Medicinal importance, pharmacological activities, and analytical aspects of aloin: A concise report

Plants are used an excellent source of drugs, and some of the currently available drugs were derived from the plant sources. In the developing countries, plant and plant-derived products still play an important role in the medical health care system. Some of the modern medicine i.e. aspirin, anti-malarial, anti-cancer and digitalis have derived from the plant source. Plants and phytochemical have beneficial effect against microorganism, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, blood disorders, cerebral disorders, immune system, oxidative stress, reproductive disorder and cancer chemotherapy. A large number of the drugs prescribed worldwide are derived from plants[1,2]. Medicinal plants are very ancient and only true natural medicines and they can use either directly or in the extract forms. The use of plants, parts of plants and isolated phytochemicals for the prevention and treatment of various ailments has been in practice from immemorial time[3,4]. More than 25% of the drugs prescribed worldwide are derived from plants and in India, about 80% of the rural population uses medicinal herbs or indigenous systems of medicine. About 2-3 decades ago, most of the drugs were obtained from herbal source[5]. Herbal medicines are gaining popularity both in developing and developed countries due to its fewer side effects. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) more than 21 000 plants are used for medicinal purposes in the world[1,6].