Ethno-medicinal Plants

The ethno-medicinal plants find application in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural and food industry. The use of the medicinal plants for curing disease has been documented in history of all civilizations, especially from the tribal communities. Before onset of synthetic era, man was completely dependent on medicinal herbs for prevention and treatment of diseases. With introduction of scientific procedures the researchers, were able to understand about toxic principles present in the green flora. The efficacy of some herbal products is beyond doubt. Recently research has supported biological activities of some medicinal herbs. The plant is a biosynthetic laboratory, not only for chemical compounds, but also a multitude of compounds like glycosides, alkaloids etc. These exert physiological and therapeutic effect. With onset of scientific research in herbals, it is becoming clearer that the medicinal plants have a potential in today s synthetic era, as numbers of medicines are becoming resistant. Ancient knowledge coupled with scientific principles can come to the forefront and provide us with powerful remedies to eradicate the diseases.