NESAC-Forestry

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: An Overview

Medicinal and Aromatic plants have been used for a long time for their medicinal properties and personal hygiene. About 2000 native plant species have curative properties and 1300 species are known for their aroma and flavour. The Indian systems of medicines popularly known as Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha have again emerged as popular medical systems. Majority of the medicinal plants are higher flowering plants, out of which 33% are trees, 32% herbs, 20% shrubs, 12 climbers and 3% others. Due to the spurt in the demand of plant based drugs, lately, many native species of medicinal values are being brought under systematic cultivation.

In case of medicinal plants, China and India are the two major production centres having more than 40% of global biodiversity. International market for medicinal plants is over US$ 60 billion per year, which is growing at the rate of 7% annually. China, besides meeting its domestic requirement, is earning US$ 5 billion per year from herbal trade. According to the recent estimates, India, at present, exports herbal material and medicines to the tune of over Rs. 300 crore, which is targeted to be raised to Rs 3000 crore by 2005. There is thus an enormous scope for India also to emerge as a major player in the global herbal products-based medicines. Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth in the world demand for essential oils and natural aroma chemicals used in drug synthesis, food flavouring, fragrances, perfumes, cosmetics and related products. The world essential oil production at raw material level is estimated at around Rs. 4500 crore annually. Out of this, 55-60% goes as food flavours, 15-20% as fragrances and the rest serve as raw material for the isolation of various aroma chemicals, which go into different uses.

Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants, as a group, comprise approximately 8000 species and account for about 50% of all the higher flowering plant species of India. India is one of the richest countries in the world as regards genetic resource of medicinal and aromatic plants. It constitutes 11% of total known world flora though its total land mass occupies only 2.0% of the globe. Even though over 105 plants provide the basic raw material used in modern medicine the world over, the number of plants thus exploited in India is as small as 40.

At present, about 90% collection of medicinal plants is from the wild source and 70% of the plant collections involve destructive harvesting. Due to this, many useful plant species are becoming endangered or threatened. Similarly, marketing of raw drugs of medicinal plants being unorganized and unregulated, often quality is not maintained. Since medicinal plants sector has a number of stake holders having divergent interests, without proper co-ordination, sustained growth in medicinal and aromatic plants cannot be ensured.

In recent years, the growing demand for herbal products has led to a quantum jump in volume of plant material traded within and outside the countries. And estimate of the EXIM Bank projects international market of medicinal plants related trade at US$ 60 billion per year, growing at a rate of 7% annually. Though India has rich biodiversity, the growing demand is putting a heavy strain on the existing resources.

Scenerio of north eastern region

North eastern region of India with its vast land comprising hills, rivers, forest and varied climates is the store house of a number of rare flora and fauna. The total geographical area of this region is 265036 sq km out of which around 27% are under forest cover. This region is represented by 500 flowering plant species and constitutes 34% of the total flora of the country (Khashoo, 1992). It is the homeland of about 280 tribes and they are living in isolation in remote areas. Each tribe bears own identity, culture and socio-economic life. They are dependent to a great extent on the forest for livelihood, shelter, fuel etc. and also use different types of medicinal plants since ages to cure the ailment. The primary mean of livelihood of the people of this region is traditional agriculture.

The medicinal plants used by different tribes of the region to cure various diseases can provide ‘lead’ to get useful and active constituents for development of drug. This requires systematic survey, screening and evaluation of plants of different localities. In recent times efforts have been made for tapping and documentation of the medicinal plants of this region used by different ethnic groups with a view to utilize the traditional knowledge bases for drug development. For example, Clerodendrum colebrookianum popularly known as ‘Nefafu’ in Assam ‘Origin’ in Arunachal Pradesh and ‘Phuinam’ in Mizoram is known to have hypotensive effect. Phytochemical investigations of the plant have been made and it was observed that ‘Phuinam’ grown in a particular altitude bears active component responsible for lowering the blood pressure. Systematic screening has also been made on a number of folkloric medicinal plants of this region to isolate and identify the active constituents presents in the plants. Till date a few plant species bearing medicinal value have been investigated and some of the plants are as follows:

As the forest of this region are rich for a number of medicinal plants of industrial importance, wild and indiscriminate collection of plants are continuing for along time mostly by the forest dwellers and economically backward classes. These people are neither educated nor trained for collection of the plants. It is reported that huge quantity of medicinal plants are being taken away places by indiscriminate collection. If the process continues unabated, depletion of medicinal plants is unevitable because of over exploitation. R serpentina of India is an example of this kind. The plant was collected wild and exported to USA. This has resulted over exploitation of the plant and the government had to impose an imbargo on its export. As the pharmacopoeia of USA requires only R serpentina of Indian origin when used it in crude form the country had to face major problem. Similarly, Coptis teeta of India, an endangered specis, has been also over exploited for export other Asian countries.

The active constituents extracted from the plants can be used for production of semisynthetic drugs. For example the tubers of Dioscorea composita and D floribunda, abundantly available in this region, contain steroidal sapogenin which is in use as the starting material for production of a number of steroidal drugs like corticosteroids, sex hormones, oral contraceptives and anabolic agent. Presently, 50% of the raw materials for synthesis of these drugs are obtained from Dioscorea.

The most commercially exploited medicinal plants of East Khasi Hills:

Slno	Scientific Name	Slno	Scientific Name	Slno	Scientific Name
1	Achillea Millefelium	82	CentellaAsiatica/Hydrocotale	163	Origanum Vulgare
2	Agastache Rugusa	83	Cuscuta Hyalina	164	Oxalis Corniculata
3	Allamanda Cathartica	84	Croton Ablogifolius	165	Prunus spp
4	Azadirachta Indica	85	Crinium Latifolium	166	Parnasia Palustris
5	Acacia Melisima	86	Canavis Sativa	167	Polyganum Hydropiper
6	Abelmoschus Maschutes	87	Citrus Lemon	168	Piper Pupuloides
7	Aneilima Scapiflerum	88	Cinchona Elliptica	169	Piaris Ovalifolia
8	Alpinia Malaccensis	89	Carlina Acaulis	170	Phragmite Australis
9	Alpinia Gallanga	90	Cinnamomum Zeylonilum	171	Physalis Alkangi
10	Aralia Psede Ginsang	91	Clerodendrom Infortunatum	172	Plautago Erosa
11	Anephalis Mulgerrima	92	Carpinus Betulus	173	Piper Nigrum
12	Anthexythum Oderatium	93	Cucurbita Maxima	174	Phyllanthus Fraxternus
13	Achyranthes Bidentata	94	Commelina Suffruticosa	175	Pinus Kasia
14	Achyranthes Aspera	95	Calicarpa Arborea	176	Prunus Ovium
15	Ajuga Reptans	96	Cassia Sophera	177	Pisum Sativum
16	Andropegen Nardus	97	Curcuma Zedoria	178	Prunus Persica
17	Aralia Nudicaulis	98	Curcuma Longa	179	Passiflora Edulis
18	Albiziz Odoratissima	99	Crinus Sinensis	180	Phyllastachis Manii
19	Amora Cucullata	100	Cassia Mimosoides	181	Psidium Gauva
20	Agrimania Elipatoria	101	Cymbopogon Citratus	182	Piper Bettle
21	Agava augustifolia	102	Crotolaria Juncea	183	Plantago Major
22	Adanaphara Stricta	103	Crotolaria Prostrata	184	Phyllanthus Emblica
23	Angelica Arch-angelica	104	Citrullus Colocynthus	185	Piper Longum
24	Arundo Donax	105	Curcumis Melo	186	Phaseolus Calceratus
25	Ausculus Hyppocastamus	106	Dioscorea Bulbifera	187	Pueraria Phaseoloides
26	Anisemeles Erata	107	Drynaria Quencifolia	188	Rubus Molaccanus
27	Albizia Julibrissim	108	Dendrobeum Macraei	189	Rhodendrone Campanulatum
28	Adiantum Flabelulatum	109	Dolichos lab lab	190	Recinus Communis
29	Artocarpus Heterophyllus	110	Datura Fastuasa	191	Rumex Crispa
30	Anamirta Caculus	111	Dulenia Indica	192	Rumex Elipticus
31	Aster Crinervius	112	Discorea Pentaphylla	193	Rhus Semiliata
32	Artimisia Vulgaris	113	Desmodium Gangeticum	194	Rubia Tinctoria
33	Ananas Sativas	114	Emblica Officinalis	195	Rosa Aglenteria
34	Amonium Arematicum	115	Eupatorium Cannabinum	196	Rosa Lasiocarpus
35	Antidesma Bunius	116	Eupatorium Perfoliatum	197	Rosa Ellipticus
36	Aegle Marmeles	117	Erithryna Variegata	198	Rhus Succedona
37	Asparagus Raumosa	118	Erigeron Canadensis	199	Solanum Nigrum
38	Asparagus Filicinus	119	Equisetum hymale	200	Schisandra Chinensis
39	Alstenia Scholaris	120	Equisetum Arvens	201	Solanum Ferox
40	Asclepias Curassanica	121	Eriosema Chinenses	202	Solanum Xanthocarpum
41	Amerianthus Gangeticus	122	Eupatorium Odoratum	203	Salvia Elegans
42	Anemana Rivularis	123	Elaegnus Pyriformis	204	Sanseveria Zeylonica
43	Arnica Mentana	124	Elaegnus Latifolia	205	Symplocos Cratnagoides
44	Allria Petislata	125	Ficus Glomatra	206	Schima Wallichii
45	Atheo Afficinalis	126	Ficus Hispida	207	Senecio Densiflorus
46	Aquilegia Vulgaris	127	Ficus Elastica	208	Smilax Chinensis
47	Artimisia Abretanum	128	Ficus Infactoria	209	Sida Rhomboid
48	Artimisia Vulgaris	129	Frageria Vesea	210	Sesamum Indicum
49	Allium Tuberasum	130	Flemingia Vestica	211	Smilax Macrophylla
50	Albizia lebbak	131	Ficus Ratusa	212	Soraca Indica
51	Ameera Walichii	132	Gentina Lutea	213	Terminalis Catapa
52	Anisameles Malabarica	133	Gautheria Fragrantisima	214	Tagetes Patula
53	Adiantum Pedatum	134	Hedera Halix	215	Taraxocum Officinale
54	Aquilaria Agellecha	135	Helianthus Annus	216	Urena Labota
55	Brysphyllum Calycinum	136	Hibiscus Rosasorensis	217	Urtica Urrens
56	Bauhinia Variagata	137	Hydrococtyle Avanica	218	Urtica Deoica
57	Bauhinia Purpurea	138	Hiptage Acuminata	219	Viola Tricolor
58	Bombax Ceiba	139	Houttuynia Cordata	220	Vitex Nogundo
59	Batula Alneides	140	Kaemferia Galanga	221	Viola Odorata
60	Benanaya Reptans	141	Kaemferia Rotunda	222	Vitis Pedata
61	Brunella Vulgaris	142	Lycopus Vircinicus	223	Viscum Articulatum
62	Bletillia Stricta	143	Lycopodium Speciosa	224	Vitex Pendacularis
63	Bridelia Ratusa	144	Lantana Camera	225	Viburnum Foetidum
64	Bridelia Montana	145	Ligustrum Lucidum	226	Vinca Minor
65	Bichofia Javanica	146	Leea Crispa	227	Vigna Vexilata
66	Blumea Balsamifera	147	Mentha Arvensis	228	Ipomea spp.
67	Brasenia Sachraben	148	Mucuna Monosperma	229	Chloranthus Brachystachys
68	Curcuma Caesia	149	Michelia Champaca	230	Litsea Chinensis
69	Celosia Agentina	150	Michelia Punduana	231	Cynomatra Polyandra
70	Castania Sativa	151	Mosla Dianthara	232	Trichosanthus Wallichiana
71	Codonopsis Tongshen	152	Mantha Spicata	233	Melothria Perpusilla
72	Curcuma Aromatica	153	Myrica Nagi	234	Siegesbaskia Orientalis
73	Cinnamomum Pauciflorum	154	Morus Indica	235	Toddalia Asiatica
74	Cucumis Sativus	155	Morus Alba	236	Hypericum Patulum
75	Citrus Maxima	156	Mimosa Pudica	237	Saccharum Spontaneum
76	Cinnamomum Glanduliforum	157	Mahonia Aquifolium	238	Coix Lachryma-Jobi
77	Chenopodium Ambroisoides	158	Milletia Pachycarpa	239	Zingiber Zerumbet
78	Cinchona Pulescens	159	Malva Sylvastris	240	Zanthoxylum Americanum
79	Coryca Papaya	160	Oxalis Acetosilda	241	Zanthoxylum spp
80	Curcuma Angustifolia	161	Oroxylum Indicum	242	Pterosparmum Acerifolium
81	Clausena Excavata	162	Osmunda Regalis	243	Taxus Baccata