merge. The tendency in modern medicine is to use synthetic drugs, that
eventually were modelled on compounds obtained mainly from plants [17].
The drugs are derived either from the whole plant or from different organs, like leaves, stem,
bark, root, flower, seed, etc. Some drugs are prepared from excretory plant product such as gum,
resins and latex. Plants, especially used in Ayurveda can provide biologically active molecules
and lead structures for the development of modified derivatives with enhanced activity and /or
reduced toxicity. Some important chemical intermediates needed for manufacturing the modern
drugs are also obtained from plants (Eg. β-ionone). The small fraction of flowering plants that
have so far been investigated have yielded about 120 therapeutic agents of known structure from
about 90 species of plants. Some of the useful plant drugs include vinblastine, vincristine, taxol,
podophyllotoxin, camptothecin, digitoxigenin, gitoxigenin, digoxigenin, tubocurarine, morphine,
codeine, aspirin, atropine, pilocarpine, capscicine, allicin, curcumin, artemisinin and ephedrine
among others [18].
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MEDICINAL PLANT IN GLOBAL VIEW [7]
Human beings have been utilizing plants for basic preventive and curative health care since time
immemorial. Recent estimates suggest that over 9,000 plants have known medicinal applications
in various cultures and countries, and this is without having conducted comprehensive research
amongst several indigenous and other communities (Farnsworth and Soejarto 1991). Medicinal
plants are used at the household level by women taking care of their families, at the village level
by medicine men or tribal shamans, and by the practitioners of classical traditional systems of
medicine such as Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, or the Japanese Kampo system. According to the
World Health Organization, over 80% of the world's population, or 4.3 billion people, rely upon
such traditional plant-based systems of medicine to provide them with primary health care.
Allopathic medicine too owes a tremendous debt to medicinal plants: one in four prescriptions
filled in a country like the United States are either a synthesized form of or derived from plant
materials (Srivastava, et. al. 1995). Even from the earliest trade data available, it is clear that the
global market for medicinal plants has always been very large. According to the International
Trade Centre, as far back as 1967, the total value of imports of starting materials of plant origin
for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry was of the order of USD 52.9 million. From this
amount, the total values grew to USD 71.2 million in 1971, and then showed a steady annual
growth rate of approximately 5-7% through to the mid-i 980s (Atisso 1983). To give an example
of the extent of trade volumes even at that time, according to one report commissioned by the
World Wide Fund for Nature, the total import in 1980 of vegetable materials used in pharmacy"
by the European Economic Community was 80,738 tons (Lewington 1992). India was the largest
supplier by far, with 10,055 tons of plants and 14 tons of vegetable alkaloids and their derivatives.
However, it is only during the last decade that the real significance of the medicinal plants sector
has begun to be realized. Interest in natural materials by the dominant economic powers had
waned from the late 1 960s to the early 1 980s as new possibilities in biotechnology and the
synthesization of drugs beckoned. But by the mid-i 980s, there was a renewed interest in natural
materials and approaches to health care, coupled with a recognition that technology alone could
not solve the pressing health care needs of the world's population (Tempesta and King 1994). This
new drive for natural and plant-based medicines made itself felt in the market from the mid-i 980s
onwards. As Table 1.1 illustrates, growth in the market in various regions is now on average 3 to
4 times the average growth rates of the national economies in the same regions. Some of these
phenomenal rates, in some cases nearly 20%, imply that the market is now doubling in size every
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4-5 years. The participation of various companies in the market also attests to its new strength and
importance. By 1990, some 223 major companies worldwide (of which about half were in the
United States) were reportedly screening plants for new leads; the figure had been zero in 1980.
Table 1: Natural Medicines Market: Regional Growth Rates 1991-98 (in %)
REGION
EU
REST OF EUROPE
SE ASIA
JAPAN
SOUTH ASIA
1991-1992
5
8
12
15
15
1993-1998
8
12
12
15
15
HISTORY OF MEDICINAL PLANT [4]
Plants have been used in treating human diseases for thousands of years. Some 60,000 years ago,
it appears that Neanderthal man valued herbs as medicinal agents; this conclusion is based on a
grave in Iran in which pollen grains of eight medicinal plants were found (Solecki and Shanidar
1975). One of these allegedly ancient medicinal herbs, yarrow, is discussed in this work as a
modern medicinal plant. Since prehistoric times, shamans or medicine men and women of Eurasia
and the Americas acquired a tremendous knowledge of medicinal plants. All of the native plant
species discussed in detail in this work was used by native people in traditional medicine. The fact
that hundreds of additional species were also used by First Nations Canadians (Arnason et al.
1981) suggests that many of these also have important pharmacological constituents that could be
valuable in modern medicine. Up until the 18th century, the professions of doctor and botanist
were closely linked. Indeed, the first modern botanic gardens, which were founded in 16th century
Italy, in Pisa, Padova and Florence, were medicinal plant gardens attached to medical faculties or
schools. The use of medicinal plants is not just a custom of the distant past. Perhaps 90% of the
world's population still relies completely on raw herbs and unrefined extracts as medicines (Duke
1985). A 1997 survey showed that 23% of Canadians have used herbal medicines. In addition, as
much as 25% of modern pharmaceutical drugs contain plant ingredients (Duke 1993).
Pharmaceutical compounds from plants
Modern pharmacology, however, relies on refined chemicals - either obtained from plants, or
synthesized. The first pure medicinal substance derived from plants was morphine, extracted from
the opium poppy at the turn of the 19th century. Often, chemicals extracted from plants are altered
to produce drugs. For example, diosgenin is obtained from various yam (Dioscorea) species of
South America, and is converted to progesterone, the basis of the oral contraceptive pill. AspirinAvailable online: www.ijipsr.com
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like chemicals were once obtained from willows (Salix species) and European meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria), but aspirin is now synthesized in the laboratory. Numerous medicines in
use today are extracted from plants. About 50 to 60% of pharmaceutical drugs are either of
natural origin or obtained through use of natural products as starting points in their synthesis
(Verlet 1990, Balandrin et al. 1993). The commercial value of biologically active compounds
from plant sources has been estimated to approach $30 billion annually worldwide (Deans and
Svoboda 1990). Higher plants have given rise to about 120 commercial drugs and 10-25% of all
prescription drugs contain at least one active compound from a higher plant (Duke 1993, Cox and
Balick 1994). The tradition for developing plant-based drugs in modern Western medicine is
largely based on a paradigm (model) that there is a single active ingredient in medicinal plants, or
at least a primary chemical, that is responsible for the medical effectiveness. However, it may be
that many preparations used in traditional herbal medicine are effective because of synergistic
(interactive) therapeutic effects of several ingredients. Certainly many traditional herbal drug
preparations are compounded from several plants. Such drug mixtures are not of interest to
pharmaceutical firms, because they generally cannot be patented (although under some conditions
natural products can secure patent protection). On the other hand, as a visit to a pharmacy or
"health-food" store quickly reveals, numerous companies are marketing plant mixtures as "dietary
supplements," which are in fact being utilized as non-prescription drugs, although there is
generally limited or no modern research proof of effectiveness. Since the private sector has
limited interest in this issue, there is a clear need for public supported (government) research.
Fig.1- Plants being used by various systems of medicines
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The oldest written evidence of medicinal plants’ usage for preparation of drugs has been found on
a Sumerian clay slab from Nagpur, approximately 5000 years old. It comprised 12 recipes for
drug preparation referring to over 250 various plants, some of them alkaloid such as poppy,
henbane, and mandrake.
The Chinese book on roots and grasses “Pen T’Sao,” written by Emperor Shen Nung circa 2500
BC, treats 365 drugs (dried parts of medicinal plants), many of which are used even nowadays
such as the following: Rhei rhisoma, camphor, Theae folium, Podophyllum, the great yellow
gentian, ginseng, jimson weed, cinnamon bark, and ephedra.
In Homer's epics The Iliad and The Odysseys, created circa 800 BC, 63 plant species from the
Minoan, Mycenaean, and Egyptian Assyrian pharmacotherapy were referred to. Some of them
were given the names after mythological characters from these epics; for instance, Elecampane
(Inula helenium L. Asteraceae) was named in honor of Elena, who was the centre of the Trojan
War. As regards the plants from the genus Artemisia, which were believed to restore strength and
protect health, their name was derived from the Greek word artemis, meaning “healthy.”
Theophrast founded botanical science with his books “De Causis Plantarium”— Plant Etiology
and “De Historia Plantarium”—Plant History. In the books, he generated a classification of more
than 500 medicinal plants known at the time.
In ancient history, the most prominent writer on plant drugs was Dioscorides, “the father of
pharmacognosy,” who, as a military physician and pharmacognosist of Nero's Army, studied
medicinal plants wherever he travelled with the Roman Army.
The Arabs introduced numerous new plants in pharmacotherapy, mostly from India, a country
they used to have trade relations with, whereas the majority of the plants were with real medicinal
value, and they have persisted in all pharmacopoeias in the world till today. The Arabs used aloe,
deadly nightshade, henbane, coffee, ginger, strychnos, saffron, curcuma, pepper, cinnamon,
rheum, senna, and so forth. Certain drugs with strong action were replaced by drugs with mild
action, for instance, Sennae folium was used as a mild laxative, compared to the purgatives
Heleborus odorus and Euphorbium used until then.
On account of chemical, physiological, and clinical studies, numerous forgotten plants and drugs
obtained thereof were restored to pharmacy: Aconitum, Punica granatum, Hyosciamus,
Stramonium, Secale cornutum, Filix mas, Opium, Styrax, Colchicum, Ricinus, and so forth. The
active components of medicinal plants are a product of the natural, most seamless laboratory.
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In the major European producer and consumer of herbal preparations—Germany, rational
phytotherapy is employed, based on applications of preparations whose efficiency depends on the
applied dose and identified active components, and their efficiency has been corroborated by
experimental and clinical tests [16].
CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS [5]
Of the 2,50,000 higher plant species on earth, more than 80,000 species are reported to have at
least some medicinal value and around 5000 species have specific therapeutic value. They are
classified according to the part used, habit, habitat, therapeutic value etc,besides the usual
botanical classification.
1. Based on part used
i) Whole plant: Boerhaavia diffusa, Phyllanthus neruri
ii) Root: Dasamula
iii) Stem:Tinospora cordifolia, Acorus calamus
iv) Bark: Saraca asoca
v) Leaf: Indigofera tinctoria, Lawsonia inermis, Aloe vera
vi) Flower:Biophytum sensityvum, Mimusops elenji
vii) Fruit: Solanum species
viii) Seed: Datura stramonium
2. Based on habit
i) Grasses: Cynodon dactylon
ii) Sedges: Cyperus rotundus
iii) Herbs : Vernonia cineria
iv) Shrubs: Solanum species
v) Climbers: Asparagus racemosus
vi) Trees: Azadirachta indica
3. Based on habitat
i) Tropical: Andrographis paniculata
ii) Sub-tropical: Mentha arvensis
iii) Temperate: Atropa belladona
4. Based on therapeutic value
Antimalarial : Cinchona officinalis, Artemisia annua
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Anticancer : Catharanthus roseus, Taxus baccata
Antiulcer : Azadirachta indica, Glycyrrhiza glabra
Antidiabetic : Catharanthus roseus, Momordica charantia
Anticholesterol : Allium sativum
Antiinflammatory : Curcuma domestica, Desmodium gangeticum
Antiviral : Acacia catechu
Antibacterial : Plumbago indica
Antifungal : Allium sativum
Antiprotozoal : Ailanthus sp., Cephaelis ipecacuanha
Antidiarrhoeal : Psidium gujava, Curcuma domestica
Hypotensive : Coleus forskohlii, Alium sativum
Tranquilizing : Rauvolfia serpentina
Anaesthetic : Erythroxylum coca
Spasmolytic : Atropa belladona, Hyoscyamus niger
Diuretic : Phyllanthus niruri, Centella asiatica
Astringent : Piper betle, Abrus precatorius
Anthelmentic : Quisqualis indica, Punica granatum
Cardiotonic : Digitalis sp., Thevetia sp.
Antiallergic : Nandina domestica, Scutellaria baicalensis
Hepatoprotective : Silybum marianum, Andrographis paniculata
5. Based on Ayurvedic formulations in which used
a) The ten roots of the Dasamoola (Dasamoolam)
i) Desmodium gangeticum (Orila)
ii) Uraria lagopoides (Cheria orila)
iii) Solanum jacquinii (Kantakari)
iv) Solanum indicum (Cheruchunda)
v) Tribulus terrestris (Njerinjil)
vi) Aegle marmelos (Koovalam)
vii) Oroxylum indicum (Palakapayyani)
viii) Gmelina arborea (Kumizhu)
ix) Steriospermum suaveolens (Pathiri)
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x) Premna spinosus (Munja)
b) The ten flowers of the Dasapushpa (Dasapushpam)
i) Biophytum sensitivum (Mukkutti)
ii) Ipomea maxima (Thiruthali)
iii) Eclipta prostrata (Kayyuniam)
iv) Vernonia cineria (Poovamkurunnil)
v) Evolvulus alsinoides (Vishnukranthi)
vi) Cynodon dactylon (Karuka)
vii) Emelia sonchifolia (Muyalcheviyan)
viii) Curculigo orchioides (Nilappana)
ix) Cardiospermum halicacabum (Uzhinja)
x) Aerva lanata (Cherula)
c) The four trees of the Nalpamara (Nalpamaram)
i) Ficus racemosa (Athi)
ii) Ficus microcarpa (Ithi)
iii) Ficus relegiosa (Arayal)
iv) Ficus benghalensis (Peral)
d) The three fruits of the Triphala (Thriphalam)
i) Phyllanthus emblica (Nellikka)
ii) Terminalia bellerica (Thannikka)
iii) Terminalia chebula (Kadukka)
CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS [5]
Most of medicinal plants, even today, are collected from wild. The continued commercial
exploitation of these plants has resulted in receding the population of many species in their natural
habitat. Vacuum is likely to occur in the supply of raw plant materials that are used extensively by
the pharmaceutical industry as well as the traditional practitioners. Consequently, cultivation of
these plants is urgently needed to ensure their availability to the industry as well as to people
associated with traditional system of medicine. If timely steps are not taken for their conservation,
cultivation and masspropagation, they may be lost from the natural vegetation for ever. In situ
conservation of these resources alone cannot meet the ever increasing demand of pharmaceutical
industry. It is, therefore, inevitable to develop cultural practices and propagate these plants in
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suitable agroclimatic regions. Commercial cultivation will put a check on the continued
exploitation from wild sources and serve as an effective means to conserve the rare floristic
wealth and genetic diversity. It is necessary to initiate systematic cultivation of medicinal plants
in order to conserve biodiversity and protect endangered species. In the pharmaceutical industry,
where the active medicinal principle cannot be synthesised economically, the product must be
obtained from the cultivation of plants. Systematic conservation and large scale cultivation of the
concerned medicinal plants are thus of great importance. Efforts are also required to suggest
appropriate cropping patterns for the incorporation of these plants into the conventional
agricultural and forestry cropping systems. Cultivation of this type of plants could only be
promoted if there is a continuous demand for the raw materials. There are at least 35 major
medicinal plants that can be cultivated in India and have established demand for their raw
material or active principles in the international trade (table). It is also necessary to develop
genetically superior planting material for assured uniformity and desired quality and resort to
organised cultivation to ensure the supply of raw material at growers end. Hence, small scale
processing units too have to be established in order that the farmer is assured of the sale of raw
material. Thus, cultivation and processing should go hand in hand in rural areas.
STANDARDIZATION OF MEDICIANL PLANT [6]
In olden times, vaidyas used to treat patients on material on individual basis, and prepare drug
according to the requirement of the patient. In almost all the traditional system of medicine, the
quality control aspect has been considered from its inspection of itself Rishis, Viadyas and
Hakims. Unlike in olden times where traditional practitioners prepared and tested the qualities of
herbal medicines, the problem faced today are these of economics of industrial scale production,
shelf life and distribution to long distance. These have necessiated develoment of modern and
objective standards for evaluating the safety, quality and efficacy of these medicines. People are
also becoming aware of the potency and side effect. To again public trust and to bring herbal
product into mainstream of today health care system, the researchers, the manufacturer and the
regulatory agencies mustapply rigorous scientific methodologies to ensure the quality and Lot-toloy consisency of the traditional herbal product. It is cardinal responsibility of the regulatory
authorities to ensure that the consumer get the medication, which guarantee purity, safety,
potency and efficacy. Herbal product has been enjoying among the Custers throughout the world.
However, one of the customers throughout the world. The task of lying down standards for
quality control of herbal crude and their formulation involes biological evaluation for a particluar
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disease area, chemical profiling of the material and lying down specification for the
finishedproduct, the word “STANDARDIZATION” should encompass entire field of the study
from cultivation of medicinal plant to its clinical application. To ensure safety and quality of the
medicinal plant it is necessary to focus on all aspects of medicinal plant research from entho –
pharmacology, utilization, isolation. Quality contorl of the medicinal plant starts right at the
source of the plant material. The phytochemical composition of the plant material and the reulting
quality can vary due to several factors inclusing a number of environmental factors such as
geogrsphical location, soil quality, temperature and rainfall etc. taxonomy, the time of collection ,
method of collection, cultivation, harvesting, drying and storage condition, preparation and
processing method can also affect composition.. Contamination by microbes, chemical agents
such as pesticides and heavy metals as well as by insects and animal during any of these stages
can also lead to poor quality of the finished products. Standardization of all these factors is
necessary to meet the current standards of quality, safety and efiicacy.
Current Regulations for Standardization of Crude [6]
Internationally several pharmacopoeias have provided monographs stating parameter and standard
of many nerbs and some product out of these herbs. Several Pharmacopoeias like:
 Pharmacopoeia Committee
 Chinese Herbal Pharmacopoeia
 Uniterd States herbal Pharmacopoeia
 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia
 British Herbal Compendium
 Japanese Standrds for Herbal Medicines
 The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India (API)
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINAL PLANT [7]
In order to understand the extent to which medicinal plants are used at the local community level,
a useful istinction can be employed related to the type of medicinal practice. Allopathic, generally
understood as modern medicine and based predominantly on ther principles of Western postEnlightenment Science which has dominated the last three centuries. Classical traditional,
referring to the documented and standardized great tradition systems of medicines including
Ayurveda,siddhaUnaniAmchi and Homeopathy with different epistemological bases to that of
Western Science. Since the therapeutical practices based almost entirely on the use of traditional
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herbal remedies are prescribed by traditional medical practitioners, who are respected members of
the community the government has responsibilities to formulate national policies that encourage
the national use of herbal medicine and to promote their safety and quality. Traditional uses of
medicinal plants may also decline due to increasing commercialization of the medicinal plant
sector and diversion of raw materials for sale in markets. One study conducted in Arunchal
Pradesh examined the use of Mishitita, a better root that is found at attitudes of between 2000
meters and 3000 meters in the districts of Dibang and Lohit. Over the last decade, local people
have been selling the species for a very remunerative price of Rs.1000 per kilogram locally, after
which it is exported via Calcutta to Japan and Switzerland.
Table 2: Number and types of ailments treated by traditional system of medicine in India
Traditional
Mothers and house wife
Carrier Subjects
Home remedies
Number
Millons
Traditional birth Attendants
Normal deliveries
700,000
Herbal Healers
Common ailments
300,000
Bone Setters
orthopaedics
60,000
VishaVaidhyas
Natural Poisons
60,000
This review is a map exercise to identify what, how, where,why and when of medicinal plants
development in India, in order to supply a comprehensive understanding and overall picture to
researchers, NGOs, health care workers, private companies, conservation and developmental
agencies, policy makers and other interested stakeholders.
It is intended to provide a frameworks and knowledge base and an initial way forward, for those
interested in India exploit her comparative advantage in the global market. In most cases, little
information in included regarding the number of people knowledge about the practice, in the
demographic make-up of both the practitioners and the use of the medicines.The logic of the
practice as understood by the practitioners themselves, as well as important associated rituals
apart from drug administration, for example methods of collecting and processing, are also rarely
reported.
However most studies relating to folk and tribal medicine have concentrated more on the practice
themselves, in isolation from the social and economic context in which they occur. Manuals and
publications of ethanobotanical studies tend to be primarily lists of plants with brief descriptions
of their methods of use.
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Characteristics of Medicinal Plants [2]
Medicinal plants have many characteristics when used as a treatment, as follow:
 Synergic medicine- The ingredients of plants all interacts imultaneously, so their uses can
complement or damage others or neutralize their possible negative effects.
 Support of official medicine- In the treatment of complex cases like cancer diseases the
components of the plants proved to be very effective.
 Preventive medicine- It has been proven that the component of the plants also characterize
by their ability to prevent the appearance of some diseases. This will help to reduce the
use of the chemical remedies which will be used when the disease is already present i.e.,
reduce the side effect of synthetic treatment.
DEVELOPING A STRATEGY OF MEDICINAL PLANT [8]
A national strategy is also a good way to secure the involvement and continued participation of
the different disciplines involved. One of the remarkable features of the Chiang Mai meeting was
the synergy and complementarily of efforts that emerged from the various disciplines present. For
example, conservationists learned about how health workers actually used medicinal plants;
health policy-makers learned about the efforts of conservationists in maintaining areas of natural
vegetation the ultimate source of their medicinal plants. This synergy was not only very
stimulating for the participants, but it also proved very productive and rewarding for the results of
the meeting.
Table 3: The experts most needed for a programme of conservation and sustainable
utilzation of medicinal plants
Agronomists
Conservation Campaigners
Ecologists
Enthbotanists
Health Policy-maker
Horticulturists
Legal Experts
Park Managers
Park Planners
Pharmacogenosists
Plant Breeders
To improve techniques for cultivating medical plant
To persuade the public of the need to conserve medicinal plants
To understand the ecosystems in which medicinal plant grow
To identify the use of plants as medicines in traditional societies
To include conservation and utilization of medicinal plants in their
policy and planning
To cultivate medicinal plants
To develo effective legal mechanism that ensure that collection of
medicinal plants is at levels that are sustainable
To conserve medicinal plants within their park and reserves
To ensure the park and reserve system contain the maximum
diversity of medicinal plants
To study the application of medicinal plants
To breed improved strains of medicinal plants for cultivation
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Plant Genetic Resource
Specialists
Plant Pathologists
Religious Leader
Resource Economists
Seed Biologists
Taxonomists
Traditional Health
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To assess and map the genetic variation in medicinal plants and
maintain seed banks of medicinal plants
To protect the cultivated medicinal plant from pests and diseases
without using dangerous chemicals
To promote a respect for nature
To evaluate the patterns of used and the economics value of
medicinal plants
To understand the germination and storage requirement of the seed
different medicinal plants
To identify the medicinal plant accurately
To provide information on the use and availability of medicinal
plants
Fig.2: Exporting – Importing Countries of Medicinal Plant
Distribution of Medicinal Plants [9]
Macro analysis of the distribution of medicinal plants show that they are distributed across
diverse habitats and landscape elements. Around 70% of India's medicinal plants are found in
tropical areas mostly in the various forest types spread across the Western and Eastern ghats, the
Vindhyas, Chotta Nagpur plateau, Aravalis & Himalayas. Although less the 30% of the medicinal
plants are found in the temperate and alpine areas and higher altitudes they include species of high
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medicinal value. Macro studies show that a larger percentage of the known medicinal plant occur
in the dry and most deciduous vegetation as comparted to the vergreen or temperate habitats.
Analysis of habits of medicinal plants indicate that they are distributed cross various habitats.
One third are trees and an equal portion shrubs and the remaining one third herbs, grasses and
climbers. A very small proportion of the meidicinal plants are lower plants like lichens, fern
algae, etc. Majority of the medicinal plants are higher flowering plants.
.
Fig.3: Distribution of Medicinal Plants by habits
About 90% of medicinal plant used by the industries are collected from the wild. While over 800
species are used in production by industry, less than 20 species of plants are under commercial
cultivation. Over 70% of the plant collections involve destructive harvesting because of the use of
parts like roots, bark, wood, stem and the whole plant in case of herbs (See figure 3). This poses a
definite threat to the genetic stocks and to the diversity of
medicinal plants if biodiversity is not sustainably used.
Fig.4 - Break up of medicinal plant by their parts utilised
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The medicines for internal use prepared in the traditional manner involve simple methods such as
hot- or cold-water extraction, expression of juice after crushing, powdering of dried material,
formulation of power into pastes via such a vehicle as water, oil or honey, andeven fermentation
after adding a sugar source. The range of products that could be obtained from medicinal plants is
given in Figure-5.
Fig.5 - Industrial uses of medicinal plants
MEDICINAL PLANTS: CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT [9]
Medicinal plants continue to be an important therapeutic aid for alleviating ailments of
humankind. Search for eternal health and longevity and to seek remedy to relieve pain and
discomfort prompted the early man to explore his immediate natural surrounding and tried many
plants, animal products and minerals and developed a variety of therapeutic agents. Over millenia
that followed the effective agents amongst them were selected by the process of trial, error,
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empirical reasoning and even by experimentation. These efforts have gone in history by the name
discovery of 'medicine'. In many eastern cultures such as those of India, China and the
Arab/Persian world this experience was systematically recorded and incorporated into regular
system of medicine that refined and developed and became a part of the Materia Medica of these
countries. The ancient civilization of India, China, Greece, Arab and other countries of the world
developed their systems of medicine independent of each other but all of them were
predominantly plant based. But the theoretical foundation and the insights and indepth
understanding on the practice of medicine that we find in Ayurveda is much superior among
organized ancient systems of medicine. From history we learn that in the ancient times India was
known as a place of rich natural resources, knowledge, wisdom and scholarship. People from
other countries of the world as China, Cambodia, Indonesia and Baghdad used to come to the
ancient universities of India like Takshila (700 BC) and Nalanda (500 BC) to learn health
sciences of India, particularly 'Ayurveda'. It is perhaps the oldest (6000 BC) among the organized
traditional medicine. It has gone through several stages of development in its long history. It
spread with Vedic, Hindu and the Buddhist cultures and reached as far as Indonesia in the east
and to the west it influenced the ancient Greek who developed a similar form of medicine.
All Systems of Medicine in India functions through two streams.
Social streams: Folk Stream: Comprising mostly the oral traditions practiced by the rural
villages. The carriers of these traditions are millions of housewives, thousands of traditional birth
attendants, bone setters, village practitioners skilled in accupressure, eye treatments, treatment of
snake bites and the traditional village physicians/herbal healers, the vaidyas' or the tribal
physicians. This stream of inherited traditions is together known as Local Health Traditions
(LHT). LHT represent an autonomous community supported health management system which
efficiently and effectively manages the primary health care of the Indian rural mass. LHT is still
alive and runs parallel to the state supported modern health care system; but its full potential is
still not fully utilized and also that the great service it is rendering to the rural people go largely
unnoticed because of the dominant western medicine.
Classical stream: At the second level of traditional health care system are the scientific or
classical systems of medicine. This comprises of the codified and organized medicinal wisdom
with sophisticated theoretical foundations and philosophical explanations expressed in classical
texts like xCharka Samhita', 'Sushruta samhita', 'Bhela samhita', and hundreds of other treatises
including some in the regional languages covering treaties of all branches of medicine and
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surgery. Systems like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Amchi and Tibetan, etc. are expressions of the
same. Ayurveda was taught in the ancient universities in India and evolved, developed and
flourished mostly among the urban centres and thus used to be a refined system of medicine.
Revival of Traditional Medicine
Today we find a renewed interest in traditional medicine. During the past decade there has been
an ever increasing demand especially from developed countries for more and more drugs from
plant sources. This revival of interest in plant derived drugs is mainly due to the current
widespread belief that green medicine' is safe and more dependable than the costly synthetic drug
many of which have adverse side effects. This resurgence of interest in the plant based drugs have
necessitated an increased demand of medicinal plants leading to overexploitation, unsustainable
harvesting and finally to the virtual decimation of several valuable plant species in the wild.
Moreover, the habitat degradation due to increased human activities (human settlements,
agriculture and other developmental programmes), illegal trade in rare and endangered medicinal
plants, and loss of regeneration potential of the degraded forests have further accelerated the
current rate of extinction of plants particularly the medicinal plants.
Medicinal Plants Wealth of India
India is rich in medicinal plant diversity. All known types of agroclimatic, ecologic and edaphis
conditions are met within India. The biogeographic position of India is so unique that all known
types of ecosystems ranging from coldest place like the Nubra Valley with - 57° C, dry cold
deserts of Ladakh, temperate and Alpine and subtropical regions of the North-West and transHimalayas, rain forests with the world's highest rainfall in Cheerapunji in Meghalaya, wet
evergreen humid tropics of Western Ghats, arid and semi-arid conditions of Peninsular India, dry
desert conditions of Rajasthan and Gujarat to the tidal mangroves of the Sunderban. India is rich
in all the three levels of biodiversity-such as species diversity, genetic diversity and habitat
diversity. There are about 426 biomes representing different habitat diversity that gave rise to one
of the richest centres in the world for plant genetic resources. The total number of flowering plant
species although only 17,000, the intraspecific variability found in them make it one of the
highest in the world. Out of 17,000 plants, the classic systems of medicines like Ayurveda, Siddha
and Unani make use of only about 2000 plants in various formulations. The classical traditions
were prevalent in the past particularly in the urban elite society. The rural people who constitute
70 to 75% of the Indian populations live in about 5,76,000 villages located in different
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agroclimatic conditions. The village people have their own diverse systems of health
management. While most of the common ailments were managed in the house by home remedies
which included many species and condiments like pepper, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cumins,
tamarind, fenagree, tulsi, etc., more complicated cases were attended by the traditional physicians
who use a large number of plants from the ambient vegetations and some products of animal or
mineral origin to deal with the local diseases and ailments. These are indeed community managed
systems independent of official or government system and are generally known as Local health
Tradition (LHT). The traditional village physicians of India are using about 4500 to 5000 species
of plants for medicinal purpose. There is however no systematic, inventory and documentation
about the folk remedies of India. There is urgent need to document this fast disappearing precious
knowledge system. The oral traditions of the villagers use about 5000 plant for medicinal
purposes. India is also inhabited by a large number of tribal communities who also posses a
precious and unique knowledge about the use of wild plants for treating human ailments. A
survey conducted by the All India Coordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology (AICRPE)
during the last decade recorded over 8000 species of wild plants used by the tribals and other
traditional communities in India for treating various health problems. Some interesting
observations made in the study is the use of the same species found in different regions for the
same ailments while some other species are used differentially.
Schemes of Ministry of Environment & Forests under Implementation-On-Going Schemes
National Parks and Sanctuaries
The National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries are protected areas encompassing the Biological
Diversity in its pristine condition. At present there are 87 National Parks and 447 Wildlife
Sanctuaries extending over an area of about 1.5 lakh sq. Km, which is more than 4.5% of the
genographical area of the country. The National Parks stretch over 34,819 Sq. Km while the
Sanctuaries cover an area of 1,15,903 Sq. Km. A centrally sponsored scheme for the development
of National Parks and Sanctuaries is in operation since VI Plan period. The main objective of the
scheme is to support protection and conservation measures in these areas with a view to mitigate
any adverse impact of biotic pressure and allowing the areas to rejuvenate through habitat
manipulation and infrastructure development. During the VIII Plan Rs. 49.5 crores have been
spent under this scheme and for IX Plan the outlay is Rs. 110 crores. Assistance is also provided
for eco-development programmes around National Parks and Sanctuaries in order to achieve a
ecologically sustainable economic development.These protected areas harbour large varieties of
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medicinal plants. In-situ conservation programmes for medicinal plants in the National Parks and
Sanctuaries could be taken up through Chief Wild Life Wardens. The programme needs to be in
consonance with the objectives of the national parks and Sanctuaries.
Ethnobiological Studies
An All India Coordinated Research Project of Ethnobiology (AICRPE) under the Man and
Biosphere was funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The programme was executed
by Tropical Botanical Garden Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram and in association with
other institutions such as Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, Ethnobiology and
Plant Systematic Laboratory, Garhwal, Botanical Survey of India, International Institute of
Ayurveda, Coimbatore, etc. The first phase of the programme was completed in 6 years and was
extended into the second phase. The study has covered about 80% of the tribal areas. The data
recorded on Indian ethnobiology is invaluable giving a status on the tribal communities along
with the information on the ethnobiological inventorisation and their documentation. The study
provides information on the wild plants used by the tribal communities as food, fodder etc., which
also includes a large number of medicinal plants. The study reveals the sustained usage of the
local resources and the natural system of conservation. However, this natural balance is being
disturbed due to the intervention by other communities exploiting the medicinal plant resources.
Data obtained from this study needs to be used in the process of planning and programme to
conserve the rich biodiversity in our country. The focus on the medicinal plants resources and
further investigation in these areas may lead to concrete programme for the conservation of
medicinal plants.
Sacred Groves
There is no separate scheme for the Conservation or restoration of sacred groves under National
Afforestation and Eco-development Board (NAEB). Documentation of the Sacred Groves have
been carried out by the Regional Centres of the NAEB under the scheme to "Support to Regional
Centres". There are seven regional centres and their activities include helping the State/UT Forest
Departments and Forest Development Corporation in formulation of projects, conduct study
research and educational programmes for the protection, development and improvement of forest
area and the degraded forest areas.
MEDICINAL PLANT CONSERVATION AROUND THE GLOBE [11]
Medicinal plant conservation strategies need to be understood and planned for based on an
understanding of indigenous knowledge and practices.
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1. Many drugs contain herbal ingredients, and it has been said that 70–80% of the world's
population relies on some form of non-conventional medicine
2. Around 25–40% of all prescription drugs contain active ingredients derived from plants in
the United States alone.
3. Many countries rely on these medicinal plants for the health and well being of its
population.
4. But the market demand has led to an increased pressure on the natural resources that lend
to the production of some of these plants.
5. The most serious proximate threats when extracting medicinal plants generally are habitat
loss, habitat degradation, and over harvesting.
6. Developing markets for natural products, particularly those that are harvested from the
wild, can trigger a demand that cannot be met by available or legal supplies and demands
a conservation initiative.
7. So the local populations are not exploited, causing more damage to their resources.
8. Many times populations are taken advantage of for their resources and knowledge, which
can often be for financial gain.
9. Conservation of medicinal plants in its biocultural perspective not only implies
conservation of biodiversity but also places an equal emphasis on conservation of cultural
diversity.
Asia represents one of the most important centers of knowledge with regard to the use of plant
species for treatment of various diseases. It has been estimated that the Himalayan region harbors
over 10,000 species of medicinal and aromatic plants, supporting the livelihoods of about 600
million people living in the area. In Nepal they use a traditional healing system that is called
Ayurveda, which is influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism’s central ideas of balance in life. High
altitude medicinal plants provide quality products, and this is the reason why they are often the
first choice of local users as immediate therapy and by pharmaceutical companies as precious
ingredients. When it comes to profits made in the communities up to 50% of the Nepal’s rural
household’s income is derived from commercial collection of medicinal and aromatic plants.
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa community of Mnoqobokazi has high unemployment rates in the
area and reliance on subsistence agriculture and wild produce is still high. Socioeconomic factors
such as low education levels and lack of access to western health care have been cited as
important reasons for reliance on indigenous medicine in South Africa. Both villagers and healers
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in the area would cultivate one or more species because they could only be found far away, or
were frequently used, or had to be fresh when used, or they were planted as protection against
witchcraft. Also there were ten people from Mnqobokazi, mainly women, who harvested plants
on a commercial basis to conserve. An interview with a conservation officer at the Wetland Park
claimed that harvesting of medicinal plants was not a problem in this part as it was further north.
In other parts of South Africa the most frequently used medicinal plants are slow-growing forest
trees, in which the bark and underground parts are mainly the parts utilized. Because there is a
high demand for such resources, the trees are becoming endangered and a lot of the collection is
unrestricted. Regulations are now being placed on some of the resources that originally had been
exploited and many schools and research facilities are working together to come up with new
ways to foster their beloved trees and still manage to get what is needed from the trees as well by
proposing the idea of substituting the bark or underground parts with leaves of the same plant.
Samoa has had a great influence on western medicine when it comes to finding a cure for
HIV/AIDS. New research has shown that the isolation of prostratin, found in the bark of the
Samoan mamala tree, from Homalanthus nutans has led to the extreme potency against HIV-1.
Both the National Cancer Institute and Brigham Young University have guaranteed to return to
the Samoan people a significant portion of any royalties. Paul Alan Cox, an American
ethnobotanist, raised money based on awareness of environmental degradation due to logging, in
order to protect the 30,000-acre (120 km2) lowland forest of Falealupo village on the island of
Savai'i. The Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature established three new indigenously
controlled preserves. Controlled preserves cause controversy because in traditional Polynesian
societies, land, including the natural plant and animal populations, which occupied it, were
viewed as sacred and an ancestral inheritance. Western approaches to conservation on indigenous
land and within an indigenous community must collaborate and understand indigenous knowledge
systems in order to conserve cultural identity. Paul Cox stated that, “the loss of these indigenous
knowledge systems may yet prove to be one of the greatest tragedies of our age”. The U.S
National Park Service officials, the American Samoan Government, and the traditional chiefs
(matai) and orators of the villages of Tafua had agreed to lease their lands for 50 years to the U.S
National Park Service in order to protect American Samoa’s rain forests. The Tafua rain forest
received funding from the Swedish International Development Authority, which was used to
secure water supply, improve roads, and used for assistance in the development of village-based
environmental tourism in Tafua. Cox explains, “all parties to these agreements agree that any
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development of tourism must be village initiatives, rather than foreign initiatives, and must be
carefully planned and controlled so that the Samoan culture in these areas is not jeopardized”.
Medicinal plants represent not only a valuable part of India’s biodiversity but also a source of
great traditional knowledge. Knowledge-rich companies and researchers from the developed
world have been attracted to the wealth of the poorer countries have in their biodiversity and the
traditional knowledge systems. Some argue that the access to such biodiversity and community
knowledge by the industrially developed nations is necessary for the larger welfare of mankind as
this advances knowledge and leads to new products which contribute to the well being of global
consumers. The point is that this access to the resources of the poor does not benefit in any way,
while their natural resources and intellectual property continues to be appropriated and exploited
[14].
MODERN STUDY OF PLANT MEDICINES [10]
Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal
remedies, including opium, aspirin, digitalis, and quinine. The World Health Organization
(WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the population of some Asian and African countries presently
uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Pharmaceuticals are prohibitively
expensive for most of the world's population, half of which lives on less than $2 U.S. per day. In
comparison, herbal medicines can be grown from seed or gathered from nature for little or no
cost. The use of, and search for, drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have
accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products
chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and leads that could be developed for
treatment of various diseases. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, approximately
25% of modern drugs used in the United States have been derived from plants. Among the 120
active compounds currently isolated from the higher plants and widely used in modern medicine
today, 80 percent show a positive correlation between their modern therapeutic use and the
traditional use of the plants from which they are derived.More than two thirds of the world's plant
species - at least 35,000 of which are estimated to have medicinal value - come from the
developing countries. At least 7,000 medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia are
derived from plants. In many medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) significant variations of
plants characteristics have been ascertained with varying soil traits, and the selective recovery and
subsequent release in food of certain elements have been demonstrated. Great attention must be
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paid to choose soil and cropping strategies, to obtain satisfactory yields of high quality and bestpriced products, respecting their safety and nutritional value.
a)
b)
c)
d)
a)
Phytochemistry
Clinical tests
Prevalence of use
Safety
Phytochemistry:
All plants produce chemical compounds as part of their normal metabolic activities. These
phytochemicals are divided into
1) Primary metabolites such as sugars and fats, which are found in all plants.
2) Secondary metabolites compounds which are found in a smaller range of plants, serving a more
specific function. For example, some secondary metabolites are toxins used to deter predation and
others are pheromones used to attract insects for pollination. It is these secondary metabolites and
pigments that can have therapeutic actions in humans and which can be refined to produce drugs
examples are insulin from the roots of dahlias, quinine from the cinchona, morphine and codeine
from the poppy, and digoxin from the foxglove. Toxic plants even have use in pharmaceutical
development.
Plantssynthesize a bewildering variety of phytochemicals but most are derivatives of a few
biochemical motifs:
 Alkaloids are a class of chemical compounds containing a nitrogen ring. Alkaloids are
produced by a large variety of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, and
are part of the group of natural products (also called secondary metabolites). Many alkaloids
can be purified from crude extracts by acid-base extraction. Many alkaloids are toxic to other
organisms. They often have pharmacological effects and are used as medications, as
recreational drugs, or in entheogenic rituals. Examples are the local anesthetic and stimulant
cocaine; the psychedelic psilocin; the stimulant caffeine; nicotine; the analgesic morphine; the
antibacterial berberine; the anticancer compound vincristine; the antihypertension agent
reserpine; the cholinomimeric galatamine; the spasmolysis agent atropine; the vasodilator
vincamine; the anti-arhythmia compound quinidine; the anti-asthma therapeutic ephedrine; and
the antimalarial drug quinine. Although alkaloids act on a diversity of metabolic systems in
humans and other animals, they almost uniformly invoke a bitter taste.
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
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Polyphenols (also known as phenolics) are compounds contain phenol rings. The
anthocyanins that give grapes their purple color, the isoflavones, the phytoestrogens from soy
and the tannins that give tea its astringency are phenolics.

Glycosides is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to a non-carbohydrate moiety, usually a
small organic molecule. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many
plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. These can be activated by enzyme
hydrolysis, which causes the sugar part to be broken off, making the chemical available for
use. Many such plant glycosides are used as medications. In animals and humans, poisons are
often bound to sugar molecules as part of their elimination from the body. An example is the
cyanoglycosides in cherry pits that release toxins only when bitten by a herbivore.

Terpenes are a large and diverse class of organic compounds, produced by a variety of plants,
particularly conifers, which are often strong smelling and thus may have had a protective
function. They are the major components of resin, and of turpentine produced from resin. (The
name "terpene" is derived from the word "turpentine"). Terpenes are major biosynthetic
building blocks within nearly every living creature. Steroids, for example, are derivatives of
the triterpene squalene. When terpenes are modified chemically, such as by oxidation or
rearrangement of the carbon skeleton, the resulting compounds are generally referred to as
terpenoids. Terpenes and terpenoids are the primary constituents of the essential oils of many
types of plants and flowers. Essential oils are used widely as natural flavor additives for food,
as fragrances in perfumery, and in traditional and alternative medicines such as aromatherapy.
Synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the
variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives. Vitamin A is an
example of a terpene. The fragrance of rose and lavender is due to monoterpenes. The
carotenoids produce the reds, yellows and oranges of pumpkin, corn and tomatoes.
b) Clinical tests:
Many herbs have shown positive results in-vitro, animal model or small-scale clinical tests, while
studies on some herbal treatments have found negative results. In 2002, the U.S. National Center
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health began funding
clinical trials into the effectiveness of herbal medicine. In a 2010 survey of 1000 plants, 356 had
clinical trials published evaluating their "pharmacological activities and therapeutic applications"
while 12% of the plants, although available in the Western market, had "no substantial studies" of
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their properties.According to Cancer Research UK, "there is currently no strong evidence from
studies in people that herbal remedies can treat, prevent or cure cancer". Some herbalists criticize
the manner in which many scientific studies make insufficient use of historical knowledge, which
has been shown useful in drug discovery and development in the past and present.They maintain
that this traditional knowledge can guide the selection of factors such as optimal dose, species,
time of harvesting and target population.
c) Prevalence of use
A survey released in May 2004 by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine focused on who used complementary and alternative medicines (CAM), what was used,
and why it was used. The survey was limited to adults, aged 18 years and over during 2002, living
in the United States. According to this survey, herbal therapy, or use of natural products other
than vitamins and minerals, was the most commonly used CAM therapy (18.9%) when all use of
prayer was excluded. Herbal remedies are very common in Europe. In Germany, herbal
medications are dispensed by apothecaries (e.g., Apotheke). Prescription drugs are sold alongside
essential oils, herbal extracts, or herbal teas. Herbal remedies are seen by some as a treatment to
be preferred to pure medical compounds which have been industrially produced. In India, the
herbal remedy is so popular that the Government of India has created a separate department AYUSH - under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The National Medicinal Plants Board
was also established in 2000 by the Govt. of India in order to deal with the herbal medical system.
Avid public interest in herbalism in the UK has been recently confirmed by the popularity of the
topic in mainstream media, such as the prime-time hit TV series BBC's Grow Your Own Drugs,
which demonstrated how to grow and prepare herbal remedies at home.
d) Safety
A number of herbs are thought to be likely to cause adverse effects. Furthermore, "adulteration,
inappropriate formulation, or lack of understanding of plant and drug interactions have led to
adverse reactions that are sometimes life threatening or lethal. Proper double-blind clinical trials
are needed to determine the safety and efficacy of each plant before they can be recommended for
medical use. Although many consumers believe that herbal medicines are safe because they are
"natural", herbal medicines and synthetic drugs may interact, causing toxicity to the patient.
Herbal remedies can also be dangerously contaminated, and herbal medicines without established
efficacy, may unknowingly be used to replace medicines that do have corroborated efficacy.
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Standardization of purity and dosage is not mandated in the United States, but even products
made to the same specification may differ as a result of biochemical variations within a species of
plant. Plants have chemical defense mechanisms against predators that can have adverse or lethal
effects on humans. Examples of highly toxic herbs include poison hemlock and nightshade.They
are not marketed to the public as herbs, because the risks are well known, partly due to a long and
colorful history in Europe, associated with "sorcery", "magic" and intrigue.Although not frequent,
adverse reactions have been reported for herbs in widespread use. On occasion serious untoward
outcomes have been linked to herb consumption. A case of major potassium depletion has been
attributed to chronic licorice ingestion., and consequently professional herbalists avoid the use of
licorice where they recognize that this may be a risk. Black cohosh has been implicated in a case
of liver failure. A 2013 study published in the journal BMC Medicine found that one-third of
herbal supplements sampled contained no trace of the herb listed on the label. The study found
products adulterated with filler including allergens such as soy, wheat, and black walnut. One
bottle labeled as St. John's Wort was found to actually contain Alexandrian senna, a laxative. Few
studies are available on the safety of herbs for pregnant women, and one study found that use of
complementary and alternative medicines are associated with a 30% lower ongoing pregnancy
and live birth rate during fertility treatment. Examples of herbal treatments with likely causeeffect relationships with adverse events include aconite, which is often a legally restricted herb,
ayurvedic remedies, broom, chaparral, Chinese herb mixtures, comfrey, herbs containing certain
flavonoids, germander, guar gum, liquorice root, and pennyroyal. Examples of herbs where a high
degree of confidence of a risk long term adverse effects can be asserted include ginseng, which is
unpopular among herbalists for this reason, the endangered herb goldenseal, milk thistle, senna,
against which herbalists generally advise and rarely use, aloe vera juice, buckthorn bark and
berry, cascara sagrada bark, saw palmetto, valerian, kava, which is banned in the European Union,
St. John's wort, Khat, Betel nut, the restricted herb Ephedra, and Guarana. For example,
dangerously low blood pressure may result from the combination of an herbal remedy that lowers
blood pressure together with prescription medicine that has the same effect. Some herbs may
amplify the effects of anticoagulants.
LIST OF IMPORTANT MEDICINAL PLANTS AND THEIR USES [12, 13]
Medicinal plants are valuable resources for our health care system since ancient period.
These natural herbs are important source of drugs for alternative medicine systems like Ayurveda,
homeopathy, Unani and even allopathy. They are thought to constitute 80% of total drugs used by
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humans. These natural healing herbs are used in treatment of many diseases and disorders. Their
specialty is advantages like better compatibility in the body, easy metabolism, low side effects
and also less expensive than synthetic drugs. Further they are not harmful to environment after
disposal. They don’t require heavy manufacture, expensive analysis and storage facilities.
So below chart gives an idea of the List of Medicinal Plants and uses.
LIST OF IMPORTANT MEDICINAL PLANTS AND THEIR USES
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SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
From the literature review of this topic it can be concluded that the medicinal plant sector in
world used by the folks usually which supports the primary health care needs of most of the
country’s population. Added to this scenario is the practice of Western medicine and past efforts
to change indigenous medicine:in fact both have benefited from each other since indigenous
systems introduced drugs to the western pharmacopoeias while western medicine helped upgrade
a few important raw plant products to some degree of standardization.Nonetheless,India exports
significant quantities of raw materials to other Asian countries and some of these exports are
associated with traditional medicine.However,India’s comparative advantage in producing
materials for export has not been exploited to the at all.With the exception of a limited number of
plant species, the production bases rely mainly on materials harvested from the
wild.Nonetheless,India known to be a storehouse of biological diversity,has to focus on sustain
the resource base of medicinal plants.Efforts to relive pressure on wild plants through cultivation
have made a good start but have a long way to go.This is a complex issue by virtue of the sheer
number of plant species and the needs for sustainable propagation,suitable agronomic practice,the
selection of superior genotypes and linking production to people.Medicinal plants fall into
segments of these formal sectors and receive more or less attention depending on policy.For
instance,they are one of the most valuable components of the nontimber forest products
sector,being important generators of revenue.Most of the available data regarding the formal
sectors are in aggregate from and such statistics supply little information about how the market
actually works;they rely solely on market price as an indicator of value.Much more attention
therefore needs to be given to the socio-intuitional context of the market. It is clear that a set of
interventions at various levels could lead to the promotion of the sustainable and equitable
development of the sector and help to avert a crisis. With the tremendous increase in the global
use of medicinal plants, several concerns regarding the safety and quality of herbal medicines
have also been observed.hence it has become necessary to standardize the quality and safety
assurance measures so as to ensure supply of pharmaceutical industry has been focusing on herbal
drugs, it is generally belived that standardization is not required when used by the rural
community of their primary health care. Therefore it is a very important point for clarify the main
active ingredients which can be extracted from medicinal plants.
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FUTURE GUIDELINES
Though the forest Departments and conservationists are trying to make their best in their
protection, physicians dedicated for medicinal and plant studies along with NGO’s should take
initiatives to plants the sapling of this plant in schools, colleges, parks temple premises, avenues
etc., which are artificial reserves and would assure its safety growth, thereby serving the purpose
and preventing it from extinction in the near future. Over exploitation, loss of habitats, poor seed
germination rate etc., are the major factors of decline of the important medicinal plant
species.Several attempts have been made to conserve the most threatened and endangered plant
species either by in situand ex-situ or in vitro conservational strategies. It is to be noted that the
tribal use of the plant species must be verified by further scientific experimentation and this rich
folklore can be utilized in herbal thereby and drug discovery. Medicinal plants have a promising
future because there are about half million plants around the world, and most of them their
medical activities have not investigate yet, and their medical activities could be decisive in the
treatment of present or future studies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to Mr. Shubhrajit Mantry, Dept. of Pharmaceutics, Kottam Institute of
Pharmacy, for his encouragement for carrying out this review work.
REFERENCES
1. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 4 issue 3 (March 2011), Page No. 245248
2. http://omicsonline.org/medicinal-plants-importance-and-uses-2153-2435.1000e139.pdf
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5. http://www.armchairpatriot.com/HardCorePrepper/Medicinal%20Plants.pdf
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8. www.google.com/ Guidelines on the Conservation of Medicinal Plants
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10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_plants#Modern_study_of_plant_medicines
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinal_plant_conservation
12. http://agroguide.weebly.com/uploads/5/0/3/1/5031454/medicinal_plants_list.pdf
13. http://www.rajaha.com/list-medicinal-plants-india-uses/
14. International Seminar on Systems for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge, organised
by Ministry of Commerce, Government of India & UNCTAD, New Delhi, April 3-5,
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15. http://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/40/39776.pdf
16. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358962/
17. http://eatt1.tripod.com/amp1.html
18. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/biology/introduction-to-medicinal-plants-biologyessay.php
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