Healing plants

Abstract

Though India has a rich tradition in the use of medicinal plants, the effort to develop drugs from plants has had limited success. The golbal market fo herbal druges however claims US $20 billion and promises to grow even further. Herbal druges are prescribed widely even when their biologically active compounds are unknown because of their effectiveness, minimal side effects in clinical experience and relatively low cost. It is imperative that Indis launches a programme on drugs from plants, based on clues from traditinal knowledge and harnessing modern technologies for the development of new chemical entities.