Importance of medicinal plants: From ancient era to modern age

Abstract

India has a wide variety of medicinal plants and herbs in the world. These plants have been used for medicinal purpose long before prehistoric period. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection against insects, fungi, diseases and herbivorous mammals. Contemporary science has acknowledged their active action and it has included in modern pharmacotherapy. A range of drugs of plants origin known by ancient civilizations used throughout the millennia. This article covers the usage, form and importance of these medicinal plants in ancient time and the chemical constituents of these plants used in present time such as Ephedra, earlier was a source of anti-fatigue drink. In later period it became a drink of immortality and longevity. It has a long history of medicinal use in China and India to treat colds, fever, headaches, and coughing, wheezing, and other conditions. In modern time ephedrine, alkaloid used as a decongestant drug obtained from plants of the genus Ephedra.