Plants are the greatest wealth of creation. It
has served every need of the animal kingdom especially the basic needs namely
Food, Clothing and Shelter from the time of creation. Even we human beings are
not an exception. It has been used for various purposes to fulfil our basic
needs and also in some of the special occasions like to furnish our houses,
maintain health and to cure ourselves from diseases. It is that part of nature
that had helped in not only sustaining life but also helped in the maintenance
of the ecological system on earth.
Use of plants in the medicinal purpose has been
from ages. It has been used by various medicinal systems like Chinese,
Tibetian, Unani, Ayurveda and Siddha. These systems of medicine are known today
as Alternative system of Medicine have stood the different tides of time.
Ayurveda too is one such system of medicine.
Use of plants in Ayurveda is quite to a large extent. Its use has been in
different formulations which can be broadly classified into 2 major types
namely Single drug formulations and Multiple drug formulations.
Most of the single drug formulations are
usually suggested on the basis of the knowledge obtained from experienced
folklore practitioners while are also taken from the various classical texts
too. The single drug formulations are usually herbal in origin which is used in
their raw wet or dried form. These are given in these form and told to the
patient or his attendant to prepare a simple formulation which is used
immediately or within the span of one day.
Multiple drug formulations are generally
Classical oriented but now a days there are even patented formulations of
different companies. These formulations are timely tested while the patented
formulations have been claimed to be scientifically validated by the extensive
research on them.
Earlier these forms of medicines were prepared
by the physicians themselves. But presently due to the scarcity of raw
materials and unavailability of time needed for preparation, these medicines
were taken up by a corporate setup giving rise to a drug industry. As these
industries manufactured in large scale, the raw materials too are in great
demand. This led to irrational use of the raw materials and its wastage. The
irrational use of medicinal plant species led to its loss or even extinct.
It is now that we really have to think to
safeguard our rich medicinal flora. Even government too has taken initiatives
to do so. But more than controlling irrational exploitation of medicinal plant
species, it is more necessary to control the rapid deforestation in the name of
development leading to loss of green cover over the earth.
Another important aspect that can be adopted is
cultivating potable plants or developing home gardens with medicinal plants. These
not only give a ready availability of medicinal plants for small ailments but
also give a better environment around the house. It also helps in preserving
these useful species which have been a loyal friend of mankind since time
immemorial for protecting our next generation..........................CFEIA
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