Medicinal plants: A source of health care

Among various kinds of forest products, the use of plant species for therapeutic purposes has gained a tremendous importance.

Among various kinds of forest products the use of plant species for therapeutic purposes has gained a tremendous importance in 21st century.

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Globally, the estimated number of plant species (from lichens to angiosperms) used in curing different types of ailments is about 70,000. The Ayurveda (the science of life) alone has described about 2000 medicinal plant species, and if the other Indian traditional systems of medicine are included the medicinal plant list goes up to 3,000 plant species within India.

The Charak Samhita written in about 1000 BC described the use of 340 herbal drugs. Some of these medicinal plant species are found at high altitudes in particularly stressful environments, grow very slowly and can not survive elsewhere. Others are more broadly distributed and adapt more easily to different ecological conditions.

The importance of medicinal plants sector can be evaluated by an estimation of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the present demand for medicinal plants is about $14 billion a year. Medicinal plants, largely organic, are part of the $36.89 billion global market for organic food.