Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants are the prime source of herbal materials, with 1178 species traded in India and 242 having high trade volumes. Most of the medicinal plants are collected from the wild indiscriminately, as very few of these plants are cultivated, leading to overexploitation and decline of species. Scarcity of these often results in adulteration and substitution, making traditional identification difficult. DNA barcoding has proved to be an accurate and reliable alternative for identification of such herbals but before being used for this purpose, species-specific barcodes for the species of interest should be available. The barcode library developed was used for authenticating the botanical identities of 163 herbal samples, procured from different markets or online, supposed to be belonging to 54 species, including 41 species of high trade volume by phylogenetic tree (NJ) method and BLAST1 analysis. Herbal samples (147) of 54 species could be tested and 92 (62.6%) of the tested samples were found to be authentic by using any of the four barcode loci. Of these, number of samples identified by ITS2 (69) was the highest, followed by rbcL (51), matK (26) and ITS (17) individually. BLAST1 search of the sequences of the samples not found to be authentic revealed that some of the herbal samples were substituted following the ayurvedic principle “Abhava Pratinidhi Dravyas” with their known substitutes or other unrelated medicinal plants, while few by totally unrelated plant species, such as, ‘Besan’ (Cicer arietinum) in place of ‘Vachhnag’ (Aconitum ferox) and an obnoxious weed, Parthenium hysterophorus substituting for ‘Pashanbheda’ (Bergenia ligulata).

The current work used the carrageenan-induced paw edema model in Wistar rats to determine the anti-inflammatory properties of plant-based substances, namely quercetin (Ficus carica) and curcumin (Curcuma longa). Four groups of 24 rats each were created: Quercetin, Curcumin, Standard Drug (Diclofenac), and Negative Control. The volume of paw edema was measured one, two, three, and four hours after induction. Diclofenac showed the greatest suppression of paw swelling at all time periods, while carrageenan was able to successfully produce inflammation in the control group, according to the results. When compared to the control, both curcumin and quercetin considerably decreased inflammation; however, the difference was not statistically significant, with curcumin being slightly more efficient than quercetin. The trustworthiness of these findings was validated by statistical analysis. According to the study's findings, quercetin and curcumin have strong anti-inflammatory properties and could be useful natural supplements or substitutes for traditional synthetic medications.

The study's aim is to assist science-based traditional medicine by assessing a polyherbal extract's capacity to protect the liver at varying doses in rats with CCl4-induced liver damage. Four adult male rat groups were used in an experimental investigation with random grouping. Three of the four groups received CCl4 together with either a high or low dose of polyherbal extract, whereas one group simply received CCl4. In addition to microscopic examination of necrosis, inflammation, and liver cell regeneration, liver damage was assessed using ALT, AST, ALP, and bilirubin assays. It was found that CCl4 severely harmed the liver, with more enzymes in blood and worse tissue degeneration, but higher amounts of the polyherbal extract successfully lessened these adverse effects. Also, the high-dose group largely recovered, as seen by nearly normal enzyme levels, little dead tissue, and many regenerating hepatocytes. Using ANOVA, the results were shown to be significant (p

Today Pharmacognosy functions as an essential scientific basis for discovering anticancer medications through research of natural medicating plants alongside additional natural resources. The article evaluates the vital role which pharmacognosy plays when developing compounds that act as cancer treatments. The article describes extraction techniques alongside screening and characterization protocols that help researchers find anticancer compounds among bioactive plant principles. The discovery of pharmacological agents’ taxol and camptothecin and vinca alkaloids stands as one of the primary outcomes alongside their subsequent development into medicinal drugs. The scope includes modern screening procedures linked with molecular docking approaches along with biotechnological growth that enhances both efficiency and pharmaceutical research outcomes in pharmacognosy. The review addresses difficulties alongside existing trends and future guidance about employing natural products for developing oncological drugs.