Description

Science prehistoric times’ herbs have been used as food, flavonoid, fragrance, and also some spiritual activities. It also has been used to treat and prevent some diseases along with pandemics. Even herbs also provide all for the survival of humans and other life on the planet and well-being. However, according to the world health organization (WHO), herbal medicine is the whole knowledge, skill, and practices based on the theories and experiences indigenous to different cultures and used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvements, treatment and management of physical and emotional health.

Plant-Based Medicines

Historically herbal medicine meets the therapeutic expenses of many previous generations and has a deep tradition of its application outside of conventional medicine. It also remains of on-going importance because about sixty per cent of the world population depends on herbal medicine for their primary health care needs and among them 80% of the population are in developing countries. Simultaneously, the introduction, development, analysis and application of herbal medicine have risen dramatically in the last decade. Globally studies are on-going to verify their efficacy and some of the results have led to the production of plant-based medicines. Interestingly it is always believed that all-natural herbs and their related products is safe, cheaper, and usually obtainable which increases the acceptance and suitability of herbal medicine. However, there are some concerns about herbal medicine because of inappropriate knowledge of the mode of action, potential adverse reaction, the contradiction of active agents, and interaction of existing orthodox pharmaceuticals and functional foods, etc.

Pharmaceutical Ingredients

In recent decades, due to the acceptability of medicinal plants as safe remedies by a greater number of people and approaches to prevent and/or remedy diseases to increase their importance in the mainstream healthcare system. Therefore, the demand for herbal medicine, health products, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, etc. is increasing internationally due to having acknowledgment of these products as mainly non-hazardous, fewer side effects, and better compatibility with physiological flora, available and affordable price. Generally, herbs are considered rich sources of phytochemical compounds that are integral components of the traditional and alternative healthcare systems. People have been using plants as medicine from prehistoric times. The prediction of the time and place for the first uses of plants as medicine is still controversial but according to the US forest service plants have been used as medicine since 60,000 years ago. About 2700BC Chinese started to use herbs as medicine in a more scientific sense and about 3500BC Egyptians recorded their knowledge of illnesses and cures on temple walls which contain over 700 medicinal formulas. Later herbal medicine has been used and documented in India, Roman, Greek, etc. It has also been practiced and documented in North America, Arabic countries, and Japan. The first book and transcript of Ayurveda or herbal medicinal system in Bangladesh are yet unknown but there are a number of tribes or indigenous people living here. These tribes, because of their habitats in forests over the centuries, accumulated a vast amount of information on the therapeutic properties of numerous plant species. Bangladesh has a very rich source of biodiversity and possesses more than 500 therapeutic plant species but there is no actual figure of how many healing plants are available here. The forests of Bangladesh are the main source of a large number of medicinal plants. Primary sources of the use of medicinal plants, research, isolation of bioactive constituents, and pharmaceutical ingredients can help us to find new therapeutically active drugs. It has been estimated that about 5000 plant species (nearly 2.2% of the global species) occur in Bangladesh among them about 2500 species of both higher and lower plants group are of medicinal value. With its rich source of herbs and cultivation fatalities, Bangladesh is one of the inceptions of an herbal revolution and is able to stock and supply medicinal plant resources to meet the swelling global demand. Herbal plants are not only important to the primary healthcare system but also vital to boost the economy and can impart an important part in monetary expansions. In Bangladesh, many medicinal plants have reached the fate of destruction owing to overpopulation, deforestation, and changes in land-use patterns. Therefore, the preservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use can help to build a healthcare system, and create a greater economic society and Bangladesh can play a crucial role in this aspect.