INTRODUCTION TO

MEDICINAL PLANTS
 DEFINITION
• Medicinal plants are those plants which are rich in alkaloids,
flavonoids, glycosides, steroids, etc. and are used in various
traditional systems of medicinal and pharmaceutical industries of
preparation of drugs.
HISTORY
• Medicinal plants had a great history in different countries.
• EGYTIPANS : Worlds first medicinal text of ancient Egypt, Ebers papyrus contains about 800
medicinal recipes and 700 drugs.
• CHINESE : The healing power of medicinal plants was also recorded in the Chinese
pharmacopoeia, Pen Ts’ao Kang Mu by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung.
• This book describes the treatment of leprosy, asthma, fever, cough, cold and bronchitis.
• GREEKS : Hippocrates [father of modern medicine] mentioned about 300 to 400 healing plants
in his writings and Theophrastus described the characteristics of herbs like Cassia, menthe etc.
• The most authoritative text on botanical medicine, De Materia Medica discussed in detail in
identification.
EUROPEANS : Herbalism flourished.
ARABS : Translated the original words of Greeks and made refinement.
INDIANS : Three treatises, Rigveda, Atharvanaveda and Ayurveda written by Aryans
mentioned hallucinogenic mushrooms and sarpagandha used to treat snake bite, epilepsy, mental
disorders and other illness.
The Charaka Samhitha, an encyclopedia of Indian medicine is a comprehensive record of
medicinal plants and their uses.
MILESTONE : Discovery of morphine from opium by FW.Sertuner and quinine from cinchona
bark by PJ.Pellatier.
IMPORTANCE OF MEDICINAL
PLANTS
• The term medicinal plants includes various types of plants used in herbalism.
• Plants have been used by man from prehistoric times for relieving, suffering and curing
alignments.
• Reserpine is a wonder drug today for curing mental aliments.
• Quinine is an another important antimalarial drug of modern medicine was obtained from the
cinchona tree.
• Medicinal plants are considered as a rich resources of ingredients which can be used in drug
development, pharmacopoeial, synthetic drugs.
• Apart from that, these plants play a critical role in the development of human cultures around the
whole world.
• Some plants and their derivatives are considered as a source of nutrition and recommended for
therapeutic values.
• Some plants ae considered as important source for active ingredients which are used in aspirin
and toothpaste.
• Some medicinal plants also used in natural dye, food, perfume, etc.
• Medicinal herbs are important source for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Some herbs have antibiotic properties, antiseptic expectorant property, disinfectant properties,
and are used as sedatives and stimulants.
• As herbs are natural products, they are free from side effects, they are comparatively safe,
ecofriendly and locally available.
PROSPECTS
PRESENT STATUS :
• Presently Indian system of medicine uses over thousand medicinal plants.
• In many cases there is no standards fixed for raw materials.
• There are around ten thousand licensed pharmacies practicing Indian system of medicine.

FUTURE STATUS :
. Realization of toxicity – WHO better utilization of indigenous system of medicine based on the
locally available medicinal plants.

. Highly specific reactions of principle components – diosgenin.

• Comparatively cheaper than synthetic drugs.
• Wide range of agroclimatic conditions in India.
• Demand in western countries.
• India – a medical heritage viz. ayurveda, siddha, unani, folklore and grandma medicine.
• Cheap labour and skilled man power.
• Many virtues of medicinal plants.
• Eg : Drought hardiness free from cattle damage suitability for cropping systems.
CONSTRAINTS
• Long gestation period hindering large scale commercial cultivation.
• Unorganized research.
• Limited information.
• Package of practices has not been standardized.
• Lack of quality standards.
• Profund use adulterants.
• Unstable market conditions.
• Produce cant be stored.
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