indian medicinal plants as a source of therapeutic - BRT Publishers

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Int. J Bioscience Res. December 2012 Issue 1 Vol. 1 INTRODUCTION Herbal medicines are assumed to be of great importance in the primary healthcare of individuals and local communities in many developing countries (Ghosh 2003). Historians from all around the world have produced evidence to show that apparently all primitive people used herbs often in a sophisticated way (Gilani and Atta-ur-Rahman 2005). Medicinal components from plants play an important role in conventional Western medicine. The traditional medicine all over the world is nowadays revalued by an extensive study of results of research on different plant species and their therapeutic principles (Scartezzini and Speroni 2000). Interest in medicinal plants has been fuelled by the rising costs of prescription drugs in the maintenance of personal health and well-being, and the bioprospecting of new plant-derived drugs (Hoareau and DaSilva 1999). Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites are still a major threat to public health, despite the tremendous progress in human medicine. Their impact is particularly large in developing countries due to the relative unavailability of medicines and the emergence of widespread drug resistance (Okeke et al., 2005). Historically, all medicinal preparations were derived from plants, whether in the simple form of plant parts or in the more complex form of crude extracts, mixtures, etc. The vast majority of people on this planet still rely on their traditional materia medica for their everyday healthcare needs. Folk medicines are gaining great importance as information sources on traditional medicinal plants. Many commercially proven drugs used in modern medicine were initially tried in crude form in traditional or folk healing practices, or for other purposes that suggested potentially useful biological activity. BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS Medicinal plants are the important part of indigenous pharmaceutical systems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 65–80% of the world’s population in developing countries, due to the poverty and lack of access to modern medicine, depend essentially on plants for their primary healthcare (Calixto 2005). In recent years, use of ethnobotanical information in medicinal plant research has gained considerable attention in segments of the scientific community (Heinrich 2000). Even today, in most of the rural areas, people are depending on local traditional healing systems for their primary health care. Since, traditional medicinal practice is the cheapest and safest method adopted in all countries of the world especially in developing countries. There are hundreds of drugs and biologically active compounds developed from the traditional medicinal plants, a few of which are mentioned here; the antispasmodic agent vasicin isolated from Justicia adhatoda, anticancer agents such as vincristine, vinblastine and D-tubocurarine isolated from Catharanthus roseus (Gurib-Fakim 2006), antibacterial agents isolated from Diospyros melanoxylon (Mallavadhani et al., 1998), antimalarial agent isolated from Sida acuta (Karou et al., 2006), steroid and lancamarone with cardiotonic properties, lantamine with antipyretic and antispasmodic properties from Lantana camara (Ghisalberti 2000), antimicrobial agents isolated from Acorus calamus (Chowdhury et al., 1993), antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agents isolated from Urtica dioica (Harborne and Buxter 1993), anticancer agents isolated from Aloe vera, Allium sativum, Andrographis paniculata, Curcuma longa, Moringa oleifera, Phyllanthus amarus, Piper longum, Semecarpus anacardium, Tinospora cordifolia and Withanica somnifera (Balachandran and Govindarajan 2005), promising and potent antimalarial drug artemisinin isolated from Artemesia annua (Dhingra et al., 2000). A large 2
Int. J Bioscience Res. December 2012 Issue 1 Vol. 1 proportion of such drugs have been discovered with the aid of ethnobotanical knowledge of the traditional uses of the plant. Indian Medicinal Plants Ayurveda (Indian Traditional Medicine) is perhaps, the most ancient of all medicinal traditions is probably older that the traditional Chinese medicine. It is considered to be the origin of systemized medicine. It is actually a practical and holistic set of guidelines to maintain balance and harmony in the system. Ancient Hindu writings on medicine contain no references to foreign medicines whereas Greek and Middle Eastern texts do refer to ideas and drugs of Indian origin. Ayurveda is derived from the Indian words Ayar (Life) and veda (Knowledge or Science) and hence means the Science of Life. Ayurveda is similar to Galenical Medicine in that it is based on bodily humours (dosas) and the inner life force (prana) that is believed to maintain digestion and mental activity. The living and the non-living environment, including humans, is composed of the elements earth (prithvi), water (jada), fire (tejac), air (vaju) and space (akasa). Some of the important Ayurvedic medicinal plants used in Indian traditional medicine are Azadirachta indica, Centella asiatica, Cinnamomum camphora, Elettaria cardamomum, Rauvolfia serpentina, Santalum album, Terminalia chebula and Withania somnifera, etc. These plants are known to contain various active principles of therapeutic value and to possess biological activity against a number of diseases. The Indian flora is extensively utilized as a source of many drugs mentioned in the traditional systems of medicine. The traditional systems of medicine together with folklore systems continue to serve a large portion of the population, particularly in rural areas, in spite of the advent of the modern medicines. It is worthwhile to note that, about 80% of the human populations in India are still dependent on nature for remedies and this can be well understood from the fact that almost all systems of medicine are largely based on drugs of plant origin (Singh et al., 2001). Primarily Janaki Ammal (1956) conceptualized the importance of ethnobotanical studies in India and initiated such studies. Jain (1964) extended these studies to the forefront through his pioneering research and publications. These studies not only formed the foundations of modern ethnobotany but also triggered off a number of ethnobiological studies and inspired a number of research workers from different parts of the country. There are many reports on the use of plants in traditional healing by either tribal people or indigenous communities of India. During the last few decades there has been an increasing interest in the study of medicinal plants and their traditional use in different parts of India (Savithramma et al., 2007; Pattanaik et al., 2008; Kosalge and Fursule 2009; Namsa et al., 2009; Upadhyay et al., 2010). In our ethnobotanical survey among the Kani tribals and Paliyar tribal people in Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, the traditional healers noticed that, most of the medicinal plants found in their environs are used frequently for the treatment of various diseases and most of the tribal people have a general knowledge of medicinal plants which are used for first aid remedies to treat cough, cold, fever, headache, poisonous bites and some other simple ailments (Ayyanar 2008; Ignacimuthu et al., 2006; 2008; Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu 2005a, b, 2009, 2010, 2011). The plants listed in table 1 are the commonly used medicinal plants in India which are known to contain various active principles of therapeutic value and to possess biological activity against a number of diseases with their respective medicinal properties. However, from this small percentage, innumerable therapeutically indispensable compounds have been isolated such as alkaloids, various glycosides, steroids, vitamins, flavonoids and a large range of antibiotics. It is evident that therapeutically interesting and important drugs can be developed from plant sources that are 3
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