Future Prospects and Aspects of Herbal Drug Discovery in Herbal Medicines

Columbia Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences: 2015; 2 (2); April-June, Pages-16-21 ABSTRACT: Herbal drugs constitute a major share of all the officially recognised systems of health in India viz. Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy and Naturopathy, except Allopathy. More than 70% of India’s 1.1 billion population still use these non-allopathic systems of medicine. There has been an increase demand for the pharmaceutical products of Ayurveda in all over the world because of fact that the allopathic drugs have a side effect. In the present context the Ayurvedic system of medicine is widely accepted and practiced by peoples no only in India but also in the developed countriessuch as Europe, USA, Japan, China, Canada etc. Plant based therapy are marked due to its low cost, easy availability based on generation to generation knowledge. The aim of the present review was to understand the knowledge of herbal medicines in respect to its development, herbal wealth, demand in market, aspects of herbal drug discovery, prospects in herbal medicines, promotion and Ethnopharmacological approach to herbal drugs.