Advancesin: Medicinal

Advancesin
--.----Medicinal 1_
Advances in
Medicinal Plants
"This page is Intentionally Left Blank"
Advances in
Medicinal Plants
Sandhya Agrawal
Oxford Book Company

Jaipur India
I
ISBN: 978-81-89473-69-3
First Published 2009
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Preface
Primitive humans experimentally sampled many kinds of

plants in their search for nourishment. Plants that were
palatable were used for food; those with toxic or unpleasant
effects were avoided or used against enemies; others that
produced physiological effects such as perspiration,
defecation, healing or hallucination were saved for
medicinal purposes and divination. Over a period of
thousands of years, people learned to use a variety of plants
for different ailments, with the process continuing to be so
even in the age of allopathy, especially through systems as
Ayurveda and Unani.
The present text aims to acquaint readers with the
advances that have been taking place in the in the field of
medicinal plants, particularly within the context of New
Age medicine. The book delineates not just conventional
practices, techniques and treatments associated with
medicinal plants, but also gives space to understand the
challenges and issues and how current trends and advances
are making progress to address them. In addition, the book
brings within its purview the use in history of medicinal
plants, its progress and decline, the competition faced from
allopathic drug treatment, with an emphasis on its
continuity and contemporary revival.
Sandhya Aggarwal
Contents
Preface v
1. Current Status of Medicinal Plants 1
2. Cultivation of Medicinal Plants 36
3. Bioprospecting of Medicinal Plants 68
4. Medicinal Plants and Health Care 87
5. Wild Harvesting of Medicinal Plants 113
6. Conservation of Medicinal Plants 133
7. Heritage of Indian Medicinal Plants 175
8. Quality Control of Plant-based Medicines 195
9. Industrial Utilisation of Medicinal Plants 217
10. International Trade in Medicinal Plants 228
11. Medicinal Plants and Intellectual
Property Rights 258
12. Medicinal Plant Information Databases 277
Bibliography 298
Index 300
1
Current Status of Medicinal Plants
Traditional medicine is the synthesis of therapeutic

experience of generations of practicing physicians of
indigenous systems of medicine. Traditional preparation
comprises medicinal plants, minerals and organic matters
etc. Herbal drug constitutes only those traditional
medicines that primarily use medicinal plant preparations
for therapy.
The ancient record is evidencing their use by Indian,
Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Syrian dates back
to about 5000 years (Table 1). About 500 plants with
medicinal use are mentioned in ancient texts and around
800 plants have been used in indigenous systems of
medicine. Indian subcontinent is a vast repository of
medicinal plants that are used in traditional medical
treatments, which also forms a rich source of knowledge.
The various indigenous systems such as Siddha,
Ayurveda, Unani and Allopathy use several plant species
to treat different ailments. In India around 20,000
medicinal plant species have been recorded recently, but
more than 500 traditional communities use about 800
plant species for curing different diseases. Currently 80 %
of the world population depends on plant-derived
medicine for the first line of primary health care for human
alleviation because it has no side effects. Plants are
important sources of medicines and presently about 25%
2 Advances in Medicinal Plants
of pharmaceutical prescriptions in the United States

contain at least one plant-derived ingredient. In the last
century, roughly 121 pharmaceutical products were
formulated based on the traditional knowledge obtained
from various sources.
Table 1: Plant derived ethnotherapeutics and traditional modern medicine.

SNo. Drug Basic investIgation
1. Codeine, morphin Opium the latex of Papaver
somniferum used by ancient
Sumarians. Egyptaians and Greeks
for the treatment of headaches,
arthritis and inducing sleep.
2 Atropine, hyoscyamine Atropa belladona, Hyascyamus niger
etc., were important drugs in
Babylonium folklore.
3 Ephedrine Crude drug (astringent yellow)
derived from Ephedra sinica had
been used by Chinese for
respiratory ailments since 2700 BC
4 Quinine Cinchona spp were u!>ed by Peruvian
Indians for the treatment of fevers
5 Emetine Brazilian Indians and several others
South American tribes used root
and rhizomes of Cephaelis spp to
induce vomiting and cure
dysentery.
6 Colchicine Use of Colchicum in the treatment
of gout has been known in Europe
since 78 AD.
7 Digoxin Digitalis leaves were being used in
heart therapy in Europe during the
18th century.
MODERN MEDICINE FROM HIGHER PLANTS
Medicinal plants play a vital role for the development of

new drugs. During 1950-1970 approX\mately 100 plants
based new drugs were introduced in the USA drug market
including deserpidine, reseinnamine, reserpine,
Current Status of Medicinal Plants 3
vinblastine and vincristine which are derived from higher

plants. From 1971 to 1990 new drugs such as ectoposide,
Eguggulsterone, teniposide, nabilone, plaunotol, z-
guggulsterone, lectinan, ·artemisinin and ginkgolides
appeared all over the world. 2% of drugs were introduced
from 1991 to 1995 including paciltaxel, toptecan,
gomishin, irinotecan etc.
Plant based drugs provide outstanding contribution to
modern therapeutics; for example: serpentine isolated
from the root of Indian plant RauwOlfta serpent ina in 1953,
was a revolutionary event in the treatment of hypertension
and lowering of blood pressure. Vinblastine isolated from
the Catharanthus rosesus is used for the treatment of
Hodgkins, choriocarcinoma, non-hodgkins lymphomas,
leukemia in children, testicular and neck cancer.
Vincristine is recommended for acute lymphocytic
leuken:lia in childhood advanced stages of hodgkins,
lymophosarcoma, small cell lung, cervical and breast
cancer.
Phophyllotoxin is a constituent of Phodophyllum emodi
currently used against testicular, small cell lung cancer
and lymphomas. Indian indigenous tree of Nothapodytes
nimmoniana (Mappia foetida) are mostly used in Japan for
the treatment of cervical cancer (Table 2). Plant derived
drugs are used to cure mental illness, skin diseases,
tuberculosis, diabetes, jaundice, hypertension and cancer.
Medicinal plants play an important role in the
development of potent therapeutic agents. Plant derived
drugs came into use in the modem medicine through the
uses of plant material as indigenous cure in folklore or
traditional systems of medicine.
More than 64 plants have been found to possess
significant antibacterial properties; and more than 24
plants have been found to possess antidiabetic properties,
antimicrobial studies of plants, plant for antiodotes
activity-Daboia russellii and Naja kaouthia venom
4 Advances in Medicinal Planb
neutralisation by lupeol acetate isolated from the root

extract of Indian sarsaparilla Hemidesmus indicus RBr.
Which effectively neutralised Daboia t'Ussellii venom
induced pathophysiological changes The present
investigation explores the isolation and purification ot
another active compound from the methanolic root extract
of Hemidesmus indicus, which was responsible for snake
venom neutralisation.
Table 2: Some of the important medicinal plants used for major modern
drugs for cancer.
Plant namelfamily Drugs Treatment
Cathranthus roseslls L. Vinblastine and Hodgkins,
(Apocynaceae) vincristine Lymphosarcomas and
children leukemia
Podophyllum emodi
Wall. (Beriberidaceae) Podophyllotaxin, Testicular cancer, small cell
lung cancel and
lymphomas
Taxus brevifolius Paciltaxel, taxotere Ovarian cancer,
(Taxaceae) lung cancer and malignant
mE:'lanoma.
Mappia Joetida Miers. Comptothecin, Lung, ovarian and cervical
lrenoteccan and cancer,
topotecan
Comptotheca Quinoline and used in Japan for the
acuminata comptothecin treatment of cervical
alkaloids cancer
Tuniperus communis L. Teniposide and Lung cancer
(Cupressaceae) etoposie
Antagonism of both viper and cobra venom and antiserum

action potentiation, antioxidant property of the active
compound was studied in experimental animalso Recently,
Chatterjee et a1. from this laboratory reported that an
active compound from the 5trychnus nux vomica seed
extract, inhibited viper venom induced lipid peroxidation
in experimental animals.
The mechanism of action of the plant derived

micromolecules induced venom neutralisation need
further attention, for the development of plant-derived
therapeutic antagonist against snakebite for the
community in need. However, the toxicity of plants has
known for a long period of time, and the history of these
toxic plants side by side with medicinal ones are very old
and popular worldwide, they considered the major
natural source of folk medication and toxication even after
arising of recent chemical synthesis of the active
constituents contained by these plants.
Teniposide and etoposide isolated from Podophyllum
species are used for testicular and lung cancer. Taxol
isolated from Taxus brevifolius is used for the treatment of
metastatic ovarian cancer and lung cancer. The above
drugs came into use through the screening study of
medicinal plants because they showed less side effects,
were cost effective and possessed better compatibility.
Market Potential of Phytomedicine

The estimation of total phytomedicine sale reported in
country wise Eurvpean Union was about US$ 6 billion in
1991 and $ 4 billion in 1996, of which almost half were
sold in Germany $ 3 billion, in France $ 1.6 billion, in Italy
$ 0.6 billion and in Japan $ 1.5 billion. The present global
market (Table 3) is said to be US 250 billion.
In India the sale of total herbal products is estimated
at $ 1 billion and the export of herbal crude extract is about
$ 80 million, of which 50% is contributed by Ayurvedic
classical preparations. Plant derived drugs are important
in Germany and Russia. Particularly, herbal drugs are
imported by several countries for their usage of traditional
medicinal preparation from various parts of the country
(Table 4). Some of the important Indian medicinal plants
exported to various countries are reported. Important
medicinal plants and their parts used for the preparation
in indigenous systems ()f Indian medicines are reported in

table 5.
T. ':Jle 3. Market size of phytomedicine and their sale in US Dollar.

S.No. Country Years Drugs sales in US $ (billion)
1 Europe 1991 6
Germany 3.0
France 1.6
Italy 0.6
Others 0.8
2 Europe 1996 10.0
3. USA 1996 4.0
4 India 1996 1.0
5 Other countries 1996 5.0
6 All countries 1998 30.0 - 60.0
Table 4. Percentage of herbal drugs imported by various countries for

drug preparation
Country Percentage of herbal drugs imported
China 45%
USA 15.6%
Australia 10.5%
India 3.7%
South Korea 1.4%
Taiwan 1.7%
Indonesia 8.1%
R()le of WHO in Phytomedicine
In 1991 WHO developed guidelines for the assessment of

herbal medicine, and the 6th International Conference of
Drug Regulatory Authorities held at Ottawa in the same
year ratified the same. The salient features of WHO
guidelines are: 1). Quality assessment: Crude plant
materials or extract plant preparation and finished
product. 2). Stability: Shelf life. 3). Safety assessment:
Documentation of safety based on experience and

toxicological studies. 4). Assessment of efficacy:
Documented evidence of traditional use and activity
determination (Animals and human).
Standardisation of Phytomedicine
In the traditional system of medicine, the drugs are
primarily dispensed as aqueous or ethanol extract. Fresh
plant juice or crude extract are a rarity rather than a rule.
The medicinal plants should be authentic and free from
harmful materials like pesticides, heavy metals, and
microbial and radioactive contamination. The medicinal
plant should be single solvent extraction once or
repeatedly or aqueous extract or as described in the
ancient texts. The extract should be then checked for
biological activity in experimental animal models. The
bioactive extract should be standardised on the basis of
active compound (Table 5). The bi....1ctive t~xtract should
undergo limited safety studies.
Table 5
S.No Traditional sector Modern sector Standardisation of
phar11UlS phaT11UlS phytomedicine (formulation)
1 Himalaya Ranbaxy Chromatography techniques
2 Zandu Lupin Thin Layer chromatographx
(TLC)
3 Dabur Allembic UV - Spectrophotometer
4 Hamdard High Performance of Liquid
Chromatography (HPLC)
5 Maharishi Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
spectroscopy (NMR)
New Sources of Tribal Medicine

Tribal healers in most of the countries, where
ethnomedical treatment is frequently used to treat cut
wounds, skin infection, swelling, aging, mental illness,
cancer, asthma, diabetes, jaundice, scabies, eczema,

venereal diseases, snakebite and gastric ulcer, provide
instructions to local people as how to prepare medicine
from herbal. They keep no records and the information is
mainly passed on verbally from generation to generation.
World Health Organisation (WHO) has shown great
interest in documenting the use of medicinal plants used
by tribals from different parts of the world. Many
developing countries have intensified their efforts in
documenting the ethnomedical data on medicinal plants.
Research to find out scientific evidence for claims by tribal
healers on Indian herbs has been intensified. Once these
local ethnomedical preparations are scientifically
evaluated and disseminated properly, people will be better
inform€d regarding efficacious drug treatment and
improved health status.
HERBAL MEDICNE SCENARIO IN INDIA
Herbal medicine is still the mainstay of about 75-80% of

the world population, mainly in the developing countries,
for primary health care because of better c~ltural
acceptability, better compatibility with the human body
and lesser side effects. However, the last few years have
seen a major increase in their use in the developed world.
In Germany and France, many herbs and h~rbal extracts
are used as prescription drugs and their sales in the
countries of European Union were around $ 6 billion in
1991 and may be over $ 20 billion now.
In USA, herbal drugs are currently sold in health food
stores with a turnover of about $ 4 billion in 1996 which
is anticipated to double by the tum of the century. In India,
the herbal drug market is about $ one billion and the
export of plant-based crude drugs is around $ 80 million.
Herbal medicines also find market as nutraceuticals
(health foods) whose current market is estimated at about
$ 80-250 billion in USA and also in Europe.
India is sitting on a gold mine of well-recorded and

wellpracticed knowledge of traditional herbal medicine.
But, unlike China, India has not been able to capitalise on
this herbal wealth by promoting its use in the developed
world despite their renewed interest in herbal medicines.
This can be achieved by judicious product identification
~ased on diseases found in the developed world for which
do medicine or only palliative therapy is available; such
herbal medicines will find speedy access into those
countries. Backward integration from market demands
will pay rich dividends. Strategically, India should enter
through those plant-based medicines which are already
well accepted in Europe, USA and Japan. Simultaneously,
it should identify those herbs medicinal plants) which are
time-tested and dispensed all over in India.
The basic requirements for gaining entry into
developed countries include: (i) well-documented
traditional use, (li) singleplant medicines, (iii) medicinal
plants free from pesticides, heavy metals, etc., (iv)
standardisation based on chemical and activity profile,
and (v) safety and stability. However, mode of action
studies in animals and efficacy in human will also be
supportive. Such scientifically generated data will project'
herbal medicine in a proper perspective and help in
sustained global market.
Herbal Medicine
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently
defined traditional medicine (including herbal drugs) as
comprising therapeutic practices that have been in
existence, often for hundreds of years, before the
development and spread of modern medicine and are still
in use today. Or say, traditional medicine is the synthesis
of therapeutic experience of generations of practising
physicians of indigenous systems of medicine. The
traditional preparations comprise medicinal plants,
minerals, organic matter, etc. Herbal drugs constitute only

those traditional medicines which primarily use medicinal
plant preparations for therapy. The earliest recorded
evidence of their use in Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek,
Roman and Syrian texts dates back to about 5000 years.
The classical Indian texts include Rigveda, Atherveda,
Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita. The herbal
medicines/traditional medicaments have, therefore, been
derived from rich traditions of ancient civilisations and
scientific heritage.
Nutraceuticals
This is a term of recent origin and comprises nutritionally

or medicinally enhanced foods with health benefits. These
include engineered grain, cereals supplemented with
vitamins or minerals or genetically manipulated soybean
and canola oil without trans fatty acids, etc. Many pharma
and biotech companies have moved into this area since it
does not involve regulatory clearances and offers large
markets. These companies have extended the term
nutraceutical to include pure compounds of natural origin
like lovastatin (a lipid lowering agent from red rice yeast),
docosahexaenoic acid (a cardiovascular stimulant from
algae), sterols, curcumin (from plants), etc. Likewise
herbal preparations are being marketed as nutraceuticals
or health foods and even the minimum standards laid
down by WHO are not followed. It is pertinent to mention
that herbal medicines are therapeutics of the indigenous/
traditional systems of medicine and it is unethical to
classify them as health foods. The regulatory agencies
should, therefore, step in to prevent such misuse of natural
products/herbal medicines as was done by US-FDA by
banning the dietary supplement cholestin (Le. lovastatin).
Nutraceuticals are in great demand in the developed
world particularly USA and Japan. Nutraceutical market
in USA alone is about $ 80-250 billion, with a similar
market size in Europe and Japanese sales worth $ 1.5

billion. Such huge markets have arisen because of the
Dietary Supplement Health Education Act passed by USA
in 1994 which permits 1,inprecedented claims to be made
about food or the dieta~ supplement's ability about health
benefits including prevention and treatment of diseases.
This act has motivated pharma to include not only
compounds isolated from fauna and flora but also herbal
medicines as nutraceuticals, which is unfortunate. The
developing countries also see this as a good opportunity
and are marketing such products.
Herbal Medicine Market

As per available records, the herbal medicine market in
1991 in the countries of the European Union was about
$ 6 billion (may be over $ 20 billion now), with Germany
accounting for $ 3 billion, France $ 1.6 billion and Italy $
0.6 billion. Incidentally in Germany and France, herbal
extracts are sold as prescription drugs and are covered by
national health insurance. In 1996, the US herbal medicine
market was about $ 4 billion and with the current growth
rate may be more than double by the turn of century. Thus
a reasonable guesstimate for current herbal medicine
market worldwide may be around $ 30-60 billion. The
Indian herbal drug market is about $ one billion and the
export of herbal crude extracts is about $ 80 million.
The 10 best-selling herbal medicines in developed
countriesare given in Table 7. The sales of these drugs
account for almost 50% of the herbal medicine market.
These drugs have been well standardised and some of
them namely echinacea, garlic, gingko, ginseng and saw
palmeto are supported with mode of action and clinical
studies. Amongst the developed countries Germany holds
the lead and has published individual monographs on
therapeutic benefits of more than 300 herbs. In developing
countries, China has compiled/generated data on over
800 medicinal plants and exports large amounts of herbal

drugs. India has prepared only a few monographs and its
exports are dismal.
Herbal medicines are being used by about 80% of the
world population primarily in the developing countries for
primary health care. They have stood the test of time for
their safety, efficacy, cultural acceptability and lesser side
effects. The chemical constituents present in them are a
part of the physiological functions of living flora and hence
they are believed to have better compatibility with the
human body. Ancient literature also mentions herbal
medicines for age-related diseases namely memory loss,
osteoporosis, diabetic wounds, immune and liver
disorders, etc. for which no modern medicine or only
palliative therapy is available. These drugs are made from
renewable resources of raw materials by ecofriendly
processes and will bring economic prosperity to the masses
growing these raw materials.
The turnover of herbal medicines in India as over-the-
counter products, ethical and classical formulations and
home remedies of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha systems
of medicine is about $ 1 billion with a meagre export of
about $ 80 million. Psyllium seeds and husk, castor oil and
opium extract alone account for 60% of the exports. 80%
of the exports to developed countries are of crude drugs
and not finished formulations leading to low revenue for
the country.
Thus the export of herbal medicines from India is
negligible despite the fact that the country has a rich
traditional knowledge and heritage of herbal medicine.
Considering the huge herbal medicine and nutraceutical
market in developed countries, India should reconsider
exporting crude herbal drugs. Three of the 10 most widely
selling herbal medicines in developed countries, namely
preparation of Allium sativum, Aloe barbadensis and Panax
species are available in India.
India is the largest grower of Psyllium. (Plantago ovata)

and Senna (Cassia senna) plants and one of the largest
growers of Castor (Ricinus communis) plant. These are also
exported in large amounts and yet our market share is
dismal because of export of crude extracts/drugs. Twenty
other plants are commonly exported as crude drugs worth
$ 8 million. Five of these, namely Glycyrrhiza glabra,
Commiphora mukul, Plantago ovata, Aloe barbadensis
and Azadirachta indica are even used in modern
medicine.
The plants Glycyrrhiza glabra, Piper longum,
Adhatoda vasica, Withania somnifera, Cyperus rotundus,
Tinospora cordifolia, Berberis aristata, Tribulus terristris,
Holarrhena antidysenterica and Boerhavia diffusa have been
used in 52 to 141 herbal formulations and triphala
(Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica and Embelica
officinalis) alone have been used in 219 formulations (Table
8). In spite of this, efforts have not been made to preserve
their germ-plasm from different localities, identification of
active plants vis-a-vis climatic zone and development of
agrotechnologies for their organised farming and use as
authentic materials in herbal medicines for better
economic gains.
India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity centres having
over 45,000 plant species. Its diversity is unmatched due
to the presence of 16 different agroclimatic zones, 10
vegetative zones and 15 biotic provinces. The country has
15,000-18,000 flowering plants, 23,000 fungi, 2500 algae,
1600 lichens, 1800 bryophytes and 30 million micro-
organisms. India also has equivalent to % of its land
exclusive economic zone in the ocean harbouring a large
variety of flora and fauna, many of them with therapeutic
properties. About 1500 plants with medicinal uses are
mentioned in ancient texts and around 800 plants have
been used in traditional medicine; the most widely used
plants are given in Table 6. Tables 7 and 8 give the names
of medicinal plants exported and imported in India,

respectively.
The major traditional sector pharmas, namely
Himalaya, Zandu, Dabur, Hamdard, Maharishi, etc. and
modern sector pharmas, namely Ranbaxy, Lupin,
Allembic, etc. are standardising their herbal formulations
by chromatography techniques like TLC/HPLC finger
printing, etc. There are about 7000 firms in the small-scale
sector manufacturing traditional medicines with or
without standardisation. However, none of the pharma
has standardised herbal medicines using active
compounds as markers linked with confirmation of
bioactivity of herbal drugs in experimental animal models.
Table 6. Miljor Indian medicinal plants used in three indigenous systems
of medicine
Botanical name Sanskrit name

Abies webbiana Taleespatra
Achyranthes aspera Apamarga
Acorus calamus Vacha
Aloe sp. Kumari
Andrographis paniculata Bhoonimba (KaImeg)
Asparagus adscendens Mushali
Asparagus racemoSus Shatavari
Bauhinia variegata Kachnar
Bergenia ligulata Pashan bheda
Boerhavia diffusa Punarnava
Centella asiatica Mandukparni
Clerodendrum serratum Bharangi
Convolvulus pluricaulis Shankhapushpi
Crataeva nurvala Varuna
Dioscorea bulbifera Vidarikand
Embe~ ribes Vidanga
Gymnemma sylvestre Madhunashni
Hedychium spicatum Shathi
IHolarrhena antidysenterica Kutaja
MfOsua ferrea Nagkesar
Nardostachys jatamansi Jatamansi

Ocimum sp. Tulsi
Phyllanthus amarus Bhumyamalika
Phyllanthus emblica Amalika (Amla)
Picrorhiza kurrooa Kutki
Piper longum Pippali
Pluchea lanceolata Rasna
Psoralea corylifolia Bakuchi
Rubia cordifolia Manjistha
Saraca indica Ashoka
Saussurea lappa Kushtha
Sida sp. Bala
Symplocos racemosa Lodhra
Terrninalia arjuna Arjuna
Terrninalia chebula Haritaki (Harad)
Tinospora cordifolia Guduchi
Tribulus terrestris Gokshura
Valeriana jatamansi Tagar
Vitex negundo Nirgundi
Withania somnifera Ashwagandha
Role of WHO in Herbal Medicine

Two d-ecades ago, WHO referr¢d to traditional health
systems (including herbal medicine) as 'holistic' - 'that of
viewing man in his totality within a wide ecological
spectrum, and of emphasizing the view that ill health or
disease is brought about by an imbalance or disequilibrium
of man in his total ecological system and not only by the
causative agent and pathologenic evolution' (WHO),
probably implying that the indigenous system drugs
(including herbal medicine) restore the imbalance or
disequilibrium leading to the cure of ill health or disease.
Such an attitude sent signals that WHO as an organisation
has failed to provide leadership to establish traditional
systems of medicine which prOVide health care to about
80% of the world population. However, it helped the
inclusion of proven traditional remedies in national drug

policies and regulatory approvals by developing countries.
The World Health Assembly continued the debate and
adopted a resolution in 1989 that herbal medicine is of
great importance to the health of individuals and
communities. The redefined definition of traditional
medicine thus issued in the early nineties is given vide
supra. Consequently, in 1991 WHO developed guidelines
for the assessment of herbal medicine, and the same were
ratified by the 6th International Conference of Drug
Regulatory Authorities held at Ottawa in the same year.
The salient features of WHO guidelines are: (i) Quality
assessment: Crude plant material; Plant preparation;
Finished product. (ii) Stability: Shelf life. (iii) Safety
assessment: Documentation of safety based on experience
or / and; Toxicology studies. (iv) Assessment of efficacy:
Documented evidence of traditional use or/and; Activity
determination (animals, human). To the best of my
knowledge, WHO has not systematically evaluated any
traditional medicine.'
Table 7. Medicinal plants being exported from India
Botanical name Part of the plant

Aconitum species
(other than heterophyllum) Root
Acorus calamus Rhizome
Adhatoda vasica Whole plant
Berberis aristata Root
Cassia angustifolia Leaf and pod
Colchicum luteum Rhizome and seed
Hedychium spicatum Rhizome
Heracleum candicans Rhizome
Inula racemosa Rhizome
Juglans regia Bark
Juniperus communis Fruit
-tiperus macropoda Fruit
Picrorhiza kurroo<' Root

-,. Plantago ovata Seed and husk
Podophyllum emodi Rhizome
Punica granatum > Flower, root and bark
Rauvolfia serpentina Root
Rheum emodi Rhizome
Saussurea lappa Rhizome
Swertia chirayita Whole plant
Valeriana jatamansi Rhizome
Zingiber officinale Rhizome
Herbal Medicine Standardisation

In indigenous/traditional systems of medicine, the drugs
are primarily dispensed as water decoction or ethanolic
extract. Fresh plant parts, juice or crude powder are a
rarity rather than a rule. Thus medicinal plant parts
should be authentic and free from harmful materials like
pesticides, heavy metals, microbial or radioactive
contamination, etc. The medicinal plant is subjected to a
single solvent extraction once or repeatedly, or water
decoction or as described in ancient texts.
The extract should then be checked for indicated
biological activity in an experimental animal model(s). The
bioactive extract should be standardised on the basis of
active principle or major compound(s) along with
fingerprints. The next important step is stabilisation of the
bioactive extract with a minimum shelf-life of over a year.
The stabilised bioactive extract should undergo regulatory
or limited safety studies in animals. Determination of the
probable mode of action will explain the therapeutic
profile.
The safe and stable herbal extract may be marketed if
its therapeutic use is well documented in indigenous
systems of medicine, as also viewed by WHO. A limited
clinical tribal to establish its therapeutic potential would
promote clinical use. The herbal medicines developed in
this mode should be dispensed as prescription drugs or

even aTe products depending upon disease consideration
and under no circumstances as health foods or
nutraceuticals.
UNDERGROUND FLOWER
Flowering involves transformation of a foliar into a floral

bud through a series of histological, physiological and
biochemical changes. Since flower represents a modified
shoot, and shoot is negatively geotropic, flowers almost
invariably differentiate above ground. If flowers had been
underground, the world would be devoid of the range of
colours, variety of scents, and innumerable patterns and
forms we see around us.
Table 8. Medicinal plants being imported in India

Botanical name Native name
Cuscuta epithymum Aftimum vilaiyti
Glycyrrhiza glabra Mullathi
Lavendula stoechas Ustukhudus
Operculina turpethum Turbud
Pimpinella anisum Anise fruit
Smilax china Chobchini
Smilax ornata Ushba
Thymus vulgaris Hasha
The immense variety and enormous beauty of flowers

benefits the plants and appeals the human eye. However,
for the plant, underground flower formation could be an
asset, as it ,substantially cuts down resource allocation
involved in differentiation of accessory floral parts,
biosynthesis of pigments and production of large
quantities of pollen and nectar to reward pollinators.
Importantly, underground flowers have assured
pollination and seed set, with security against predators
and vagaries of environment.
Nevertheless, the invariable differentiation of flowers

above ground has deprived plants of all the above
advantages. However, as compensation the aboveground
flowers confer on plants the ability for (i) crosspollination,
which generates variability, assures adaptability and
evolutionary plasticity, and (ii) wider dispersal of pollen
and seed for greater distribution and reducing
intrapopulation competition.
That pollination and seed dispersal are the only major
events which aerial flowers help to accomplish is reflected
by TuIipa, Sternbergia, Ixilioron and such other bulbous
angiosperms in which flower development is completed
within the bulb, underground. The hidden flower is thrust
above ground for accomplishing pollination, whereafter,
seeds and fruits develop above ground.
Geocarpy
Have plants ever tried to combine the advantages of above
ground flowering and underground development of
fruits? The answer is provided by a few plants of which
peanut is the most common example. In this legume,
flowers diffe-rentiate above ground. Soon after
pollination, they shed their petals and bend with the help
of a peg to first come close to soil surface, and finally
become subterranean. Pods and seeds mature
underground. This phenomenon of development of fruits
underground is called geocarpy. Besides Arachis hypogaea,
development of aerial flowers and subterranean fruits is
also known in Trifolium subterraneum, Voandzeia
subterranea (L.) Thouarsand Kerstingiella geocarpa Harms.
There are also reports of the differentiation of fertile,
cleistogamous flowers on the underground shoots of
peanut. Development of seed from flowers which are ab
initio underground, is called amphicarpy. However, when
these underground buds are brought above the ground
and exposed to light, they open readily, and follow normal
course of development, suggesting that these flowers are

not truly c1eistogamous and the plants are not truly
amphicarpic. Some scientists believe that such flowers
differentiate in response to the environment created by
farmer's 'plow'.
Amphicarpy
During their evolutionary history, differentiation of true
underground flowers has been attempted by flowering
plants more than once. Of the nearly 250,000 flowering
plants, only 36 are amphicarpic. These are distributed over
10 phylogenetic ally distantly related groups with a
maximum concentration in the Fabaceae (- 10 species)
and Poaceae (8 species).
Most amphicarpic plants are annuals; only a few are
perennial. With a few notable exceptions, the amphicarpic
taxa grow well in aerated, well drained sandy or gravely
soils. The ,characters shared by most amphicarpic plants
include the presence of (i) self-fertile subterranean flowers
that mature into large fruits and seeds with limited
dispersal, and (li) aerial flowers that are capable of cross-
pollination and set many smaller fruits and seeds suited
to long distance dispersal.
Flowers of aboveground capitula of Gymnarrhena
micrantha Desf. a dwarf, annu::.l desert composite, are
chasmogamous, while those comprising the subterranean
capitula are cleistogamous. The aerial capitula bear a large
number of small, wind dispersed fruits. On the contrary,
the subterranean fruits are large sized and fewer. They are
.li. never shed; their seeds germinate in situ.
Aerial flowers of the plant are potentially open-

pollinated, which helps in increasing the genetic
variability of the population. The wind dispersed achenes
widen the distribution of the species to distant habitats.
Subterranean flowers are invariably self-pollinated and
are tAerefore, instrumental in preserving the parental
genotype. Underground fruits and seeds improve chances

of survival of these plants at specific microhabitats.
Amphicarpum purshii Kunth., an annual panicoid
grass, also bears aboveground and subterranean spikelets
on the same individual. The former are smalJ and
chasmogamous, while the latter are large and
cleistogamous. The subterranean seeds are few but heavy.
These account for most progeny seedlings. Aerial florets
outnumber the subterranean flowers and contribute to the
widening of genetic variability of $e species.
.
Relative Cost of Aerial and Underground Flowers
In the genus Commelina of Commelinaceae, five species are
known to produce underground cleistogamous flowers.
Commelina forskalaei and C. benghalensis bear flowers on
three .types of shoots; positively geotropic subterranean
shoots, negatively geo-tropic cauline shoots and
diageotropic shoots which run parallel to soil surface. The
positively geotropic leafless shoots grow deep into the soil,
and carry flowers inside colourless spathes. Flowers on
other two types of shoot differentiate in green spathes and
vary in number as well as structure.
In C. benghalensis spathes on the diageotropic and
subterranean shoots have a single hermaphrodite flower
each, but aerial spathes have three and occasionally four
flowers each. Flowers of aerial spathes are trimorphic; the
oldest is male and chasmogamous, the second'is
hermaphrodite and chasmogamous and the youngest is
hermaphrodite and cleistogamous. Flowers of the
diageotropic spathes are always chasmogamous, and
those of the subterranean spathes are invariably
cleistogamous.
The subterranean cleistogamous flowers are obligately
self-pollinated. Their floral parts are small. The ratio
between the resources consumed in the differentiation of
their essential (stamens and carpels) and accessory organs
(sepals and petals) is 3: 2 (60: 40%). Resource expenditure

on pistil differentiation is 20% higher than that on the
differentiation of stamens. This is reflected in the greater
biomass of the pistil.
Cleistogamous flowers have fewer pollen grains and
their pollen-ovule ratio is 2,305 : 1. They also produce
fewer but larger and heavier seeds than their counterparts
on aeria1 and diageotropic shoots. This increase in size and
weight of seeds is caused by the diversion of reso~ces
saved from male function and differentiation of extrafloral
parts to the female function. The diversion is made possible
by assured pollination due to cleistogamy despite the
availability of fewer ovules borne by the pistil.
On the contrary in all chasm<,gamous flowers, aerial
as well as diageotropic, greater share of resources is
invested in floral advertisement; it approaches 62% in
male and 42-50% in hermaphrodite chasmogamous
flowers. From the tota1 reproductive investment 'on
chasmogamous hermaphrodite flowers, 56-61%
investment is channelised to male function. Even in
cleistogamous flowers of the aerial branches, the ratio
between pistil and stamen biomass is male biased unlike
their subterranean counterparts.
Although anther dehiscence and stigma receptivity
overlap in hermaphrodite chasmogamous flowers leading
to self-pollination, these flowers hold the potential for
crosspollination because of their colourful petals and
anthers, profuse pollen production and very frequent
visitation by a variety of hymenopteran insects. The
potential for crosspollination can get expressed in the
event of the failure of self-pollination.
From what has been stated above, it follows that
reproduction through underground flowers is less
expensive, yet more assured. In terms of investment/
allocation of the resources, the seed produced
underground is cheaper than that set above-ground: If
selectitm pressure has not worked against above ground

flowers, and they continue to differentiate on the plant,
it is because they help in retrieving one of the costs of sex,
that of sharing gene(s)through occasional outcrossing.
In most amphicarpic plants including C. benghalensis,
seedlings produced by subterranean seeds are more
vigorous than those produced by aerial seeds. As a ..
consequence, they have greater competitive ability and
better survival compared to seedlings resulting from aerial
flowers/ fruits.
According to Cheplick and Quinn, it is perhaps on
account of the importance of subterranean seeds to
individual fitness that they are produced early in
ontogeny, well in advance of aerial seeds. Zeidehas termed
early production of subterranean seeds and fruits a
'p~ssimistic' strategy of plants, suited to highly disturbed
habitats, where survival even up to the end of growing
season is uncertain. In such situations it is a definite
advantage if plants produce fruits as early as possible. In
contrast, the, formation of aerial fruits is an 'optimistic'
strategy, whereby reproduction is delayed until the end of
growing season, when time and growth conditions have
resulted in accumulation of sufficient resources in the
plant body.
Evolution of Amphicarpy
What factors have led to the evolution of amphicarpy is
a question that remains to be answered. A number of
hypotheses have been proposed from time to time. Since
subterranean seed production has evolved independently
in phylogenetically unrelated taxa, the factors underlying
their evolution are most likely to differ from species to
species. Mattatiabelieves that amphicarpy in the genus
Lathyrus has arisen independently at least three times.
According to one hypothesis, the adaptive significance
of subterranean seeds is to expose them and the plants
differentiating therefrom to similar, presumably

favourable, microhabitat as that of the parent. However,
in experiments conducted on Amphicarpum purshii, plants
raised from subterranean Seeds close to the parent did not
always outperform the plants raised at places far removed
from the parent.
• A related possibility is that being better shielded from
the extreme fluctuations of micr~te at the soil surface,
the buried seeds retain viability, germinate and establish
seedlings far better than the seeds lying exposed on ~oil
surface. This hypothesis seems particularly plausible for
those amphicarp~c plants which inhabit dry habitats since
'active seed burial will, for instance, ensure availability of
greater soil moisture'. Supporting evidence for this comes
from Emex spinosa, Amphicarpum purshiiand to· a certain
extent Commelina benghalensis. In all these taxa, none
(some in C. benghalensis) of the subterranean seeds
germinated when they were spread on the soil surface.
However, this hypothesis does not explain evolution of
subterranean seed ,production in species inhabiting mesic
environments.
Another hypothesis is that severe predator pressure
must have led to the evolution of subterranean seed pro-
duction which is understandable since buried flowers,
fruits and seeds are comparatively safe from foraging
animals. 'In grasses, it is easy to envisage the selective
advantage of subterranean seed production under
conditions of intense grazing.' Even in deserts where
animals can be a major cause of seed predation, seed burial
might be an adaptive response.
Detailed comparative data on the effect of herbivory
on aerial and subterranean flowers, fruits and seeds are
"" required to confirm this hypothesis.
Another advantage which can accrue to a plant from
subterranean seeds becomes explicit during a major
disturbance which periodically destroys the aerial portion
of a herbaceous plant. At this critical juncture in plant's

life cycle, only individuals producing subterranean
propagules would contribute to the formation of next
generation. This would be true especially for annuals
which usually lack vegetative propagation and therefore,
have a single means of reproduction. In Amphicarpum
purshii, Vigna minimaand Commelina virginica, amphicarpy
has been viewed as possible adaptation to escape fire.
All the above hypotheses concede selective advantage
to subterranean reproduction. If this were so, why do
amphicarpic plants still produce aerial seeds? Is it for
combating the constraints associated with subterranean
reproduction? The retention of aerial flowers may be a
selective compromise between the risks associated with
production of either of the two types of flowers.
Detailed ecological, evolutionary and physiological
studies are required to fully appreciate the actual
significance of underground flowers.
CHAMOLI EARTHQUAKE, GARHWAL HIMALAYA
The Chamoli earthquake of 29 March 1999 is yet another

moderate event of this decade in the Garhwal Himalaya.
n occurred at 00:35:13.59 h (local time) near the town of
Chamoli in northern India. The US Geological Survey
(USGS) located the event at 300 49.2¢N, 79°28.8'E (m6.3
and M6.6), and the India Meteorological Department
(IMD) located it at 30 0 17.82'N, 79°33.84'E (m6.8 and
M6.5; focal depth - 15 km). A long aftershock sequence
including at least three events of M > 5 followed the main
event, some of which were located using local and regional
stations. The USGS faultplane solution indicates a pure
thrust mechanism with two nodal planes striking at 282°
and 97°.
The earthquake triggered landslides, blocked several
roads, and disturbed electricity and water supply. A
maximum intensity of VIII (MSK) has been attributed to
this event. Maximum damages occurred in the district of

Chamoli where nearly 2600 houses collapsed and over
10,800 were partially damaged, leaving about 100 dead
and 400 injured. The quake was also felt at far-off places
such as in Kanpur (440 km south-east), Shimla (220 km
north-west) and Delhi (280 km south-west). A few
buildings in Delhi sustained non-structural damages.
The Chamoli event is important from various
considerations. One: its location in the 'central seismic
gap', a segment of the Himalaya that is considered to have
the maximum potential for a large earthquake. Two: its
proximity to the high dam under construction near Tehri,
- 125 km west of Chamoli. Here. we present some of the
observations made in the Chamoli area and discuss the
significance of this earthquake in our understanding of the
seismic hazard of the region.
Geologic and Tectonic Setting
The Himalayan mountain range, an outcome of the

compressional processes ensued by the India-Asia
collision (70-40 Ma) has been undergoing extensive crustal
shortening along the entire 2400-km-Iong northern edge
of the Indian plate. A series of major thrust planes - the
Main Central Thrust (MCT), the Main Boundary Thrust
(MBT) and the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) - have been
formed as a result of these processes. In some models, these
thrust faults are considered to have evolved progressively,
leaving the older ones dormant whereas in others, they are
treated as contemporaneous. For example, the
evolutionary modelconsiders the MCT to be an older
thrust plane that was more active in the early phases of
the Himalayan orogeny and MBT as a younger one that
is more active currently.
The steady-state model on the other hand, treats the
MCT and the MBT to be contemporaneous and merging
at depths with a common detachment surface where the
great Himalayan earthquakes are believed to originate.

The seismicity of the Himalaya, therefore, needs to be
understood in terms of the relative roles of these faults. It
has been argued on the basis of focal mechanismsthat the
MCT is probably aseismic and the current activity is on the
MBT. However, Chandernoted that the coseismic ground
elevation changes observed during the 1905 Kangra
earthquake could not be~xplained by assuming slip on the
MBT. The pronounced band of seismicity observed
beneath and south of MCT in Kumaun and Nepalis
another indication of active deformation. The earthquakes
recorded during 1984-1986 by a network of stations in the
Yamuna and Bhagirathi valleys are also noted to be
following a trend of the MCT. The 1991 Uttarkashi
earthquake is the most recent activity associated with the
MCT.
Tectonically, the MCT represents a ductile shear zone
at depth, comprising a duplex zone with three distinct
thrust planes: MCT I, MCT II and MCT III from south to
north. Based on the degree of metamorphism,
lithostratigraphy and tectonic setting, these thrust planes
are also referred to as Chail (MCT I, lower thrust), Jutogh
(MCT II, middle thrust) and Vaikrita (MCT III, upper
thrust). Of these, the Chail Thrust (MCT I), the southern-
most and the youngest, is believed to have moved during
the Uttarkashi earthquake. The Chamoli earthquake
appears to be associated with the ongoing deformation
along this thrust.
The Lesser Himalayan sequence lying between the
MCT and the MBT shows stacking of various groups of
rocks characterised by south-vergent imbricate thrusts,
which were later folded into major scale synforms and
antiforms. Geological map of the area indicates presence
of an anticlinal structure very close to Chamoli. The whole
area, considered as a schuppen zone, is delimited on two
sides by almost vertical faults - the E-W trending
-
Alaknanda fault in the south and the NNW-SSE trending
Nandaprayag fault in the east. Several parallel faults have
been mapped within this schuppen zone and one
interpretation is that, these faults demarcate isoclinal
anticlines split along the contacts of various litho-units.
During the post-earthquake investigations, we
observed some signatures of recent deformation,
associated with the anticline mapped near Chamoli. A
sharp contact of MCT I with recent/sub-recent deposits
was located on the southern flanks of this anticline. Thick
deposit of colluvium (boulders and pebbles intercalated
with coarse sand) occurs at the foot of the steeper limb of
the fold.
The colluvium may have been remobilised on an
incipient slope due to -the development of the growing fold.
Such surficial features have been associated with fault
propagation folds. We interpret the contact near Chamoli
to be the surface expression of an active fold. The tight
compressional folding in the Berinag quartzite and the
stretching lineation in mylonitic quartzite observed at
these localities are suggestive of the intense shortening
along this contact.
The above observations are significant because the
contact of the thrust plane occurs very close to the
epicentral zone of the Chamoli earthquake. Although the
models for many earthquakes including the Uttarkashi
event suggest the rupture along MCT I, geological
evidences for active faulting in this region are sparse.
From this point, the above observations from the
epicentral region of the Chamoli earthquake may provide
certain clues to identify active faults/folds in the
Himalaya. The present data by themselves are insufficient
to suggest the nature of the ongoing deformation in this
region but they provide pointers for selecting sites for
palae( ~ismological and related investigations.
Historic and Current Seismicity

Although four great earthquakes (M > 8) have occurred
along the Himalayan front during the last 100 years, the
Garhwal region is not known to have experienced a
magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the recorded history.
Historic and recent seismicity of the Kumaun-Garhwal
region suggests the occurrence of at least three
earthquakes of M > 7 in this region.
The largest historic earthquake reported from this
region occurred on 1 September 1803. Several villages
were reported to have been buried by rockfalls and
landslides landslides caused by this earthquake. The
Badrinath temple located ~ 40 km north of Chamoli was
severely damaged in this earthquake. The epicentre based
on the maximum intensities is located ~ 100 km west of
Chamoli.
We examined two temples at Gopeshwar and
Makkumath, both of which have been reconstructed at
least once in the past. Inscriptions on stones, supported by
historic data testify that the damages to these temples
caused by the 1803 event were substantial and that the
smaller structures around the main shrine were totally
destroyed. It should be noted that the temples at
Gopeshwar and Makkumath suffered only minor vertical
cracks during the 1999 earthquake, in spite of their
locations in the meizoseismal area, possibly because the
1803 event was much larger. Based on the extent of
affected areas, it has been suggested that the 1803 event
is a much larger earthquake on the detachment surface.
Intensity of Coseismic Processes

The area affected by the Chamoli earthquake lies in seismic
zone V, implying a potential for shaking intensity of IX on
the Modified Mercalli scale. Our survey indicates that the
maximum intensity of the 1999 event was only VIII.
30 Advances in Medicinal Plant!>
Intensity showed rather abrupt changes from one 1-JCation

to another, probably due to the local site conditions. For
instance, the intensity of shaking at Upper Birahi located
on the river terrace was VIII, whereas it was only VI at
Lower Birahi located on the hard rock. Similarly, Lower
and Upper Chamoli showed intensity VIII whereas
Gopeshwar, located 2 km away on the hill slope, showed
intensity V. Higher intensity observed at Makkumath,
located on the river terrace, - 15 km north-west of
Chamoli, is another example of site amplification.
Ground cracks developed at several places as part of
slope failure, causing threat to the settlements.
Welldeveloped ground cracks trending roughly in the
east-west direction and showing lateral movement of up
to - 12 cm were observed at Gopeshwar, Chamoli and
Bairagna. A ttempts to make trenches across the ground
fissures at Telecom Hill in Gopeshwar were unsuccessful
since these were bottomed on the rubble and boulders at
shallow depths (- 1 m), which form a part of the debris.
In one of these trenches, a poorly defined thrust plane was
detected, but its growth and overburden followed a
complex pattern.
Although the trench sections did not reveal fault
planes convincingly, the fissures which had cut through
concrete steps and wellconsolidated debris could be traced
for nearly 1 km. Orientation of these ground fissures,
although discontinuous, conforms to the trend of the MCT
and also to one of the nodal planes (282°) inferred from
the focal mechanism. The predominance of east-west
oriented fissures, particularly those developed in the well-
consolidated debris, may be manifestation of a blind
thrust.
The earthquake was also associated with marked
changes in groundwater discharge. In many groundwater
springs, flow increased by as much as ten times,
surpassing even the post-monsoon discharge. Flow
decreased and the water turned muddy, in one spring

near village Bairagna, a possible indication of fluidisation
and remobilisation of fine sediments.
Response of Structures
The building stock in the affected area consists primarily
of rural dwellings, urban houses and a few modern
constructions. Load-bearing random rubble stone
masonry in mud mortar forms the predominant wall
system. Brick or concrete block masonry in cement mortar
is used in many newer constructions.
The roofing system is usually thatch, tin sheets, slate
tiles, or reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. Many recent
constructions are in RC frames, with masomy infill walls.
In general, most of these are non-engineered with no
formal involvement of engineers in design or construction.
In this session we briefly discuss the performance of
common types of buildings in these areas.
TraditiCVlal stone dwellings

The traditional dwellings in the area are usually made up
of one or two storeys with a rather low storey height (-
1.65 m). The walls are about 0.45-0.60 m thick and are
made of random rubbles or slate wafers. The former type
of walls has two separate layers, the outer and inner
wythes, the intervening space being filled with stone
rubble. In the latter type, dressed stones and slate wafers
are stacked tightly using very little or no mud mortar. Most
dwellings have wood rafter roof supported directly on the
walls. Many old constructions and a few new buildings
have wood rafter roof supported on vertical wooden posts.
Some of the new constructions use RC roof directly resting
on the walls.
Houses described above performed poorly, as
expected, and most deaths and injuries were caused by the
collapse of such constructions. Among these types of
32 Advances in Medicinal Plant,
constructions, those with masonry walls in slate wafers

performed better than those in random rubble masonry,
probably due to better interlock4ng in the latter. The most
common damage pattern was the separation of wythes
following which the walls tended to buckle.
Brick masonry buildings and buildings with lintel bands

In general, buildings with burnt brick masonry in mud or
cement mortar performed much better than the traditional
stone masonry buildings. Numerous recent constructions
in stone as well as brick/ concrete block masonry are
provided with a RC lintel band. Often rooms are provided
with a RC shelf of about half metre width, projecting from
the wall at the lintel level, serving the dual purpose of a
storage slab and a lintel band. Most houses with lintel
bands performed very well.
Reinforced concrete frame buildings

Many RC frame buildings (up to four storeys) with brick
masonry infill walls characterised by simple and regular
configuration, performed well even though most of these
were not formally designed, and certainly not for seismic
loads. The common form of damage included separation
cracks at the interface of the RC frame and infill panels,
and cracking of infill material.
Implications for the High Dam at Tehri

Construction of the 260 m high rockfill dam at Tehri,
located between the MCT and the MBT has remained
controversial since its inception. The environmental issues
associated with the dam as well as the seismic design
parameters have remained active topics of discussion.
Occurrence of another earthquake in its vicinity is likely
to enliven this debate. In this context, it may be useful to
review some of these issues.
Although no great earthquakes have been reported

from the vicinity of the dam during the historic past, the
Uttarkashi and the Chamoli events have occurred during
a span of nine years, within a radius of - 125 km from
Tehri. As mentioned earlier, the largest historic eartbquake
in this region is the 1803 event of M > 7. Maximum
intensity based on historic reportsindicates that the source
of this earthquake may be within a distance of 50 km from
the dam. Aside from current and historical activity, this
region is believed to have undergone several movements
in the recent geological past, as expressed by the
morphological features like deep incision of rivers and
development of river terraces.
The WNW-ESE trending Srinagar Thrust is a
prominent structure reported to be passing through the
vicinity of the dam. Data on slip rates or fault offsets in
trenches are not available, placing major limitations on the
evaluation of recurrence rate of earthquakes in this region.
However, probability for an earthquake during the
projected life of the dam is considered to be high.
Effect of impounClment of a large reservoir leading to
the possibility of reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS) is
another concern. Proximity to an active thrust and
geological conditions favourable for infiltration of water
into the deep fault zones may favour weakening of faults,
leading to failure. Gupta and Rajendransuggested that the
water load might tend to stabilise the thrust faults in the
immediate vicinity of the Himalayan reservoirs, making
them less prone to seismicity, although the delayed effect
of pore pressure diffusion may be significant during later
periods. Mathematical simulation for the load-induced
changes at Tehri has also suggested a postponement of the
next earthquake, but later studies suggest that the delay
may be short-lived. Thus, the studies so far indicate that
water-induced weakening of the faults may remain as a
point of concern in the long-term life of the dam.
Another important issue is the possibility of landslips,

earthquake-induced or otherwise. A large chunk of land
falling into the river could generate large waves that could
breach the dam or could cause an overflow. Instances of
landslips that caused enormous floods in the Indus River
in Pakistan are reported. The landslips and rockfalls that
followed a moderate earthquake at Chamoli (that too
during a dry season) underline the serious threat posed by
these processes and an urgent need to i.dentify landslide
prone regions, from the point of seismic hazard associated
with high dams in the Himalaya.
A major issue of contention regarding the Tehri dam
has been the choice of peak ground acceleration (PGA).
Preliminary design of the dam was carried out by pseudo-
static analysis for a design seismic coefficient of 0.12 g.
Subsequently, dynamic analyses were carried out for
earthquake motions with effective peak ground
acceleration (EPGA) of 0.25 g, which was considered
inadequate by many workers. Specialists from Russia have
also been involved in the evaluation of the seismic hazard
at the dam site and checking the dam's safety.
After considering a number of postulated earthquake
scenarios, their evaluation of dam safety was based on two
worst ground motions: a M 6.5 earthquake on Srinagar
fault with PGA of 0.5 g at Tehri site, and a M 8.0 event
on the MBF with PGA of 0.4 g. At the time the dam was
designed, strong motion records were not available for this
region, and the characteristics of strong motion records
obtained elsewhere were used to develop the design
spectrum.
Data on stress drop, attenuation characteristics and
site amplification have also been very limited, for a proper
evaluation of the seismic hazard in the Tehri region. In this
context, the earthquake at Chamoli is significant as it
provides a useful set of data.
REFERENCES
Anita Chatterjee(ed.)., Academic Dictionary of Medicinal Plant, Delhi, Isha

Books, 2005, vi, 264 p.
Chadha K.L. (ed.)., Advances in Horticulture: Volume 11: Medicinal &
Aromatic Plants, Reprint, New Delhi, Malhotra Publishing House,
2006, XXXX, 935 p.
Rama Swamy N., Biotechnological Applications for Improvement of Solanum
Surattense: A Medicinal Plant, Delhi, Daya Pub., 2007, xii, 168 p.
2
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants
The potential returns to the farmer from cultivation of

medicinal plants is reported to be quite high. A 1995 study
suggested that the cultivation of certain high altitude
Himalayan herbs could yield products priced anywhere
between Rs. 7,150 to 55,000 per hectare although it is not
clear at which point in the marketing chain these prices are
paid. What is clear however is that although estimates of
returns vary widely, medicinal plants can be valuable
crops. Rao and Saxena reported average annual (per
hectare) income of Rs. 120,000 through mixed cropping of
high altitude medicinal herbs. High altitude medicinal tend
to command higher prices but those of lower altitudes are
still significant. Data for some low altitude crops from the
Amarkantak region of Madhya Pradesh show economic
returns for four profitable species. Cultivation is clearly a
sustainable alternative to coll°ction of medicinal plants
from the wild.
Most of the produce of cultivated medicinal and
aromatic plants is exported as crude drugs e.g. Psyllium,
senna leaves, opium poppy and Asgand. Unfortunately,
however, due to emphasis being placed on important cash
crops, as well as the fact that the majority of the cultivated
species are not indigenous to India, most cultivation efforts
are not alleviating the pressure being exerted on the natural
resource base.
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants 37
Nevertheless, a number of techniques have been

developed to increase the quality and yield of many of the
cultivated species. It is estimated that Indian public sector
research institutions have developed standardised
practices for the propagation and agronomy of a total of
about 40 species.
Much of the research progress to date has resulted from
the decision of the Indian Council for AgriculturaJ Research
(ICAR) to establish an All-India Coordinated Research
Project on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (AICRPMAP), in
1972, under the auspices of the National Bureau of Plant
Genetic Resources (NBPGR). Efforts have mainly focused
on the development of agro-technology techniques,
including propagation methods for medicinal and aromatic
plants. Aromatic plants have however tended to receive
more attention, perhaps because their market values are in
general more widely known.
ICAR works through a network of research stations,
including the National Research Centre for Medicinal and
Aromatic, Plants located in Anand, Gujarat, which
specialises in domestication, and has created structural
link3 between the NBPGR and its Plant Breeding Division
in order to develop improved varieties of some of the
medicinal plant species used in allopathic preparations.
Another major national public research organisation,
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
has also played a significant role with regard to cultivation
of medicinal plants, through its creation of (CIMAP), the
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, in
Lucknow. CIMAP is now an eminent institution in India
focusing on agrotechnology as wel1 as basic studies;
improvement and enhancement of the resource base, and
chemistry and related research regarding product
development from plants.
In connection with the two major research efforts
described above, the Central Government initiated a five
year program implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture

to accelerate research and development of medicinal plants.
Wj th the support of 16 state agricultural universities, state
horticulture and agriculture departments, regional research
laboratories and the International Crop Research Institute
for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the GOI is
establishing herbal gardens, nursery centres and
Jemonstration seed production centres nation-wide.
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Department of
rSM&H) started a "central scheme for development and
cultivation of medicinal plants" in the year 1990-91 to
encourage development of agrotechnique for important
species through Govt/ semi-government organisations
having expertise and infrastructure for this work. The
scheme is expected to initiate studies on harvesting, drying,
and storage of medicinal plants.
Private companies have also started to invest in the
cultivation of medicinal plants, since they face difficulties
with regard to increasing supply gaps as well as in some
cases adulterated materials from the wild. One such
company, the Arya Vaidya Sa1a, in Kottakal, Kerala, in
addition to maintaining two large herbal gardens, has also
undertaken research on the propagation of 10 species, the
demand for which currently outstrips supply, or may soon
do so.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Under Reproductive Child Health (RCH) programme it

was decided to include Ayurvedic $ Unani medicines, and,
to ensure the availability of raw material of good quality
and quantity, "Vanaspati Van Yojna" was incorporated.
Each Vanaspati Van was to be identified over waste lands
and denuded forest of 3000 to 5000 hectare of contiguous
areas. Since the forestland cannot be transferred and sold,
the interested State Governments were advised to register
a society under the Society Registration Act in the name of
Vanaspati Van Society for a particular State. The SOCiety

was to be headed by the Forest Officer with the members
from the Department of Family Welfare and from the
Department of Indian Systems of Medicine in its Executiye
Committee. The experts of forest, agriculture, botany,
Ayurveda and Unani were also incorporated in the
Executive Committee. Keeping in view the geo-climatic
conditions suitable for medicinal plants the conservation
and propagation of about 100 plants species in the
"Vanaspati Van" are encouraged in in-situ/ex-situ
conditions.
The site of the Vanaspati Van and suitability of the
plants are identified by the Expert group of Government of
India, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, and the State
Government. There is a provision of providing assistance
of Rs.1.00 crore per year for a period of 5 years.
Subsequently the Vanaspati Van Society will be self-
sustained by scientific harvesting the produce for the
benefit of the community as well as the society.
The State Governments of Himacha1 Pradesh, Haryana,
Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have started
implementing this scheme and the State Governments of
Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat U.P, and Tamilnadu
are also approaching with the proposals. The ultimate
objectives of the Scheme is to have at least onE' Vanaspati
Van in each State so as to have full range of medicinal plants
used in ISM.
Improving Awareness and Availability of Medicinal Plants

Because of pressure of population the cultivation of food
grains and commercial crops has progressively practically
eliminated locally growing medicina1 plants and because of
the vast changes in the social system, the family traditions
have also become weak. Worldwide there has been a huge
growth in the popularity of alternative medicine and herbal
products mainly due to their being no harmful side effects
when genuine medicinal plants are used. To address both

these problems and to resurrect a highly cost effective
preventive health and medical care system the NGOs will
be assisted for raising nurseries of medicinal plants which
are known to grow in that particular area. They will
distribute the medicinal plants free of charge to desirous
families and village level ISM practitioners.
These practitioners will be encouraged to grow these
plants over a somewhat larger piece of land about 1-2 acres
(if that can be managed). This will enable the products of
these medicines to be not only readily available but to be
available in a pure form. The NGOs will also be
simultaneously assisted to do extension work and educate
local population about the uses of locally available
medicinal plants for preventive health and for curative
purposes.
In order to ensure impact, NGOs will be asked to take
up this work on a project basis for a district and only a few
of the NGOs with proven large capability will be assigned
more than one district.
The applicant NGO having experience and expertise of
medicinal plants in ISM will identify one district to
propagate the ISM remedies. There is a provision of up to
Rs.15.00 lakh per year for the scheme and the scheme can
continue three to four years. Uthhan-Centre for Sustainable
Development & Poverty Alleviation has improved
awakening and availability of medicinal plants in
Allahabad-Koshambi districts of Uttar Pradesh. For
improving awareness and availability of medicinal plants
the task force recommends cultivation of 25 species which
are in great demand. Information on these species are listed
as under:
1. AONLA
1. Name of Medicindl Plant Emblica officinalis Gaertn

2. Family Euphorbiaceae A deciduous tree,
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants 4-i
found in deciduous forests of the
country upto 1350 m on hills. Often
cultivated.
3. Area 1300 ha
4. Production 88200 t
5. Important States UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Maharashtra
6. Cultural Practices Banarasi, Chakaiya, Francis,
i. Varieties/Types/Clones Kanchan, Krishna, Balwant, NA-6,
released/ identified NA-7, NA-9, Anand-2 and B5-1.
ii. Propagation methods and
planting time Moditied ring, patch and shield
budding as well as soft wood
grafting. June to August
iii. Fertiliser dozes 1000 gm N, 500 gm PP2 and 750 gm
~O per plant/year. The fertiliser
should be given in two split doses
viz. Se~ and April-May.
iv. Irrigation schedule Irrigation to young plantation at 10
days interval during the summer.
To fruit bearing plantations, first
irrigation should be given just after
manuring and fertilisation and then
at 15 days intervals after fruit set
(April) till onset of monsoon. Avoid
irrigation during flowering period.
v. Diseases, pests and Diseases/causitive Control
their control: Organism/ agent measures
Aonla rust Spray (twice)
(RavenelIia Dithane Z
emblica) 78(0.2%)
Fruit rot during July-
(Pencillum September.
islandlium) Treating the fruits
Necrosis withNacl
(Boron solutions.
Deficiency) Spra y of 0.5%-
0.6%
borax in Sept-
October Months.
Bark eating Injecting

caterpillar kerosene
(Inderbela oil/Dichlorovols
tetraonis) or Endo-Sulfan
(0.05%) in holes
and plugging
with mud
Shoot gall Galled twigs
maker should be
(Betousa pruned.
stylophora) Spray of 0.05%
monocrotophos
emblica) during
season
Aphid Spraying of
(Cerciaphis dimethoate
rainy @ 0.03%
Scale insect Application of

mono-
Crotophos @
0.05%
Anar butterfly Remove and
(Virachola destroy all the
isocrates) affected· fruits.
7. Planting time i) Rainy
season ii) Spring season July to September Mid of January to
March
8. Biochemical analysis The fruit is rich source of vitamins
(Active ingredients) and minerals. High vitamin C
content (750-850 mg/lOO gram
pulp)
9. Post Harvest Management Different varieties mature at
different period e.g Chakaiya
(January), Banarasi (October end),
Krishna (December) and Francis
(mid November - December). Large
size fruits (4 cm. & above) free from
blemishes are used for preserve,
candy and pickle. Small sized fruits
are used for chavanprash making
and defective fruits are used for
Trifala making. Generally, basket
Culti I'ation of Medicinal Plants
for pigeon pea stem and gunny bag

of 40-50 kg capacity with newspaper
as liners are used for packing of
aonla fruits. However, wooden crate
with polythene lines is most suitable
for packing and long distance
transportation,
Aonla fruits can be stored upto 15-
20 days at low temperature (10-
15°C). However Chakaiya can be
stored upto 45 and 75 days in 10%
and 15% salt solution respectively
without any decay.
10. Cost of Cultivation Cost benefit ratio is 1 :4. Pay back
period is six years.
11. Internal consumption Export potential yet to be
and export potential exploited, Huge internal demand in
ISM.
12. Action and uses Aperient, aphrodisiac, astringent,
digestive, diuretic, laxative,
refrigerant and tonic. Useful in
anaemia, jaundice, dyspepcia,
haemorrhagic disorders,
bilionsness. diabetes, asthma,
bronchitis, An Ayurvedic
preparation Chyavanprasha is very
much valued for its restorative
action
13. Compound Preparations Chyavanprasha, Dhatri Lauha,
alkaloid can be easily Amalki Rasayana, from the roots
obtained in the form of its salts.
2. ASWAHAGANDHA
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Withania somnifera Dunaf

2. Family Solanaceae
3. Yield Plant rart 300-400 kg roots/ha + 50-75 kg
seeds/ha
4. Actual Ingredients Withaferin, Anaferin, Tropine and
many othe! Alkaloides and
Steriodes
5. Important States Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
6. Cultural Practices i) Jawahar Asgandh - 20, Jawahar

Varieties/Types/Clones Asgandh 134 and Rakshita
released/identified
ii)Propagation methods and Direct sowing of seeds
planting time (Broadcasting) Planting time in 3rt!
week of August to September.
iii) Fertiliser doges The crop is mainly grown on
residual fertility. Hence, no
fertilisers applied
iv) Irrigation schedule Rainfed
iv) Diseases, pests and
their control Major disease is damping off,
seedling rotting, seedling blight.
Seed treatment with Captan 3 g/kg
seed is recommended.
7. Biochemical analysis
(Active ingredients) Alkaloids and Steroids
8. Post Harvest Management The crop is ready in six month,
harvesting starts from January and
continues up to March. Average
yield 400-500 kg of root and 50 kg
seed/ha. Cleaning, drying and
grading of roots.
9. Cost of cultivation About Rs.1000/ha and gross return
(Cost: benefit ratio) about Rs.28oo (CB ratio 1:2:8)
10. Internal consumption
export potential Huge internal consumption also
being and exported.
11. Any other remarks Immunomodulator /Rasayan drug,
general tonic in arthritis.
12 Action and uses Alterative, aphrodisiac, tonic,
deobstruent, diuretic, narcotic,
abortifacient. Used in rheumatism,
consumption, debility from old age.
13. Parts used Root
14. Compound preparation Ashwagandhadi churna, Ashwa-
gandha rasayana, Ashwagandha
Ghrit, Ashwagandharishta
Cultivation of Medicinal Plants 4S
3. ASHOKA
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Saraca asoca (roxb.) DC Wild.

2. Family Leguminosae
3. Local Name Ashoka
4. Habit and Habitat A small evergreen tree 6-9 m. high,
found wild along steams or in the
shade of evergreen forests. It occurs
almost throughout India up to an
altitude of 720 m in the Centre and
Eastern Himalayas & khasi, Garo &
Lushai hills. It is also found in the
Andaman islands. Leaves pi! '
pinnate, 15··20 em long, leaflets 6-12,
oblong, lanceolate, flowers organe
or orangeyellow, very fragrant,
pods flat, leathery, seeds 4-8,
ellipsoidoblong.
5. Important Habit.lt Himalayas, Bengal and Western
Peninsula.
6. Cultural Practices
i. Propagation methods Seeds. Seedlings are raised and
and planting time planted in rainy season
ii. Irrigation Schedule Rainfed
7. Biochemical analysis Haematoxylin, tannins and
(Active Ingredients) glycoside, leucopelargonidin and
leucoeyanidin have been extracted
from the barks 8. Post Harvest
Management Bark is removed and
sun dried fur use in preparation of
various herbal medicines.
9. Utilisation The bark is reported to stimulate the
uterus, making the contractions
more frequent and prolonged
without producing tonic contraction
as in the case of pituitary ergot. It is
also reported to cure biliousness
dyspepsia, dysentery, colic, piles
and pimples. Leaves possess blood
purifying properties. Flowers used
in dysentery and diabetes.
10. Plant used Bark
11. Actual Ingredients Tannin and Catechol

12. Internal consumption Internal consumption is quite high
and export potential in pharmaceutical industries. Good
export potential
13. Action and uses Astringent, used in menorrhagia
and uterine affections, internal
bleeding, bleeding haemorrhoids
and haemorrhagic dysentry.
14. Compound Preparations Ashokarishta, Ashokaghrita
4. ATIS
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Aconitum heterophyllum Wall

2. Family Ranunculaceae
3. Use of Plant Part Actual
Ingredients Root Alkaloids (atisine 0.4%)
4. Important Habitats Common in Alpine and subalpine
zone of the Himalayas from Indus to
Kumaon from 6000 to 15000 ft. from
the sea level.
5. Cultural Practices Local clones Propagation through
seeds in rainy season
6. Biochemical analysis Root alkaloids: hetrophylsive,
(Active ingredients) hetrophylline and hetrophyllidine,
heteratisine, artisine, altidine, F -
dihydroatisine, Isatisine, Hetisine,
Hetidines and Hetisinone.
7. Post Harvest Management Roots are dried and powdered
8. Cost of cultivation Not exploited commercially:
9. Internal consumption
and exports Roots are exported
10. Action and Uses Antipyretic, antiperiodic,
aphrodisiac, astringent tonic. Used
in diarrhoea, indigestion, cough
troubles during dentition in
children.
11. Compound Preparations Balachaturbhadra, Ativishadi
Chuma
5. BAlBERANG
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Embelia ribes Burm. F

2. Family Myrsinaceae
3. Habit and Habitat A scandanl shrub, reported to be
distributed in the hilly parts of
India, Assam and Tamil Nadu upto
to 1700 m.
4. Plant Part used Fruits
5. Actual Ingredients Embelin (2.5-3.1%)
i) Varieties"/Types/Clones
released / identified Local types
ii) Propagation methods
and planting time Seeds are sown in rainy season
7. Biochemical analysis Embelin, raponone, homoembelin
(Active ingredients) and homorapanone, quercitol,
christembine.
8. Post Harvest Management Fully mature fruits are harvested
and dried in sun.
9. Action and uses Anthelmintic, alterative, astringent,
carminative, stimulant and tonic.
Used in colic, constipation,
flatulence and worms.
10. Compound Preparations Vidangadi churna, Vidanga lauha,
Vidanga taila.
6. BAEL
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Aegle marmelos L.Corr.

2. Family Rutaceae
3. Habit and Habitat A small or medium sized tree,
distributed throughout the country.
4. Yield 7500 t
Plant Part used Fruits and leaves (200-400 fruits/
tree)
Actual Ingredients Non reducing sugars, essential oil,
abscisic acid and marmelosin.
5. Cultural Practices i. Some well known types have been
Varieties /Types/ Clones named according to fruit shape
Released/ identified and locality e.g Mirzapuri, Darogaji,
Ojha, Rampuri etc. Some improved
selections are: NB-4, NB-5, NB"9.
ii. Propagation methods

and planting time Vegetative propagation by Patch
budding in June-July.
iii. Fertiliser dose For 8 years old and onwards trees,
80 kg FYM, 480 g N, 320 g P and 480
g K/ tree/year is recommended.
iv. Irrigation In the initial years, plants require
frequent irrigation. Once
established, light irrigation should
be given after manuring and
fertilisation and proper soil
moisture may be maintained after
fruit set.
v. Diseases, pests and their
control Name Control Measures
Bacterial shot Spray of
streptomycin
Hole sulphate @ 500 ppm.
(Xanthomonas controls this
disease. BiIvae)
Fruit c.lnker Precaution should be
. taken so that fruit is
Not hurt during
plucking Also during
transportation, the
fruit should be
packed tightly.
6. Biochemical analysis Protein (1.8%), Fat (0.39%),
(Active ingredients) minerals (1.7%), Carbohydrate
(31.8%), Carotena (55 mg/100 fruit),
thiamine (0.13 mg/100g), riboflavin
(1.190 mg/lOO).
7. Post Harvest Management At the time of harvest, tree become
leafless and fruits get completely
exposed. The fruits are picked
individually from the tree keeping a
portion of fruit stalk. Fruits are
usually packed in gunny bags,
baskets or wooden crates using
newspaper as cushioning material.
F~its are quite hardy and they can
be stored well at ambient
temperature. However, fruits can be

stored for 12 weeks at 9°C.
8. Internal consumption and Fruits are mostly consumed in our
export potential country. Export potential to be
explored.
9. Cost of cultivation Cost-benefit ratio is 1:3 and pay
back period is SIX y~ars.
10. Action and uses Aromatic, astringent, carminative,
cooling, laxative, febrifuge,
stomachic; used in colitis, diarrhoea,
dysentery and flatulence. Root is
also an ingredient of Dashmoola.
11. Parts used Fruits, root bark, leaves, rind of the
ripe frurt, flowers.
12. Compound Preparations Bilwapanchaka Kwath, Bilwandi
Churna, Dashrnoola rishta,
Dashmools Kwath
13. Any other remarks Presence of marmelosin in fruits has
anthelminitic activity.
7. BRAHMI
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Bacopa monnieri L

2. Family Scrophulariaceae
3. Yield Plant part Actual
Ingredients Whole plant especially leaves (100
kg dry herb/ha) Alkaloid, brahrnine
4. Habit & Habitat A small herb found throughout
India upto 4000 feet. Plant an
annual, creeper is mostly found near
waterlogged place.
i. Varieties/Types / Clones
Released/identified' Subodhak and Pragyashakti
ii. Propagation methods By runners and by seeds, In rainy
and planting time season
iii. Fertiliser doses 100 kg N/ha in three splits; 60 kg
P205 60 kg K20/ha at the time of
planting
iv. Irrigation After sowing/transplanting
so Advances in Medicinal Plants
6. Biochemical analysis Plant contains bacosides A & B,

(Active ingredients) bacogenins, stigmasterol,
stigmaotanol B-sitosterol. Leaves
give herpestine/ Monnierin is also
isolated from the plant.
7. Post Harvest Management Harvesting in October-November
8. Cost of cultivation Gross Rs.35,OOO / ha Rs.2,OO,000 / ha Rs.
return Net return 1,65,000 /ha
9. "Internal consumption and Having internal and external
export potential demand.
10. Uses Used as nervine tonic/memory
enhancer
11. Compound Preparations Brahmighrit, Sarasvatarisht,
Brahmivati.
8. CHANDAN
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Santalum album Linn

2. Family Santalaceae
3. Actual Ingredients Essential oil (1.5-6%)
4. Distribution A small evergreen tree, distributed
in dry scrub forests of Salem,
Mysore, Coorg, Coimbatore,
Nilgiris upto 900 m. altitude. Also
reported to be found in Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Tamilnadu.
5. I Cultural Practices .
i. Varieties/Types/Clones
released/identified Local type
ii. Propagation methods By seed and grafting. Seedlings are
and planting time raised in polythene bags and plants
during rainy season.
iii. Fertiliser dozes 20t FYM/ha. Fertiliser requirement
not yet worked out.
iv. Irrigation schedule Rainfed
v. Diseases, pests and Spike disease is common which is
their control caused by mycoplasma. Under
severe infection, the whole plant
dies. Jassids (Pentacephala
nigrilines), Fulgoroides and sandal

wood beetle are important insects
reported to cause considerable lo~s.
6. Biochemical analysis Alphasantalal, beta santalol and
(Active ingredients) alphs and beta santalene are the
main constituents in the oiL
7. Post Harvest Management Sandal wood trees are harvested at
the age of 30-60 years. The soft wood
is first removed, the hard wood is
chipped and then converted into
powder in a mill. The powder is
soaked in water for 48 hours and
then distilled. Distillation takes
place in 48 hours. The oil is rectified
by redistillation and filtration.
8. Internal consumption and Export of sandal wood chips and oil
export potentIal and dust was 552.2 and 29.5 t
respectively during 1995-96. Besides
our internal consumption in
cosmetics and perfumery industries
is also high.
9. Action and use Antiphlogistic, antiseptic, cooling
and styptic. The wood round up
with water into a fine parts is
commonly applied to local
infammations, to the temples in
fever and to skin diseases to allay
heat and pruritus. It is internally
administered in cystitis,
gonorrhoea, haemorrhagia, urinary
disorders and gleet.
10. Compound Preparations Chandanasava.
9. CHlRATA
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Swertia chirata syn. S.Chirata Buch

- Ham.
2. Family Gentianaceae
3. Use Plant part Actual
Ingredients Whole plant used Alkaloids
4. Habit and Habitat . An erect herb, found in temperate
Himalayas between 1300-3000 m.
from Kashmir to Bhutan and Khasia

hills. It is scarcely available in the
market and generally substituted by
Andrograpis paniculata Nees or
other species of Swertia.
5 Cultural Practices Propagated by seeds. The seeds are
i. Propagation methods sown in the nursery and then
and planting time seedlings are transplanted in the
field.
ii. Fertiliser doses FYM is ideal for these plants
iii. Disease Some species of this genus are
reported to serve as alternate host of
blister rust of Pinus.
6. Biochemical analysiS Plant contains alkaloids
(Active ingradients) gentianine, gentiocrucine,
enicoflaving, swer - chirin. Plant is
antiinflammatory, swerchirin-
antimalarial, hypoglycaemic.
7. Post Harvest Management Drying of plants
8. Internal consumption and Huge demand in ISM and was
export potential imported at a tune of 58.22 t valued
at Rs.14.61 lakhs in 1995-96.
9. Action and uses Bitter, tonic, stomachic, laxative,
febrifuge. Used in anorexia, biliary
disorders, cough, constipation,
fevers, skin diseases, worms.
10. Compound Preparation Kiratadi Kwath, Sudarshan Churna.
10. GILOE
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Tinospora cordifolia wild miers, ex

hook
2. Family Meninspermaceae
3. Local Name Giloe
4. Habit & Habitat A large, glabrous, deciduous
climbing shrub found throughout
tropical India. Ascending to an
altitude of 300 m. Stem rather
succulent with long filiform flesh
aerial roots from the branches. Bark
gray-brown or creamy white.
Leaves membranous, cordate with a
broad sinus. Flowerl' small, yellow

or greenish yellow, appearing when
the plant is leafles~ Drupes ovoid,
glossy, succulent, red Seed curved.
5. Propagation The Plant is sometimes c:ultivated as
ornamental & propagated by
cuttings.
6. Utilisation The plant is used in general
debilities, dyspepsia, fever &
urinary disease. The leaves are good
as fodder for cattle and rich in
proteins and fairly in calcium and
phosphorous. A decoction of the
leaves is used for the treatment of
gout. The young leaves bruised in
milk, are used as a liniment in
erysipeals. The leaves are beaten
with honey and applied to ulcers
Dried & powdered fruit mixed with
ghee or honey is used as a tonic and
also in the treatment of Jaundice and
rheumatism. The root is a powerful
emetic and used for visceral
obstructions. Its watery extract is
used in leprosy.
7. Plant part used Stem and Leaves
8. Active Ingredients Alkaloid
9. tultural Practices
Released/identified Locally grown
ii. Propagation methods Stem cuttings. Planting time is
and planting time rainy season.
iii. Crop duration Perennial
10. Biochemical analysis Tinosporon, Tinosporic acid,
(Active ingredients) Tinosporol, Giloin, gilonin,
berberine, cordifol, Tinosporidine.
11. Post Harvest Management The stem and leaves dre harvested
and dried in sun.
12. Internal consumption & Mostly consumed by Ayurvedic
export potential pharmaceuticals
13. Action Rejuvinator, astringent, antipyretic,

blood purifier and curative of
dermatosis.
14. Uses General debility, pyrexia, skin
diseases, gout, rheumatic arthrites
and spure.
11. GUGGAL
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Commiphora wightii (Am)

Bhandari
2. Family Burseraceae
3. Yield Plant Part 700-900 g gum per plant Tree yield
Actual Ingrt:.!ients an oliogum-resin-guggulipid
4. Habit and Habitat A shrub or small tree, reported to be
found in Karnataka, Rajasthan,
Deccan and Gujarat.
i. Varieties/Types/Clones Local types
released / identified
ii. Propagation methods Plants raised (about 80% success)
by cutting.
iii. Fertiliser doses Application of 5 kg FYM and 25-50
gm urea per bush per year.
iv. Irrigation Schedule Require moderate irrigation
v. Diseases, pests and Plants are affected by white ants,
their control Cercospora leaf spot and bacterial
leaf blight. Control: Pits are filled
with FYM and treated with BHC or
aldrin to protect the new plants from
white ants.
6. Harvesting and yield Plants attain normal height and
girth after 8-10 years of growth
when they are ready for tapping of
the gum by shallow incision on the
bark between December and March.
7. Biochemical analysis Gum resin contains guggulsteraes
(Active ingredients) Z and E guggulsterois, two
diterpenoids-a terpene,
hydrocarbon named cembme A and
B, a cfiterpene-a1cohol-mukuloI3
camphorone and cambrene
8. Action and uses Carminative, antispasmodic,

disphoretic, ecbolic,
antisuppurative, aphrodisiac,
emmenagogue, Gum resin is
commonly used for the treatment of
rheumatoid arthritis.
9. Compound Preparations Yogarajaguggu!u,
Kaishoreguggulu, Chandraprabha
vati.
10. Marketing Gum-resin is in great demand.
12. INDIAN BARBERY
L Name of Medicinal Plant Berberis aristata DC

2. Family Berberidaceae
3. Local Name Chitra, Rasaut
4. Habit & Habitat An erect spinous shrub, 2 - 6 m.
high, often forming gregarious
patches, pale yellowish-brown bark,
closely and rather deeply furrowed.
Flowers are golden-yellow. It occurs
in the Himalayas between 2000 -
3000 m & also in Nilgiri Hills.
5. Plant part used Root bark, stem, wood fruit.
6. Actual Ingradients Barberine
7. Important States Assam, Bihar and Himalayan
Region
i. Varieties/Types / Clones
Released/identified Local clones
9. Propagotion Propogation is from seeds, self
sown in nature. Seedlings or
cuttings can be taken during spring
season after the berries are over.
Layering is also recommended since
the cuttings present some
difficulties.
(Active ingredients) Barberine (alkaloid)
11. Post Harvest Management Drying of barks
12. Utilisation The use of the roots as a source of

Rasaut has been referred to. The
dried berries are edible. The
alkaloidal content. Berberine, the
principal alkaloid can be easily
obtained from the roots in the form
of its salts.
Rasaut, mixed witii butter and
alum, or with opium & lime-juice &
painted over the eyelids as a useful
louse-hold remedy in acute
conjuctivities and in chronic
ophthalkmia. A yellow dye is
obtained from root and the stem.
The berberry dye has been largely
used in tanning & colouring of
leather.
13. Action and uses Stomachic, astringent, tonic,
antiperiodic, diaphoretic,
antiphyretic, alerative, purgative.
Used in menorrhagia, diarrhoea,
jaundice, skin diseases, malarial
fever.
14. Compound Preparations Darvyadi Kwath, Darvyadi leha,
Darvyadi taila.
13. ISkBGOL
1. Name of M~dicinal Plant Plantago Ovata Forsk

2. Family Plantaginaceae
3. Habit and Habitat A herb found in Punjab plains and
low hills from Sutlej westwards,
Sindh and Baluchistan.
4. Area under cultivation 50000 ha
5. Production in tonnes 48000 t of seeds
6. Yield Plant part Seeds 900-1500 kg/ha, Husk-225-
375 kg/ha
7. Cultural Practices RI-87, RI-89, AMB-2, GI-I, GI-2, MI
i. Varieties/Types/Clones 4, MIB-121, HI-34, HI-
released/identified 2, HI-I, HI-5, NIHARlKA
ii. Propagation methods By seeds Mid October to Mid
and planting time December
iii. Fertilisers doses N:P 50:25 kg/ha (25 kg of N + full

P as basal dose 25 Kg
N as top dressing 35 DAS)
iv. Irrigation schedule 3 to 6 irrigations, Presowing, after
sowing, Seedling stage, Spike
formation stage, Flowering stage,
Seed development stage depending
upon the soil type and agro climatic
condition.
v. Diseases, pests and Downy mildew and Powdery
their control mildew: Dithane M-45 or Dithane
Z-78 @ 2.0 to 2,5 g/lit or Bordeaux
mixture 6:3:100 for downy mildew
and Karathane W.D. (0.2%) for
Powdery mildew 6:3:100 for downy
mildew, Karathane W.D (0.2%) for
Powdery mildew.
Wilt: Wilt disease is also observed
which can be controlled by seed
treatment with Bavistin or Benlate
2.5g/kg of seed.
Sucking type of pests (Aphid) attach
the crop. Spraying with Endosulfan
@ 0.5% or Dimethodafe @ 0.2% at
fortnighty interval can control the
aphids.
8. Biochemical analysis Protein, polysaccharides, cellulose,
(Active ingredients) pectin, oil, muscilage.
9. Post Harvest Management Crop matures during March-April
(110-130 days). It should be
harvested when atmosphere is dry.
Harvested plants spread over and
after 2 days they are threshed with
tractor /bullocks. Pinkish type husk
are removed from the seed coat by
processing through a series of
grinding in mills to separate husk.
10. Cost of cultivation Cost of Cultivation = Rs.19320/ha
11. Internal consumption and Isabgol seed 17,680.63 tonnes
export potential valued at Rs.4,069.78 lakhs and
husk 2580.29 tonnes valued at
Rs.1663.73 lakhs exported during
the period from April-October,

1997-98. Besides our internal
consumption is also quite high.
12. Action and uses Demulcent, cooling, diuretic; used
in inflammatory conditions of the
mucous membrane of gastro
intestinal and genitourinary tracts,
in chronic dysentery, diarrhoea and
constipation.
13. Parts used Seeds and seek husk. Used as single
drug for cure of constipation and
Dysentery.
14. Any other remarks This crop has good export potential
and can be exploited commercially
14. JATAMANSI
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Nardostachys jatamansi De

2-3. Family Habit and Habitat Valerianaceae An erect perennial
herb with long, stout, woody
rootstock; found in alpine
Himalayas at 3500- 5000 m.
extending eastwards to Sikkim and
Bhutan. The species is vulnerable .
• 4. Yield Plant part Actual Rhizome (1290 kg/ha)
Ingredients Valeopotriate and Essential Oil
5. Cultural Practices i.
Varieties /Types / Clones
released / identified Dalhouse clones
ii. Propagation methods Seeds and Roots. Seed nursery
and planting time preparation in July / Aug.
Transplanting after 6-8 weeks
(April/May)
iii. Fertiliser doses 60:20:40 NPK
iv. Irrigation schedule One irrigation soon after sowing
and 2-3 irrigations during rain free
condition.
v. Diseases, pests and their No serious pests and diseases.
control
5. Biochemical analysis Volatile essential oil 0.5%
(Active ingredients) (Valeopotriates and Valerian oil)
6. Post Harvest Management Harvested roots washed and dried

in shade condition.
7. Cost of cultivation
(Cost: benefit ratio) Not commercially cultivated
8. Action and uses Aromatic, bitter, tonic,
antispasmodic, deobstruent,
stimulant, antiseptic, diuretic,
emmenagogue. Used in epilepsy,
hysteria, chorea, convulsions,
palpitation of heart, mental
disorders, insomnia.
9. Parts used Root-stock
10. Compound Preparations Mansyadi Kwath
11. Any other remarks Crop is not under regular
cultivation, so then' is a rapid
depletion of the plant from its
natural sources. Quality
degradation under storage is
reported.
15. KALMEGH
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Andrographis paniculata

2. Family Acanthaceae
3. Yield Plant part Actual Panchang (Stem, leaf, flower, seed
Ingredients .:" and root) Kalmeghin
Andrographolide (0.8-2.%%).
Leaves contains maximum while
stem contains minimum amount.
4. Habit and Habitat A small herb found throughout
India in plains of Himachal Pradesh
to Assam, Mizoram, Gujrat, Bihar
and South India.
i. Varieties/Types/Clones .Local clones. There is no named
released / identified variety.
ii. Propagation methods Propagated by seed and cuttings.
and Planting time Seedlings/plantlets raised in
nursery in last week of July.
iii. Fertiliser doses Poultry manure or FYM 10 t/ha,
Castor cake 2 t/ha, 75 Kg N, 75 Kg
P~Q5·
iv. Irrigation schedule Kharif season crop. If rain is

inadequate then 2-9 irrigations are
given.
6. Post Harvest Management Crop duration 90-100 days.
Harvesting is done in end of October
and l't week of November. Harvest
should be spread over on the floor
and it should be covered at night to
protect from dew. One week drying
under shade is required. Average
yield 2-2.5 t/ha dry herb.
7. Cost of cultivation Rs.10,000/ha
Gross return Rs.43,OOO/ha
Net return Rs.33,000 Iha
8. Internal consumption and A yurvedic formulations for
export potential debility, chronic malaria, jaundice,
anemia and loss of apetite.
Andrographis preparations in
different potencies for Homeopathic
medicines.
16. KATKI
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Picrohiza Kurroa Royle ex Benth

2. Family Scrophulariacae
3. Habit and Habitat A perennial herb, found in Alpine
Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim
at altitudes of 2700 -4500 m.
Propagation method Through seeds and rhizome
(Active ingredients) Bitter glucoside Kutkin (3.4%),
Kurrin, (0.5%), Vanillicacid (0.1%).
6. Post Harvest Management Drying
7. Action and uses Bitter tonic, antiperiodic,
cholagogue, stomachic. Used in
dyspepsia, fever, diseases of liver &
spleen including jaundice, anaemia,
scorpion stings and in purgative
preparations.
8. Parts used Root and rhizome
9. . Compound Preparations Arogyavardhani, Katukadya lauha,

Tikkadi Kwath, Tiktadighrita
10. Internal consumption and
export potential Limited internal consumption
11. Any other remarks Threatened perennial herb but can
be domesticated and cultivated.
17. KOKUM
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Garcinia indica Linnacus

2. Family Clusiaceae
3. Habit and Habitat Frequent in evergreen and
deciduous forests along the coasts
on win-ward side of Western Ghats
to 400 m.
4. Area under cultivation 1200/ha
Production 10200 t
5. Yield Ripe Fruit, 8.5 t/ha
Plant part Hydroxy Citric Acid (HCA)
Actual Ingredients Cambogin & Camboginol
6. Distribution A tree found in Maharashtra, Goa,
Karnataka, Kerala, South Gujarat,
Assam and West Bengal.
released/ identified Konkan Amrita and local types
ii. Propagation methods By soft wood grafting, July -
and planting time August
iii. Fertiliser doses 20 Kg FYM + 500 gm N + 250 gm
P20S·
iv. Irrigation schedule Normally grown as rainfed crop.
Hence regular irrigation is not in
vogue for grown up orchards.
v. Disease and Pests Hardy crop. No major disease and
pests. Leaf minor and pink disease
sometime occurs which can be easily
controlled.
8. Biochemical analysis Arabin, essential oil, resin, tartaric,
(Active ingredients) citric and phosporic acids, Hydroxy
citric Acid.
9. Post Harvest Management Harvesting in March to April.

Drying of fruits and bark
10. Cost of cultivation Rs.13000/ha
Net return Rs.34300/ha 1:1:37
11. Internal consumption and Fruit mainly used for preparation
export potential of value added products like
Kokum syrup, dried kokum rind
etc. which are consumed within the
country. However, kokum seed fat
is exported to Netherlands, Italy,
Japan, Singapore, U.K and
Malaysia. Good export potential.
12. Any other remarks Hardy rainfed crop in coastal
tropical region in the country. Crop
has outs- standing medicinal
properties (acidulent, dyscentry,
pains, heart problems etc.) and also
spice quality.
18. KERTH
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Saussurea lappa

2. Family Compositae
3. Area under Cultivation About 100 ha
4. Production About 200 t
5. Yield
Plant part Tuberous Roots
Actual ingredients Essential oil (1.5%)
Saussunine (0.05%)
6. Important States Kashmit valley a&K)
Lahaul spiti (HP)
Garhwal (UP)
7. Cultural Practices i.
Varieties/Types / Clones
released/ identified Kashmir & Punjab types
and planting time Seeds are sown in May
iii. Irrigation schedule 5-6 irrigations between May-
September.
iv. Diseases, pests and

their control No major pests and diseases
v. Crop duration 3 years.
•
8. Biochemical analysis Essential oil (1.5%). Essential oil
(Active ingredients) constituents (Aplotaxena 20%,
Sesquiterpenes (60%), Saussuine
alkaloid, Kushtin, Lactones,
Costunolide, Palmitic Acid,
Dihydrodehydrocostus, lactone,
propyl acetate, lauric acid.
9. Post Harvest Management Economical yield is obtained from 3
year old crop. Root is harvested in
early spring. The roots are cleaned
with water and dried for processing.
10 Cost of cultivation 1:3.2 (in 3 years) Cost of cultivation
(Cost: benefit ratio) : Rs. 14, 0007-
Gross income: Rs. 45,0007-
11. Internal consumption and Exported to China, Japan, Italy and
export potential France. Internal consumption is
limited.
19. L1QORICE
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn

2. Family Papilionaceae
3. Habit and Habitat A herb, reported to be found in sub-
Himalayan tracts. Most of the
requirement of Pharmaceutical
industries is met by import only.
Recently introduced in Gujarat,
Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.
i. Varieties/Types/Clones Haryana Mulhati No.1 (HM No.1)
released/ identified EC-I11236, EC-124587, EC-21950
and planting time By root cuttings February-March or
July-August
iii. Fertiliser doses 10 t FYM/ha applied at the time of
planting Chemical fertilisers: N 80
kg (40 kg basal dose + 20 kg each at
2nd + 3rd year), Pa0s-40 kg/ha and
KaO 20 kg/ha.
iv. Irrigation schedule At 30-45 days intervals in summer

or in dry season, 7-8 irrigations are
needed.
v. Diseases, pests and their
control Disease Causal
name Organism Control
Leaf spot Cercospora i) Dithane M-45 or Dithane Z - 78 @
0.2%.
ii) Bavistine (0.1%) followed by
Daltan 0.3%.
Root rot Rhizoctonia Bavistin or benlate before planting
Collor rot batalicola Aerial portion should be cut and
Selerotium sps destroyed.
Wilting Fusarium sps Carbonxazin 0.5% Bilitox 0.2%, 3-4
Leaf spot Alternaria times at an interval of 6 days after
tenius appearance of disease symptoms.
Pests: Attack of terminate
has Observed in light soils
vi. Crop duration 2.5 to 3 year
5. Biochemical analysis Glycyrrhizin (12-15%), Flavonoids
(Active ingredients) (Apioliquiretin, liquiritin, Apioss-
liquiritin, Isoliquiritin, monin,
liquisitigenin, Glycycocernarin,
Glycysol and Glycyrin).
6. Post Harvest Management After digging the roots in
September, left in the field for sun
drying, later the roots are sorted out
and cleaned. Dry roots stored in
polythene lined bags.
7. Action and uses Laxative, demulcent, emllkient,
tonics, aphrodisiac. Used in sore
throat, cough, genitourinary disea-
ses, anorexia, asthma, persistent low
fever.
8. Compound Preparations Yashtyadi churna, Yashtyadi
Kwath' Yashtimadhwadya tails.
9. Internal consumption and It is imported (about 5,000 to 10,000
export potential of dry roots annually) from
Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
10. Any other remarks Cultivation not yet popularised.
20. LONG PEPPER
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Long Pepper (Piper longum Linn)

2. Family Piperaceae
3. Habit and Habitat A slender climber with perennial
woody roots, found in hotter parts
of India with humid damp climate,
viz" Western ghats, central
Himalayas to Assam, Khasi and
Mikir hills and lower hills of Bengal
4. Yield Dry spike 650-700 kg/year/ha
Plant part Root yield 500 kg/ha
Actual Ingredients Piperine (4.5%)
Essential oil 0.7%)
released / identified Cheemathipali, Viswam
ii. Propagation methods Rooted vine cuttings and suckers.
and planting time Soon after the onset of monsoon
iii. Fertiliser doses Mostly grown as an under crop on
residual fertility. 20 t FYM/ha.
Application of inorganic fertilisers
are not yet reported.
iv. Irrigation schedule During summer, one irrigation/
week. Sprinkler irrigation is also
beneficiai.
v. Diseases, pests and Leaf and vine rot & necrotic spots
their control and blights on leaves (1% spray of
Bordeaux mixture). Mealy bug
attack (any systemic insecticides).
Adults and nymphs of Helopeltis
theivora attack (neems seed kernel
extract @ 0.25%).
(Active ingredients) Piperine and Piplartin
7. Post Harvest Management The first harvest from vines is
available after six months of
planting. Spike are ready for harvest
after two months of formation.
Harvested spikes and roots are
sundried and stored in moisture
proof bags. The produce fetches

price according to the grade.
8. Action and uses Alterative, tonic, sedative,
vermifuge, cholagogue,
emmenagogue. Used in cough, cold,
chronic bronchitis, palsy, gout,
rheumatism, lumbago, insomnia,
epilepsy, asthma, amorexia, piles,
dyspepsia, leucoderma.
9. Compound Preparations Gudapippali, Pippalikhanda,
Pipalyasva.
10. Internal consumption and Huge internal consumption. 558.31t
export potential imported in 1995-96 valued at
Rs.76.92 lakhs and 38.523t exported
in 1995- 96 valued at Rs.17.02
21. SHANKAPUSHPI
1. Name of Medicinal Plant Convolvulus pluricaulis

2. Family Convolvulaceae
3. Distribution A prostrate perennial herb found all
over India, in Lalitpur district found
in Talbehat, Meharauni and Lalitpur
forest ranges. Present day
availability is very low,
approximately 50 - 60 quintal per
year.
4. Part used Whole plant
5. Soil type Sandy loams, Block cotton soils Red
sandy soils; PH 5.5 to 7. It is also
grown in marginal lands with good
drainage and some organic matter
applied to the soil.
6. Rainfall 800 mm - 1200 mm
7. Field preparation Deep ploughing in the month of
May and is allowed to weather. 15
tons per hectare farm yard manure
is spread out in the field during June
before rains. After FYM applied and
after on set of monsoons second
ploughing is done followed by two
cross harrowing. The land is finally
divided in to small blocks,

8. Sowing The seeds are broadcast mIxmg
with sand or Line sowing 30 cm x 30
cm also done. After sowing light top
dressing of FYM is given. Very light
watering is done.
Seedlings appear within 30 days.
9. Weeding-& Hoeing Generally two weedings & hoeing
are given within 40 - 50 days.
10. Harvesting Plants get flowers in October and
seeds developed in December. Crop
harvesting period is January to May.
Whole plant is dried in shade and is
stored for marketing.
(active ingredients Alkaloids, Sankhpuspine
12. Action Intellect promoting, nervine tonic,
Expectrorant, Antileprotic,
Refrigerant
13. Uses Insomnia, Insanity and Epilepsy,
Cough, Skin disorders,
Hyperpyrexia, General debility
REFERENCES
Kulkarni P.H. and Shahida Ansari., The Ayurvedic Plants, Delhi, Satguru
Publications, 2004, xvi, 334 p.
Rama Swamy N .. , Biotechnological Applications for Improvement of Solanum
Sherriff J., Catalogues of Indian Synonymes Medicinal Plants Inorganic
Substances Propos, 675 p.
Swami Brahmananda (ed.)., Common Medicinal Plants of India: A Complete
Guide to Home Remedies, Delhi, Dominant, 2000, 327 p.
3
Bioprospecting of Medicinal Plants
'Bioprospectors' express optimism that they can help to

implement the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity by
encouraging biodiversity conservation and stimulating
capacity building in developing countries. Many
indigenous peoples, though, are sceptical of existing
bioprospecting agreements. Most agreements are based
upon acceptance of two international trends which
indigenous peoples feel threatened by. These are the
standardisation of intellectual property rights law, and the
extension of nation state sovereignty to encompass all
biogenetic resources within national boundaries.
Bioprospecting is the collection and screening of
biogenetic resources for industry. One of the first scientists
to argue that such an activity could constihlte the basis for
a conservation strategy was Thomas Eisner of Cornell
University, USA. In 1989 Eisner and his colleagues in the
International Society of Chemical Ecology adopted the
Goteborg Resolution, which stated:
Natural products constitute a treasury of immense value to
humankind. The current alarming rate of species extinction
is rapidly depleting this treasury, with potentially disastrous
consequences. The International Society of Chemical Ecology
urges that conservation measures be mounted worldwide to
stem the tide of species extinction, and that vastly increased
biorational studies be undertaken aimed at discovering new
chemicals of use to medicine, agriculture and industry. These
Bioprospecting of Medicinal Plants 69
exploratory efforts should be pursued by a partnership of

developing and developed nations, in such fashion that the
financial benefits flow in fair measure to all participants.
The recent resurgence of natural product-based research by
the pharmaceutical industry is mainly due to technological
advances. However, as Eisner acknowledges,
bioprospecting is hardly new. Since 18th century 'gene
hunters' from Europe and North America have'discovered'
botanical treasures iri the tropics, and these have generated
enormous wealth. Indeed, for several generations virtually
everybody living in the biodiversity-poor North has been
a beneficiary of free northward transfers of biological
resources.
However, a number of influential conservationists
believe that the world is undergoing an extinction' spasm',
and that many resources are vanishing before people
become aware of their existence. This situation is attributed
mainly to large-scale clearances of the biodiversity-rich
tropical forests. Southern governments are frequently
blamed for letting this happen, but respond that as long as
Northern countries fail to share the benefits of commercial
exploitation of biogenetic resources, conservation cannot be
justified economically.
Intergovernmental negotiations, such as those resulting
in the agreed text of the Convention on BiologkalDiversity,
have to some extent accommodated the demands of
multinationals seeking access to the resources of
biodiversity-rich areas, and of Southern governments
wishing to control what they regard as their biogenetic
assets. Unfortunately, indigenous peoples have tended to
be marginalised from these debates, as they are from by the
types of partnership promoted by many bioprospecting .
enthusiasts. I
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (CBD)
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into

force in 1993 and has been ratified by over 160 countries.

There are three main objectives (Article 1):
the conservation of biological diversity
the sustainable use of its components
the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out
of the utilisation of genetic resources
Agreeing a text acceptable to governments in the
biodiversity-poor North and the multinational companies
on one side, and the Southern governments on the other,
proved to be a difficult and contentious process. The latter
countries together possess most of the planet's biological
wealth but require greater scientific, technological and
financial capacities to exploit it. The multinationals wanted
continued free access to biological resources; Southern
governments demanded technology transfers and benefit-
sharing as conditions for access. To some extent Southern
governments prevailed. Nevertheless, only the United
States refused to sign at the Earth Summit, the other
Northern countries deciding that it was an agreement they
could live with, as did most multinationals.
In many ways, then, the CBD is a framework agreement
setting out the terms on which the world's biogenetic
wealth is to be shared out between nation states in the
South and industrial concerns mostly in the North, but with
some potentially far-reaching concessions to indigenous
peoples and local communities. Thus, while the sovereignty
of nation states is now extended by treaty to all genetic
resources within their borders, the intellectual property
rights of corporations were recognised in the final version
of the CBD, albeit in somewhat ambiguous language. Brief
reviews of these developments explain why indigenous
peoples feel threatened by them.
National sovereignty According to Article 15:
Recognising the sovereign rights of States over their natural
resources, their authority to determine access to genetic
resources rests with the national governments and is subject

to national legislation.
Until recently, genetic resources have been considered as
part of the common heritage of humankind. Given the
widely disparate abilities of countries to exploit these
resources profitably, it was understandable that developing
countries would wish to challenge this assumption.
However, this extension of the domain of the nation state
is highly problematic for indigenous peoples, because it
appears to contradict international human rights law,
according to which 'all peoples may, for their own ends,
freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources'.
Indigenous peoples fear that governments which enact
legislation to implement the CBD will apply this principle
unrestrictedly, <l:nd thereby violate their territorial integrity
and resource rights.
Intellectual Property Rights (lPR)
Developing countries in re~ent years have been put under

tremendous pressure to adopt intellectual property rights
(IPR) regimes that accord with the standards which now
prevail in North America, Europe and Japan. Discussions
on the standardisation of IPR have taken place mainly
during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), although the CBD is another
important forum where IPR has been debated.
The Uruguay Round culminated in an international
agreement commonly known as the 1994 GATT Final Act,
which was signed in 1994 by 124 governments. It includes
the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPs). During negotiations the United
States and several other Northern countries demanded
protection for biotechnology products and processes in the
broadest possible sense, including the patenting of life-'
forms. As a result, although members may exclude from
patentability 'plants and animals other than
microorganisms, and essentially biological processes for the

production of plants or animals other than non-biological
and microbiological processes', TRIPs does not easily allow
countries to prohibit the patenting of all life-forms, whether
on moral or other grounds.
Therefore, patenting of genetically-modified organisms
and even human genetic material will probably be
permitted by more and more countries. Indigenous peoples
are outspoken in their opposition to such patents,
considering them to be violations of the sanctity of life and
contrary to their moral beliefs.
Despite certain ambiguities, the CBD tends also to
support corporate IPR. Thus, Article 16 on Access to and
Transfer of Technology, states in part:
In the case of technology subject to patents and other
intellectual property. rights, such access and transfer [of
technology including biotechnology] shall be provided on
terms which recognise and are consistent with the adequate
and effective protection of intellectual property rights.
While compliance with GATT-TRIPs and the CBD requires
states to implement domestic legislation consistent with
their provisions, a potential conflict exists. Implementing
GATT 1994 will tend to harmonise IPR law, while national
legislation to implement the CBD in biodiversity-rich
countries is likely to link access to biogenetic resources to
expanded nation state rights, and perhaps indigenous
rights, too. Two important and inter-linked issues arise
here: the possibility of adapting IPR regimes so they can
protect indigenous knowledge, and the question of
intellectual and biological 'piracy'.
Conventionally, IPR are conferred upon individuals
and corporate entities, but not upon communities. While
intellectual property law can protect inventions of
companies based upon the knowledge of local
communities, the community knowledge itself cannot be
protected. Furthermore, in the case of patents the
geographic location of the source of the raw material used

for the 'invention' has no bearing on the decision to accept
or reject a patent application. These features of patents
effectively support the act of 'biopiracy' in which
indigenous peoples and local communities have their
knowledge and resources taken and used without their
authorisation by corporations and governments without
their prior agreement.
One controversial instance of this is the case of the neem
tree (Azadirachta indica), which has been used for centuries
by Indian farming communities for numerous purposes,
including protecting crops from insect pests. Two
companies in the United States have patents for derivatives
of the active principle without having compensated local
farmers for their knowledge and prior use of the tree. It is
estimated that the global. market for neem-based bio-
insecticides will reach US$ 50 million per annum by the
year 2000.
Indigenous Perspectives
Given the sources of knowledge in such cases as neem, the
fairness of IPR law is being questioned by indigenous
peoples. The Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples expresses the concerns, demands and
aspirations of hundreds of indigenous peoples'
organisation around the world. Article 29 states that:
Indigenous peoples are entitled to the recognition of the full
ownership, control and protection of their cultural and
intellectual property. They have the right to special measures
to control, develop and protect their sciences) technologies
and cultural manifestation, including human and other
genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the
properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures,
designs and visual and performing arts.
Evidently, indigenous peoples interpret their cultural and
intellectual property broadly, so that these encompass
much more than knowledge, but also their cultural
heritage, their biological resources, and even their cells and

DNA.
In fact, indigenous peoples have their own regimes to
regulate access to and control over knowledge and
resources that are often more sophisticated than those
based on IPR or national sovereignty. According to the
North American indigenous peoples' organisation, the
Four Directions Council:
Indigenous peoples possess their own locally-specific
systems of jurisprudence with respect to the classification of
different types of knowledge, proper procedures for
acquiring and sharing knowledge, and the rights and
responsibilities which attach to possessing knowledge, all of
which are embedded uniquely in each culture and its
language.
For this reason, the Four Directions Council argues that:
Any attempt to devise uniform guidelines for the recognition
and protection of indigenous peoples' knowledge runs the
risk of collapsing this rich jurisprudential diversity into a
single 'model' that will not fit the values, conceptions or laws
of any indigenous society. A better approach ...would be for
the international community to agree that traditional
knowledge must be acquired and used in conformity with
the customary laws of the peoples concerned.
This perspective has limited support in the CBD, which, in
Article lO(c) requires contracting parties to:
Protect and encourage customary uSe of biological resources
in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are
compatible with conservation or sustainable use
requirements.
For indigenous peoples, then, protection of knowledge and
re~urces, and continuation of customary law and practice,
are\ \\=entral to maintenance of their cultural identity.
Therefore, control over these is an aspect of human rights.
This neeqis to be understood by aU governments, companies
and otht institutions before they enter into negotiations for
thp If'se of biogenetic resources on the territories of
Bioprospecting of Medicinal Plants 7S
indigenous peoples. These negotiations should certainly

involve indigenous peoples. Often they do not. The
following case, despite a generally favourable image, has
attracted criticism for failing to accommodate local needs
and concerns.
National Biodiversity Institute

The National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica is
frequently hailed as a model bioprospecting institution,
and its agreements with pharmaceutical companies are
regarded as examples for other countries to follow. It is true
that INBio's activities and collaborations have some
positive features, including capacity building and benefit-
sharing. In other respects, INBio and its agreements are
inappropriate for other countries and may be inappropriate
for Costa Rica, too.
INBio is a private non-profit organisation which was
established in 1989 with the blessing of the government. Its
main objectives are to carry out a species inventory of the
country - which is estimated to have 4% of the world's
biological diversity - and to explore the commercial
potential of the qmntry's biological resources.
Costa Rica's 1992 Conservation of Wildlife Law declares
national sovereignty over the biological diversity of the
country. This is not equivalent to nationalisation of all
biogenetic resources in the country. Nevertheless, the State
has the exclusive right to grant permits to investigate,
collect and exploit the country's biological diversity in the
publicly-owned conservation areas, which make up 25% of
the whole country.
The Minis.try of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines
(MIRENEM) is authorised to grant bioprospecting permits
in these areas, and INBio has such a permit. INBio's first
and best known agreement with a multinational company
was the one with Merck, which began in 1991 and has been
renewed up to the present. Merck gave INBio an advance
payment of US$1 million, equipment for an extraction

laboratory, and a guarantee of royalties in case a product
is derived from any of the extracts (of plant and insect
specimens) which INBio will transfer to Merck. 50% of the
royalties will go to the government's National Parks Fund
through MIRENEM.
The agreement has certain positive aspects. First, the
advance payment, which is not a common feature of such
agreements; second, INBio's freedom to supply extracts to
other companies, including those given to Merck if two
years have elapsed since Merck received them; third, INBio
has control over taxonomic information on all its samples.
Thus, if an extract shows promise for Merck to continue its
research it will have to approach INBio again to obtain
more material.
However, before promoting the Costa Rican appro~ch
as a model, certain points merit consideration:
1) The government has granted INBio prospecting rights
to explore lands and biogenetic resources over which
the State has jurisdiction. Although Costa Rica is more
culturally homogeneous than its neighbours
indigenous peoples exist whose inalienable rights to
lands and resources pre-date the existence of the
country. Therefore if indigenous peoples are not parties
to negotiations, an argument can be made that both the
government and INBio are effectively usurping the
territorial and resource rights of indigenous peoples.
2) The government and INBio are the beneficiaries of the
Merck agreement. The only way that local communities
appear to gain in any direct sense is through the
training of a small number of local'parataxonomists'.
Furthermore, INBio will not contribute at all to
revitalising local knowledge traditions because it
professes to have no interest at all in such knowledge.
Nor, one can only conclude, in the cultural diversity
that underpins such traditions. According to Maurice

Iwu, a prominent Nigerian scientist:
The kind of deal that was done in Costa Rica cannot
be done in Nigeria .. ,The kind of deal that India
and Nigeria [etc.] will negotiate has to recognise the
multi-ethnic nature of our own societies.
3) A company like Merck will tend to seek cures for
therapeutic groups that are major concerns in
developed countries, but which may be relatively less
important in developing countries where other
diseases and infections take higher priority. According
to Iwu.
Screening strategies should include parasitic
infections and diseases to aid in the search for new
treatments for diseases of primary concern to
source country inhabitants, and proper objectives
should not be limited to the generation of pure
chemical isolates as pharmaceuticaJ leads, but
should include the standardisation of
phytomedicines for the benefit of traditional
healers and their patients. The inclusion of such
measures will contribute to an improvement of the
quality of life of source country inhabitants.
Indigenous initiatives for self-determination

Indigenous peoples are concerned that bioprospecting
expeditions, even those carried out with good intentions,
will infringe their rights. To a large extent, the rules of the
game are those of multinationals and nation states, and
indigenous peoples still find it difficult to get their voices
heard. In response, a growing number of groups, such as
the Kuna of Panama, the Awa of Ecuador and the Inuit of
the Arctic have developed their own regulations which
visiting scientists must adhere to.
In India local communities are setting up community
registers of local knowledge of biodiversity to revitalise
traditional knowledge systems for the benefit of future

generations and to protect them from piracy. Such
initiatives are being carried out independently of
governments and companies. Other indigenous peoples
have declared their opposition to bioprospecting.
Participants at the UN Development Programme-
sponsored Regional Consultation on Indigenous Peoples'
Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights held in April
1995, called for a moratorium on bioprospecting in the
Pacific region and urged indigenous peoples:
- not to co-operate in bioprospecting activities until
appropriate protection mechanisms are in place.
Indigenous peoples demand that their right to self-
determination be recognised beforethey are prepared to
enter into negotiations over access to their territories and
resources. Given the vital role indigenous peoples play in
the conservation of biodiversity it is vital for .!:!.S all that
national laws to implement the CBD and GAIT be enacted
which uphold this right.
ANTI-ARRHYTHMIC EFFECTS OF HERBAL MEDICINE
Herbs have been used for medical treatment since the

beginning of human civilisation. Herbal medicine has made
many contributions to commercial drug preparations
manufactured today including ephedrine from Ephedra
sinica (rna-huang), digitoxin from Digitalis purpurea
(foxglove), salicin (the source of aspirin) from Salix alba
(willow bark), and reserpip.e from Rauwolfia serpentine
(snake root).
With wide use of herbs in Eastern traditional medicine
as well as in Western medicinal drugs, continuing research
is necessary to elucidate the pharmacological activities of
many herbal remedies now being used to treat
cardiovascular diseases, such as congestive hear! failure,
hypertension, angina pectoris, atherosclerosis, and
arrhythmias.
Arrhythmias have accounted for significant cardiac

morbidities and mortalities over the past few decades.
Although some arrhythmias may appear benign or
potentially dangerous, the majority of sudden cardiac
arrests are a direct result of ventricular tachycardia (VT)
and/ or ventricular fibrillation (VF). Although conventional
anti-arrhythmic drugs have been shown to be effective in
preventing arrhythmias, they themselves can also cause
lethal arrhythmias in some conditions. It is known that
electrical defibrillation is the only effective clinical means
to treat VF.
Currently, the shock strength required to successfully
defibrillate is still high. A number of studies have been
done to lower the defibrillation threshold (DFT). One of the
means to decrease the DFf is to combine the defibrillation
with the drugs. Both pharmacological and non-
pharmacological interventions to prevent these lethal
arrhythmias have been widely investigated. Recently,
many herbal products have been shown to be anti-
arrhythmic and would be useful to treat and prevent
arrhythmias.
Both crude extracts and pure compounds, that have
been widely studied for their anti-arrhythmic effects in
recent years. These consist of trilinolein, garlic, and certain
other common herbal products. Continuing research is
necessary to provide more information regarding the safety
and efficacy of herbal medications now being used to treat
arrhythmias.
Trilinolein
Trilinolein, isolated from the traditional Chinese herb
Sanchi (Panax notoginseng), has been used for treatin9
circulatory disorders in China for hundreds of years.
Chemical structure of trilinolein consists of a triacylglycerol
with the fatty acid and linoleic acid, which carries two
unsaturated bonds, at all three esterified positi<:>n's of
glycerol. Trilinolein has been shown to have various

beneficial effects, including reduction in thrombogenicity,
erythrocyte deformability and having antioxidant,
antiischemic, and anti-arrhythmic effects in various
experimental models.
In a rat model study, trilinolein was reported to reduce
ischemia-induced arrhythmias.9 In this study, trilinolein
(0.01-100 ng/kg) was administered intravenously 15 min
before ligation of the coronary artery. At dose of 100 ng/
kg, trilinolein has been shown to completely suppress all
ventricular arrhythmias. Trilinolein also reduced the
incidence, rate and duration of VT and the number of
ectopic beats during the first 30 min of coronary ligation.
Additionally, similar doses of trilinolein also reduced
ventricular arrhythmias during 10 min reperfusion of the
myocardium, following the 30 min of coronary artery
ligation. .
Furthermore, the effect of trilinolein on infarct size was
evaluated by occluding the coronary artery for 4 hours
before the infarct zone was stained and weighed. In rats
subjected to 4-hour coronary ligation, pre-treatment with
10-7 g/kg trilinolein infused intravenously at 15 min prior
to the coronary ligation significantly reduced infarct size.
The anti-arrhythmic effects of trilinolein have been
investigated in ventricular arrhythmia caused by digitalis
intoxication. Ventricular arrhythmia is a frequent side effect
with the use of digitalis, the mechanism underlying the
arrhythmias induced by cardiac glycosides being complex.
It has been shown that delayed afterdepolarisation (DAD)
is responsible for such arrhythmia. DAD is believed to be
generated by the overloading of intracellular Ca2+ stores,
caused by the inhibitory effect of digitalis on the Na+ /K+
pump which subsequently activates the reverse mode of the
Na+ /Ca2 +exchanger.
Treatment of guinea pigs with trilinolein (0.1-100 p.g/
kg) prior to intravenous administration of strophanthidine
significantly reduced ventricular extrasystoles which were

related to DADs induced by cardiac glycoside. It is known
that low concentrations of trilinolein effectively reduced
Ca 2+ influx in isolated rat cardiomyocytes. Similar
mechanisms may be involved in reducing
strophanthidineinduced ventricular extra systoles. Excess of
Ca2+ and overloading of Ca 2.. not only favors abnormal
automaticity as well as trigg~red activity created by DADs,
but also induces cell-to-cell uncoupling and block of
conduction by inhibition of gap junction channels with
down-regulation of intermyocyte communication which
can initiate reentry.
Trilinolein also dose-dependently narrowed the width
of the QRS complex during VT, possibly due to the
improvement of the conduction velocity between muscle
fibers through the action of trilinolein on Ca2+ metabolism
that contributed to prevention of further arrhythmias. Since
VF induction and failed defibrillation have been
demonstrated to be related to intracellular calcium
overload, it is likely that trilinolein could be beneficial in
this case. Further studies are needed to verify this
hypothesis.
Garlic and its Anti-Arrhythmic Effects

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant that is cultivated
worldwide. Its bulb has been used as a spice or medicinal
herb for many centuries. It contains a higher concentration
of sulfur compounds than any other Allium species. The
sulfur compounds are responsible both for garlic's pungent
odor and many of its medicinal effects. Dried, powdered
garlic contains approximately 1% alliin (S-allylcysteine
sulfoxide). One of the most biolOgically active compounds,
allicin (diallylthiosulfinate or diallyl disulfide) does not
exist in garlic until it is crushed or cut since injury to the
garlic bulb activates the enzyme allinase, which
metabolises alliin to allicin. Allicin is further metabolised
and the very poor. India is the centre of South Asia's export
trade in medicinal plants, and in this country alone, it is
estimated that the collection and processing of medicinal
plants contributes to at least 35 million workdays of
employment a year.
Unfortunately, while demand rises, inequitable trade
practices have meant that only a small margin of the profits
from MAPs trickle down to the collectors and harvesters.
Highly developed illegal trading networks in Pakistan,
Nepal, Bhutan, India and Myanmar control the raw MAPs
trade, through lax border controls. Despite this, no regional
collaboration in implementing international covenants
relating to biodiversitY' exists to stem this growing illegal
market.
The expansion of unregulated trade and commercial
use of MAPs poses a major threat to biodiversity in the
region. Local communities tend to collect the highest value
or most popular plant species, leading to over-harvesting
or species extinction. Even when MAP species are safely
cultivated, if done with mono-cropping systems, local
biodiversity can be weakened. Finally, as 95 % of MAPs are
harvested and collected in wild, the alarming levels of
deforestation and ecosystem degradation in the region are
also contributing to a decline in MAPs. Combined, all of
these factors have severely reduced the availability of
medicinal plant ingredients and the overall environmental
sustainability of the region.
Along with the deterioration of resources, the cultural
heritage surrounding MAP use is being eroded.
Unstandardized expertise and knowledge of traditional
systems of medicine, as well as inadequate processing and
storage facilities, can result in ineffective or unsafe
treatments. The absence of institutional support,
appropriate validation systems, and quality contro]
protocol for indigenous health practices, threatens valuable
MAP knowledge and use practices, as well as public health.
Meaicinal Plants and Health Care 91
Benefits of Medicinal Plants

MPs offer a wide range of subsistence, cultural and
monetary benefits to people in the world. They provide
affordable means of primary health care to poor and
marginalized people, especially in impoverished rural
areas. In some countries like China, Nepal & India, they are
an important revenue generating resources providing
critical income to economically marginalized and
indigenous people. But most important, in a condition of
sustainable harvesting and optimal usage, the medicinal
plants could prove to be a model resource that can benefit
both the environment and livelihoods in a balanced
manner. The real challenge is how to strike this critical
balance? Given the fact that there are multiple benefits of
MPs including:
1) improved access to primary healthcare,
2) enhanced livelihood security,
3) potentially sustainable use of the biodiversity, and
4) improved benefit sharing with local communities, the
promotion of sustainable management of medicinal
plants can help the biodiversity rich countries to meet
the international obligations such as the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD).
In the broader sense, medicinal plants can also contribute
to address the chronic problem of global poverty and
hunger. The realization of mega global targets such as those
set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Poverty
Reduction Strategy and Programs (PRSP) etc. will require
interventions which are grass roots-based, poor-centred
and livelihood focused. Put differently medicinal plants can
meet the basic needs of the poor rural people. For example,
pro-poor marketing and enterprise development activities
in medicinal plants can help poor collectors and growers of
medicinal plants to increase their ~ousehold income" which
is dwindling due to increased input costs and decreasing
returns.
For example, China is estimated to have 12,807 species

of plants out of which 11,146 are classified as medicinal
plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It is
estimated that up to 492 species are currently under
cultivation and the remaining 10,654 species are harvested
from wild habitats. The total production from wild sources
is 8.5 million tons and the cultivated medicinal plants
production was estimated to be 0.3 million tons in 2001-02.
These produce not only contribute to the health of Chinese
people but also add approximately 2 billion USO to the
national economy annually. In the southwest mountainous
province of Guizhou, the contribution of medicinal plants
is reported to be about 10 percent of the province's GOP in
2002.
Medicinal, aromatic and dye plants (MAOPs) also have
potential to present as commodities with competitive
advantages for the poor regions of Asia, Africa & Latin
America. It is observed that some of the poorest regions of
the world such as the western and eastern regions of
Himalayas, Borneo and' Sumatra regions in Asia; Congo
basin in Africa and Amazon catchments in South America
are also rich in biological diversity where medicinal plants
and other NTFP species grow in abundance. If we can
promote a balanced conservation and cultivation of
MAUPs, rural poverty can be alleviated, gender imbalances
can be addressed and local economy improved.
Many medicinal plants are found in forest ecosystems,
where they are used to meet the health care needs and
livelihoods pursuits of indigenous and local communities.
Forests have been targeted in Central America and the
Caribbean as priority eco-regions for conservation. MPs are
increasingly being recognized as an important resources for
sustainable development, particularly as sources of safe,
effective, and accessible health care that integrates
traditiona1 and community knowledge, innovations, and
practices with modern scientific approaches to health
research.
Medicinal Plants and Health (;are 93
FOREST BASED MEDICINES IN HEALTHCARE
Rainforests contain no less than 60% of all higher plant

species known on earth and they provide all that is needed
for human survival, including remedies against disease.
Through evolution, plants have developed large numbers
of chemical substances to defend themselves against insect
pests and fungal and other pathogenic diseases. Some of
these agents can also act within the human body against
microorganisms and other causes of disease, and represent
an important source of natural drugs. Theil- highly complex
molecular structures often sWpass the imagination of the
chemist and cannot easily be reproduced in the laboratory.
More than 35,000 plant species are being used in various
human cultures around the world for medical purposes and
many of them are subjected to uncontrolled local and
external trade. So far, natural products from fewer than 40
tropical species have been incorporated into modern
medicine and only a fraction of the tropical flora has been
thoroughly analysed for their pharmacological activity.
Therefore, the annual extinction rate of an estimated 3,000
plant species is a matter of great concern as it could imply
the loss of a potential drug against an incurable condition,
such as dementia, cancer, influenza or AIDS. The resulting
health impact on the basic needs of the population in
developing countries is equally important and will be
discussed separately.
Health care and botany have evolved as inseparable
domains of human activity: the medicine man (shaman) is
often regarded as the first botanical professional in human
history. Whereas western medicine, as taught in most
medical schools around the" world, has largely switched
from natural to manufactured drugs, plant products are still
of paramount importance in traditional health care systems
of developing countries.
In traditional therapies of certain indigenous
communities, herbs are administered along with chants,
I
dance and spiritual ceremonies to expel bad spirits and to

help reharmonising the sick person with his or her
environment. Plants, however, also serve a less
metaphysical role, as anticonceptives in indigenous birth
control procedures or to counteract tangible pathogenics
such as fungi and parasit~s (e.g. worms, malaria).
In developing countries, medicine men and women are
particularly knowledgeable about the recognition and
treatment of common diseases. In Amazonia, at least 1,300
plant species are being used as medicines, poisons or
narcotics. Traditional healers are also skilled botanists and
have a great talent for locating the requisite plant from the
green vastness that makes up their natural pharmacy.
In Latin America and Africa, this knowledge has largely
remained undocumented and is handed down orally from
father to son or from mother to daughter. Today's younger"
generations often have very different ambitions and,
therefore, these traditional skills are doomed to get lost
even faster than the plants themselves. This is why
ethnobotanists compare the death of a shaman to the loss
of a national library and invest much effort in assembling
this knowledge as written accounts.
In recent years, traditional healing in distaht forest areas
has come under pressure from n.ove1- diseases such as
influenza and tuberculosis, that -have often revealed the
superiority of Iwhite ma~/'5"capsules/. This course of events
has greatly affected the prestige of the local healers and has
also opened the" market for expensive and less necessary
western drugs. Apart from the heavy drain imposed on
foreign exchange reserves by these imports, the existing
available and often equally effective traditional equivalents
have betl1 forced into disuse and oblivion.
Although western medicine has been integrated to
some extent with ancient health care systems in Asia, it has
become the dominant method in most larger hospitals
around the world. In non-hospital care in most developing
Medicinal Plants and Health Care 9S
,
countries, traditional and modern systems operate
independently without a clear hierarchy, whereas in rural
areas only traditional healing and herbal self-care may be
at hand. In these countries, there is a great demand for
medicinal plants that often come from the forests.
In the future, the use of these plants can be expected to
increase further due to population growth and the
increasing importance being attached to traditional health
care by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO's
'Health for All by the Year 2000' campaign emphasizes the
urgent need for the conservation of medicinal plants. This
same initiative has launched a first step toward a more
rational use of herbal medicines inJ:l're Carribean, following
a recent paarmacological evaluation of their effectiveness
and safety.
In the secoI.'ld ~ of this century, 'chemical' drugs have.
largely replaced plant products in mainstream medicine.
This development is in line with the prevailing concept of
disease, the belief in human-initiated progress, and the
quest for pure therapeutic substances that contain no more
than one active principle.
On closer analysis, however, over 25% of all
prescription drugs in the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) countries, and up to
60% of those in Eastern Europe, prove to consist of
unmodified or slightly altered higher plant products. They
embrace such important therapeutic categories as
anticonceptives, steroids and muscle relaxants for
anaesthesia and abdominal surgery; quinine and.
artemisinin against malaria; digitalis derivatives for heart
failure; and the anticancer drugs vinblastin/vincristin,
etoposide and taxol. These agents cannot be synthesized in
a cost-effective manner. Therefore, their production
requires reliable supplies of plant material, either from
cultivation or from the wild. Such is the case for the wild
yam Dioscorea compos ita, which cannot be cultivated and is
exported from Mexico and other countries in quantities of

hundreds of tons.
These few examples should make one realise how
modern drug delivery depends on the continuing
availability of raw materials and how vulnerable it is to the
exhaustion of natUral resources. This awareness is even
more pertinent to clients of health products stores and
herbalists, since natural non-prescription formulae may
contain rare and even endangered wild plants that are
regarded, often unjustly, as more powerfu1 than their
cultivated analogues. So far, only three species of medicinal
plants have been listed by CITES, the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora.
Natural drugs and medicinal plants, along with other
non-timber forest products, already yield important _
economic returns. They compare favourably in monetary
terms with logging and cash cropping, and contribute in
providing better prospects for sustainable forest use.
The pharmaceutltal industry has recently rediscovered
the tropical rainforests as an unmatched source of
chemicals with potential for new drug development, which
promises additional revenues. Thousands of plant extracts
of all continents are being screened for activity against HIV
and cancer- in the laboratories of the U.S. National Cancer
Institute. For example, Merck Sharpe & Dome, a New Jersey
based pharmaceutical company, has paid US$l million for
research rights in Costa Rica and has agreed to contribute
25% of profits made from Costa Rican plants to rainforest
conservation in Costa Rica.
EmNOBoTANICAL RESEARCH AND HEALm CARE
According to recent estimates by the World Health

Organisation, more than 3.5 billion people in the
developing world rely on plants as components of their
primary health care. Just as many Europeans know of the
Medicinal Plants and Health Care 97
use of Aloe vera [Aloaceae] to treat burns, many indigenous

peoples know of some common plants that have medicinal
uses. Ethnobotanical research should not be limited to
discovering new pharmaceuticals for Westerners; it can
also be of some benefit to peoples in developing COl'.ntries.
An increasing number of nations, including China,
Mexico, Nigeria, and Thailand, have decided to integrate
traditional medicine into their primary health systems. In
these systems, ethnobotanical research plays a crucial role
in documenting the traditional health care practices of the
country. Medicinal plant lore often recedes or completely
vanishes in the wake of rapid Westerni~ation.
In some countries, careful ethnobotanicaf!.6tudies have
become invaluable records of ancestral ways. In areas
-where the people are moving away from traditional
lifestyles, particularly in rapidly growing urban
populations, careful ethnobotanical documentation can
provide the needed foundation for educational programs.
Workers at Mahidol University in Bangkok, for example,
have prepared a series of slide presentations and pamphlets
to teach schoolchildren about traditional Thai uses of
plants.
Ethnobotanical research can also help in the discovery
of crude drugs. Only pure compounds with known
structures and pharmacological activities are permissible as
drugs in Western medicine, but in many developing
countries the price of such pure substances puts them
beyond the reach of all but the affluent. Careful clinical
studies can document the safety and efficacy of crude
extracts or tinctures of plants that can be dispensed at far
less cost. Carefully designed clinical trials of crude
botanical drugs have been conducted in Mexico and
Thailand.
An area of ethnobotanical drug discovery that has yet
to be developed is that of "gray pharmaceuticals"-drugs
of proven safety and efficacy that are not marketable in the
Western world. Decisions concerning marketability in the

Western pharmaceutical industry are not driven solely by
proof of safety and efficacy. To be marketable, a drug
candidate must affect only one point on a biochemical
pathway: compounds that affect multiple points of the
same pathway are unlikely to be marketed because only
"magic bullets" (single-activity drugs) are viable in today's
legal and economic environment.
Drug candidates must also show superiority over
competing drugs in the same market. Thus some plant-
derived drugs that are not marketable as Western
pharmaceuticals may still be acceptable in the country of
their origin, particularly if they can be produced cheaply.
The transfer of information (sometimes costing millions of
dollars) concerning the safety and efficacy of such gray
pharmaceuticals from Western firms to developing
countrie's, should be encouraged, along with the
appropriate patent rights and technologies to enable the
developing countries to produce plant-based medicines.
Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous People
Historically, the intellectual property rights of indigenous
peoples have not been recognised. The use of information
supplied by indigenous peoples in the discovery of
commercially marketable pharmaceuticals raises the
question of those people's intellectual property rights and
the ownership of biodiversity. We believe that indigenous
peoples are entitled to the same-intellectual property rights
enjoyed by other investigators. Yet in many cultures, the
preservation of important habitats is equally urgent.
In Samoa, four village-owned and -managed reserves
totalling 50,000 acres, beginning with the Falealupo Rain
Forest Reserve, have been created with donated funds, and
in Belize, the world's first extractive reserve for medicinal
plants has been created on 6000 acres of tropical rain forest
by the local government working with the association of
traditional healers with significant international support.

This effort seeks to demonstrate that conservation and the
use of forests as sources of locally consumed medicines are
compatible objectives. Elsewhere, as iri India, medicinal
plant reserves are being established to ensure a continued
supply of plants for traditional health care practitioners and
their patients.
Cash disbursement of royalty income most closely
approaches the Western concept of equity, but this
approach fails with peoples who have no monetary system.
For many indigenous peoples, the right to Hve unmolested
and undisturbed on their ancestral lands is the greatest
value. Establishment of nature preserves that protect both
biodiversity and indigenous cultures is of tremendous
importance to indigenous peoples.
In the Western tradition, natural resources are property
and therefore subject to either private or government
ownership. Thus Western conservation has its roots in the
pragmatic use of property; according to this viewpoint, no
action should be taken that decreases the value -of the
resource for the long term.
Many indigenous cultures, in contrast, perceive the
earth as existing not in the realm of the profane, but in the
realm of the sacred, a world view that distinguishes them
from many Western traditions. Indigenous legends
emphasise the need to protect the earth not because it is
useful to humans, but because it is sacred. The perception
of conservation as a religious duty, of course, also serves
ecological and cultural purposes.
Though they start from very different assumptions,
both Western conservationists and many indigenous
peoples recognise the need to protect vanishing natural
habitats. When Maori elders became concerned about the
loss of native plants used in weaving, for example, they
organised a hui, or a traditional conference, with the New
Zealand Division of Scientific and Industrial Research
(DSIR). They invited both scientists and traditional leaders

to discuss conservation strategies. Such collaborations,
although' complicated by cultural differences, have
provided strong support for three positions advocated by
indigenous peoples: that all forest plants have a purpose
and value; that the true economic values of rain forests and
native habitats have scarcely been considered and are
vastly underestimated; and that entire cultures and ways of
life will disappear if rain forests are destroyed. Recent
ethnobotanical studies provide evidence that substantiates
these indigenous views.
Quantitative Ethnobotanic Research in South America

Forest-dwelling peoples often claim that most, and perhaps
all, plants in their environment have a use. Ethnobotanist
Brian Boom of The New York Botanical Garden used some
pioneering plant census techniques to test that hypothesis.
Working for an extended period in the Bolivian Amazon,
Boom found that the Chacabo Indians knew of 360 species
of vascular plants in the forest surrounding their village of
Alto Ivon and that they had uses for 305 of them. They
collected Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) for their own
consumption and for sale, for instance, and used Anthurium
gracile to cure appendicitis. Boom then surveyed a I-hectare
plot in the tropical forest and found that 82 percent of the
tree species growing there had uses known to the Chacabo.
When he measured the densities of plants in the plot, Boom
found that the Ch.kabo used 95 percent of the individual
trees for some purpose.
Similar studies were undertaken by William BaMe
among the Ka'apor and Tembe Indians in Venezuela. The
percentage of tree species put to use by the Ka' apor was
found to be 76.8 percent, by the Tembe 61.3 percent, and
by the Panare 48.6 percent. Although these findings do not
prove that every forest plant has a use, they do confirm the
local people's claim that the forest plants have far more uses
than Western investigators have realised. Balee and Boom

have concluded that certain plant families are so important
in these Neotropical areas that conserving them is essential
if people are to continue to depend on the forest for their
sustenance. Among these valuable plant families are the
palm family [Arecaceae], the Brazil nut family
[Lecythidaceae], a tropical relative of the rose family
[Chrysobalanaceae], and a family that includes the
hallucinogenic capi vine, Malpighiaceae.
Working in Tambopata, Peru, with mestizo people,
Oliver Phillips and the late Alwyn Gentry of the Missouri
Botanical Garden employed an even more detailed
quantitative technique to inventory the plant families used
for construction, in commerce, for food, for technology, and
for medicine. Their interviews with 29 field guides yielded
a total of 1885 reported uses for the 605 tagged plants in
their plots. When they compared data to determine
whether the age of the person interviewed affected his or
her knowledge of plant use, they found that the bulk of the
information in some categories, such as medicinal plant
lore, was held by older people. These are the people,
Phillips and Gentry concluded, who should be the main
focus of ethnobotanical studies and conservation efforts.
Through their use of statistical tools, they substantiated the
intuitive judgements of many other workers, who
perceived that the long chain of oral ethnomedical tradition
was coming unravelled in the current generation. Once
investigators can identify the best sources of ethnobotanical
information in a community or indigenous society, both
local people and ethnoscientists can make more efficient
efforts to conserve such information.
Ethnobotanical Valuation Studies

Historically rain forests have been cut down because the
simplest and quickest way to convert them into cash is to
harvest the timber, bum down all that remains, and plant
and annual crop for a few seasons, until much of the soil's
nutrients are leached out. Since most of the nutrients in the
tropical rain forest are found in plant material rather than
in the soil, large-scale removal of that living material
prevents rain forests from growing back. By using the tools
of economists to analyse the value of land under various
uses, ethnobotanists have found that in some areas there are
viable alternatives to clear-cutting.
Researchers studying the use of non-timber resources
from forests in Brazil and Peru have concluded that non-
wood forest products "yield higher net revenues per
hectare than timber, but they can also be harvested with
considerably less damage to the ecosystem. Without
question, the sustainable exploitation of non-wood forest
resources represent the most immediate and profitable
method for integrating the use and conservation of
Amazonian forests."
In a similar study, Balick and Mendelson valued the
native medicinal plant species taken by the local people
from a fOllest in Belize. From two separate I-hectare plots
of 30- and 50-year-old forest, respectively, total biomass of
308.6 and 1433.6 kilograms of plant material for medicines
was collected. It was suggested that harvesting the
medicinal plants, from a hectare of forest would yield the
collector $564 and $3054 in the local markets, respectively,
for the two plots, after the costs of harvesting, processing,
and shipping were subtracted. For the 30-year rotation, a
present value of $726 per hectare was calculated for the
medicine, and for the 50-year rotation a present value of
$3327 per hectare was calculated.
This study fostered a greater understanding of the value
of the tropical forest to the local inhabitants and their
economy. It ultimately led to the development of several
industries based on the extraction of medicinal plants from
the forest for processing into tinctures, extracts, and salves.
Today local Belizean brands of traditional medicines-
Agapi, Rainforest Remedies, Rainforest Rescue, Triple

Moon-all help to generate employment for many local
people.
Additional studies to establish the net present value of
the tropical forest of the Neotropics have confirmed the
relatively high value of the products that can be harvested
on a hectare in areas where land is now priced in the
hundreds of dollars or less. Critics of this method of
establishing the value of forests point out that the land must
be near to a market or to a distribution channel in order for
the economic benefit to be realised. They state that there is
probably a finite market for the commodities produced
under these management schemes.
Both points have their validity, but nevertheless, it is
clear that in areas that have been intensively studied the
harvesting of non-timber forest products has increased the
income levels of local people and has stimulated the
development of new industries with a local value-added
component that increases returns to the region or country
of origin. Such studies also tend to confirm indigenous
beliefs that tropical forests, if properly managed, have far
more value than as mere sources of lumber and wood pulp.
Given the proven profitability of sustainable exploitation of
non-timber forest products, why has so little been done to
promote the marketing, processing, and development of
these valuable resources? We believe that the problem lies
not in the actual value of these resources, but in the failure
of public policy to recognise it.
Green industries now promote the sale of rain forest
products, such as the buttons fashioned from palm seeds
that adorn garments made from Paris to Hong Kong, ice
creams flavoured with exotic nuts and fruits, and rare
tropical essences in perfumes, shampoos, and body creams.
We can wash with soap made from tropical oils and nectars,
eat cereals based on grains that once sustained the Aztec~,
and drive to work on tyres manufactured from wild rubber
harvested in the Amazon Basin. Like other suggested

solutions to the dilemmas posed by deforestation and
economic development, green marketing is hardly a
panacea. The continued use of these products depends on
the reliability of their supply, markets, and distribution.
Key to maintaining supply is the issue of sustainable
resource production.
Sustainable Production of Medicinal Plants

Of greatest concern in the development of products based
on tropical forest species is our ability to ensure
sustainability. But nowadays, the concept of sustainability
is used in a rather cavalier fashion. In truth, we know very
little about the sustainability of any production, especially
of the products from tropical ecosystems. Charles Peters of
The New York Botanical Garden has undertaken many
detailed studies of tropical forest trees in efforts to
determine the level of sustainable production or harvest of
each species.
According to Peters, a sustainable system for
/I
exploiting non-timber forest resources is one in which

fruits, nuts, latexes, and other products can be harvested
indefinitely from a limited area of forest with negligible
impact on the structure and dynamics of the plant
popuJations be.mg expJo:ired." A pJant such as Brosimum
alicastrum [Moraceae], a tree found in Central and South
America that is exploited for its protein-rich fruits, needs
to produce over 1.5 million seeds to ensure that one tree will
live long enough to reproduce. If most of the fruits
produced by this species were to be harvested rather than
left to grow in the forest, the population would become
extinct within one generation.
Too little is known about the levels of sustainable
harvest of many of the internationally important NTFPs,
including the Brazil nut. Some 200,000 people harvest the
Brazil nut from the 20 million hectares of Amazonian forest
Medicinal Plants and Health Care lOS
where it grows; annually they produce around 42,000

metric tons for the commercial trade, valued at
approximately $35 million, or 1.5 percent of the total
international nut trade. The harvest of this nut is one of the
largest sources of cash income for many of these people,
and reduction in government subsidies for other NTFPs
such as rubber, which grows in the same areas, has led
people to harvest increased quantities of Brazil nuts. What,
then, will happen 50 or 100 years from now, when most of
the seeds produced by once-great populations of Brazil nut
trees have been removed from the forest and sold? Quite
simply, the mature, seed-producing trees that are the
backbone of the population will die and not be replaced,
and the resource base on which these indUstries are built
will disappear.
Charles Peters suggests six steps for exploiting NTFPs
in a sustainable fashion. First, the species to be exploited
should be carefully selected, after such factors as the ease
of harvesting and resilience of natural populations to
disturbance are considered. A tree valued for its roots will
be harder to harvest than one valued for its fruits, and the
harvest of a species that produces fruits in massive
quantities at one time of year will be easier to manage than
the harvest of a species that produces fruits sporadically
throughout the year. Once the species has been decided
upon, a forest inventory should be undertaken to learn
where the resource is found in greatest abundance and the
number of productive plants per hectare. Investigators
should then estimate the quantity of the resource produced
by the species in its various habitats and by trees in all size
classifications, to determine which trees in which habitat it
is best to harvest.
When these three steps have been taken, the harvesting
of the resource can begin, but the careful measurement
should continue. The status of the population should be
monitored for signs that the forest is being overharvested.
People should examine the status of adult trees periodically

to determine whether the flowers are being pollinated,
whether large numbers of fruits are being consumed by
predators, and so on. If problems arise, the harvest should
be adjusted to keep its level below the rate that would
threaten sustainability.
When necessary, people may replant areas that do not
seem to be regenerating, clean out competitive species, or
open up the forest canopies to allow more light to reach the
young trees and thus speed up their regrowth. The precise
measurements that Peters recommends are expensive and
time-consuming, and very few species have been studied
from this perspective. However, plant populations may be
threatened if harvests are determined by the demands of
the marketplace rather than the needs of the ecosystem.
Issues in Conservation of Forest-based Medicines

Early nature preserves were established in the tropics
during colonial times primarily to serve the needs of big-
game hunters or to protect watershed and timber resources.
The colonial administrations created most exciting rain
forest reserves by simply declaring government land to be
a national park or by purchasing land from private owners,
the same strategies followed to create national parks in
North America and Europe.
The Mexican government owned more than 99 percent
of the 528,000 hectares of rain forest, wetlands, and coral
reefs that are now included in the Sian Ka'an biosphere
Reserve on the Yucatan Peninsula, whereas the 100,000-
hectare Guanacaste National Park in Costa Rica, an area of
dry lowland tropical forest, was purchased largely from
private landowners for $9 million contributed by a variety
of conservation organisations, trusts, foundations, private
donors, and government agencies.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica, on
the other hand, was created partially through a "debt-for-
nature" swap--conservation organisations purchased part

of the country's international debt and accepted
conservation of rain forest acreage as payment. While these
strategies have been effective in preserving land, they have
been primarily focused on meeting national needs rather
than the concerns of local peoples.
These traditional strategies create reserves that are
essentially free from human disturbance. New strategies
differ in that they emphasise the possibility of using the
resource while protecting it from degradation. In the late
1980s, Brazil created a category of forest reserve known as
the "extractive reserve," an area where local people can
extract products on a small scale while still preserving a
largely intact ecosystem. This form of biological reserve is
closely associated with a social movement, begun in the
state of Acre, which attempts to improve economic
standards among Brazil's traditional peoples. The first
reserves were established for the extraction of rubber and
Brazil nuts. Most of the rubber produced in the Amazon
Basin is gathered in a way that does not destroy the trees,
so the people who gather it are strongly opposed to any
destruction of the rain forest. When ranchers who wished
to clear the forest assassinated Chico Mendes, the
movement's most visible leader and organiser of the local
rubber tappers' union, there was such an outcry that the
government eventually responded by creating the first
major extractive reserves, which now total some 10 percent
of the entire state of Acre.
Over the last few years, however, the value of both
wild-harvested rubber and Brazil nuts has fallen.
Ethnobotanists and taxonomists such as Douglas Daly of
the New York Botanical Garden are working with local
inhabitants of the reserves to identify other species that can
be produced for regional and international commerce and
provide income opportunities for the people who protect
these areas of tropical forest. Individuals in north temperate
countries are also helping to create extractive reserves: Such

organisations as Conservation International and Cultural
Survival have organised the marketing of forest products
from reserves.
Maintaining an extractive reserve b not without its
problems. The forest ecosystem may be damaged if
economically important products are overharvested. An
extractive reserve differs from a parcel of Land that i~ simply
public property in that a social structure is a key element
of the reserve. Ideally, guidelines can be developed and
rules and regulations enforced. While such rules do not
exist or are strongly enforced elsewhere, it appears that
most reserves are respected by the local people, particularly
if they are established with an understanding of local
culture and needs.
Sometimes the ecosystem of a forest reserve can be
altered by protecting economically important species while
other species-those whose value is not clear-are not
protected with the same tenacity. Thus, some critics have
argued, extractive reserves are able to protect only a portion
of the biodiversity they contain. The lesson is that there is
no one formula for protecting wildlands, especially in
remote regions of the tropics. But in the global effort to
assemble a jigsaw puzzle of conservation areas,
ethnobotanical research can play an important role by
helping to preserve and disseminate traditional knowledge.
When this knowledge is applied, economic returns can
accrue to those who make. their living in the rain forest
while still protecting it.
Ethno-biomedical Forest Reserve in Belize

Belize is a small nation with a population of around 200,000.
Vast tracts of forest still cover a significant portion of the
country. A recent environmental profile of Belize estimated
that more than 93 percent of the country could be classified
as forest land, although this estimate was optimistic, for it
excluded only urban areas and large-scale farming

operations.
In 1988 the Belize Ethnobotany Project was initiated to
inventory, understand, and conserve as much
ethnobotanical data as possible in a country that is
undergoing rapid change, accompanied by loss of natural
habitat and the erosion of existing cultures. The project is
a collaborative effort between The New York Botanic<l\
Garden's Institute of Economic Botany, and the Ix Chel
Tropical Research foundation in the Caro District with the
Belize Centre for Environmental Studies, the Belize Zoo and
Tropical Education Centre, the Belize College of
Agriculture, and a host of other government and non-
governmental organisations in Belize. This multitiered
effort has linked the mutual interests and activities of local
healers, farmers, students, ethnobotanists, and
pharmaceutical researchers to the conservation of their
main source of materials and ideas: the area's forests. These
forests serve as both a classroom and a source of raw
materials for local health practitioners.
An ongoing inventory of species and their uses focuses
in the collection, documentation, and study of traditional
medicines. Collection efforts in small villages and isolated
forest regions have been linked to the Developmental
Therapeutics Program of the National Cancer Institute in
the United States, supplying it with more than 2000 bulk
samples for testing in its cancer- and AIDS-screening
programme.
Supplementing the more familiar role of ethnobotany as
a documentary science, the project seeks to renew interest
in cultural knowledge and its transmission, particularly in
the area of medical practices. It has focused on work with
groups of elderly healers, most of whom have no
apprentices and whose accumulated knowledge is in
danger of being lost. The long-term interdisciplinary nature
of the project has allowed in-depth work with traditional
healers in efforts to understand disease concepts, healing

traditions, and the uses of plants. This type of knowledge
recovery has been described as salvage ethnobotany.
The project helped local organisations convene four
national traditional healers' meetings. The open forum
provided by these meetings enabled healers from different
cultural groups and geographic regions of Belize for the
first time to exchange information about the medical uses
of local and exotic plants. They discussed the importance
of. traditional healing, the central role of the healer as
community health care provider, and the increasing
difficulty of locating certain useful species.
In 1992 the Belize Association of Traditional Healers
was formed and Rosita Arvigo of the Ix Chel Tropical
Research Foundation was elected its president Yet without
plants, their work is impossible. As part of the effort to
conserve species that are important to the work of
traditional healers, a 2400-hectare parcel of lowland tropical
forest was given forestry reserve status in June 1993 at the
suggestion of a government minister, Daniel Silva, who
noted that Belize has a rich tradition of conservation
reserves. It has reserves for jaguars, for monkeys, for
butterflies, so why not for medicinal plants? The reserve
was intended to provide a source of medicinal plants as
well as a place to teach apprentices. Funds for surveying
and demarcating the reserve were provided by the Healing
Forest Conservancy and the Rex Foundation.
The forest, in the Yalbak region of Belize, contains a
wide diversity of fauna as well as many useful medicinal
plant species. As originally conceived, this ethno-
biomedical forest reserve would serve as a site to promote
ethnobotanical and ecological research in efforts to define
harvesting regimes for sustainable extraction. Toward this
end, a team of scientists is carrying out ecological
inventories as well as experiments designed to learn at
what rates bark and roots will regenerate after harvest.
Unfortunately, within a year after the reserve was

established, the local government changed, and
controversy arose over which group of local healers would
be responsible for its operation. Various plans have been
submitted to the Forestry Department and scientific
experiments continue, but development of the educational
and social component of the reserve's program is currently
on hold. Despite the best of intention, not all conservation
efforts are immediately successful.
As habitat destruction and overharvesting are depleting
the supply of medicinal plants in the forests of Belize, Rosita
Arvigo and Gregory Shropshire of the Ix Chel Tropical
Research Foundation have started a program to develop
horticultural nurseries in collaboration with Hugh O'Brien
of the Belize College of Agriculture. As part of the program,
the subject of medicinal plants was introduced into the
college curriculum. The major goal of the joint project is to
learn to propagate many of the commercially valuable
plants currently harvested from the wild. The species differ
wildly in their morphology and biology so the task is
complex.
Challeges of Ethnobotanical Conservation

Many challenges face ethnobotanists in future years,
particularly the rapid loss of biodiversity and the
concomitant loss of indigenous knowledge systems.
Published reports of the use of a medicinal plant might
create a demand for the resource, with riches flowing to all
parties involved except the original owners of the
knowledge. Others fear that if only the most sensational
information is written down, the more mundane
information may be lost. Clearly, one priority for the future
is to involve indigenous colleagues in ethnobotanical
research as coinvestigators and to train a new generation
of people from a variety of cultures to initiate studies
among their own people.
Increasingly, the local people involved in ethno-

botanical research, especially the healers, are being credited
as co-authors of scientific papers and receiving patent
rights to discoveries that result from the information they
have provided. Indigenous peoples, if given the proper
information and granted status as equal partners, are
capable of plotting their own future. And while that future
will probably include satellite ground stations, kidney
dialysis machines, and personal computers, we are
determined that the information flow should not be one-
way, from Western nations to indigenous peoples.
REFERENCES
Arvigo, R & Balick, M. Rainforest Remedies; One Hundred Healing Herbs

of Belize. Twin Lakes, USA; Lotus Press. 1994.
Fuller, D. Medici1le from the Wild. Washington, DC; Traffic USA 1991.
Lewington, A. Medicinal Plant and Plant Extracts: A Re-oiew of Their
Importation into Europe. Cambridge, UK; Traffic International.
1993.
Quansah, N. "Biocultural diversity and integrated health care in
Madagascar". Nature and Resources 30: 18-22. 1994.
Schultes, R.E. & Raffauf RF. The Healing Forest: Medicinal and Toxic Plants
of the Northwest Amazonia. Portland, Oregon, USA; Dioscorides
Press. 1990.
Sittenfeld, A. & Gamez, R "Biodiversity prospecting" by INBio. In:
Biodiversity Prospecting. Washington, DC; World Resources
Institute. pp. 69-97. 1993.
5
Wild Harvesting of Medicinal Plants
Since time immemorial, people have gathered plant and

animal resources for their needs. Examples include edible
nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices, gums, game, fodder,
fibres used for construction of shelter and housing, clothing
or utensils, and plant or animal products for medicinal,
cosmetic or cultural uses. Even today, hundreds of millions
of people, mostly in developing countries, derive a
significant part of their subsistence needs and income from
gathered plant and animal products. Gathering of high
value products such as mushrooms, medicinal plants.
Among these uses, medicinal plants playa central role, not
only as traditional medicines used in many cultures, but
also als trade commodities which meet the demand of often
distant markets.
Demand for a wide variety of wild species is increasing
with growth in human needs, numbers and commercial
trade. With the increased realization that some wild species
are being over-exploited, a number of agencies are
recommending that wild species be brought into
cultivation systems. Cultivation can also have conservation
impacts, however, and these need to be better understood.
Medicinal plant production through cultivation, for
example, can reduce the extent to which wild populations
are harvested, but it also may lead to environmental
degradation and loss of genetic diversity as well as loss of
incentives to conserve wild populations.
The relationship between in-situ and ex-situconservation

of species is an interesting topic with implications for local
communities, public and private land owners and
managers, entire industries ~md, of course, wild species.
Identifying the conservation benefits and costs of the
different production systems for MAP should help guide
policies as to whether species conservation should take
place in nature or the nursery, or both.
ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO MAP CULTIVATION
Since its adoption in 1992, the Convention on Biological

Diversity (CBD) has strived to implement its three major
goals: the conservation of biological diversity, the
sustainable use of its components, and the fair and
equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic
resources. Although MAP have not been explicitly on the
agenda of the various CBD meetings, all three goals of the
Convention are fully applicable to MAP resources.
In decision V/ 6, the Conference of the Parties of the
CBD adopted the ecosystem approach as the primary
framework for action under the Convention. It is a strategy
for the integrated management of land, water and living
resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use
in an equitable way. The ecosystem approach is based on
the application of appropriate scientific methodologies
focused on levels of biological organization which
encompass the essential processes, functions and
interactions among organisms and their environment. In
April 2002, the CBD adopted the Global Strategy for Plant
Conservation which provides a policy environment that is
particularly well suited to addressing the conservation
challenges for MAP in a coherent way.
As a base line element of the ecosystem approach it has
to be recognized that humans, with their cultural diversity,
are an integral component of ecosystems. In conceptual
terms, the essence of sustainable development is expressed
Wild Harvesting of Medicinal Plants 115
by the relationship between people and the ecosystem

around it. This implies that ultimately one is entirely
dependent upon the other. Human and ecosystem well-
being need to be assessed together. A society is thought to
be sustainable when both the human condition and the
condition of the ecosystem are satisfactory or improving.
The system improves only when both the condition of the
ecosystem and the human condition improve.
The number of plant species which have at one time or
another been used in some culture for medicinal purposes
can only be estimated. An enumeration of the WHO from
the late 1970s listed 21 000 medicinal species. However, in
China alone 4 941 of 26 092 native species are used as drugs
in Chinese traditional medicine, an astonishing 18.9
percent. If this proportion is calculated for other well-
known medicinal floras and then applied to the global total
of 422 000 flowering plant species, it can be estimated that
the number of plant species used for medicinal purposes is
more than 50 000 (Table 1).
Table l' Medicinally used plants

Cou Il try Plant species Medicinal plant species %
China 26092 4941 18.9
India 15000 3000 20.0
Indonesia 22500 1000 4.4
Malaysia 15500 1200 7.7
Nepal 6973 700 10.0
Pakistan 4950 300 6.1
Philippines 8931 850 9.5
Sri Lanka 3314 550 16.6
Thailand 11 625 1800 15.5
USA 21641 2564 11.8
Viet Nam 10500 1800 17.1
Average 13366 1700 12.5
World 422000 52885
Certain plant families have higher proportions of

medicinal plants than others. Good examples are the
Apocynaceae, Araliaceae, Apiaceae, Asdepiadaceae,
Canellaceae, Guttiferae and Menisper-maceae, In addition,
these families are not distributed uniformly across the
world. As a consequence, not only do some floras have
higher proportions of medicinal plants than others, but also
have certain plant families a higher proportion of
threatened species than others.
It is difficult to assess how many MAP are commercially
traded, either on a national or even an international level.
The bulk of the plant material is exported from developing
countries while major markets are in the developed
countries. An analysis of UNCTAD trade figures for 1981-
1998 reflects this almost universal feature of MAP trade.
Adding the volumes for the five European countries in this
list (94300 tonnes) marks the dominance of Europe as an
import region. Germany ranks fourth and third as importer
and exporter, expressing the country's major role as a
turntable for medicinal plant raw materials world-wide.
A thorough investigation of the German medicinal
plant trade identified a total of 1 543 MAP being traded or
offered on the German market. An extension of this survey
to Europe as a whole arrived at 2 000 species in trade for
medicinal purposes. Recognizing the role of Europe as a
sink for MAP traded from all regions of the world, it is a
qualified guess that the total number of MAP in
international trade will be around 2 500 species world-
wide.
THREATENED MEDICINAL PLANT SPECIES
To satisfy the regional and international markets, the plant

sources for expanding local, regional and international
markets are harvested in increasing volumes and largely
from wild populations. Supplies of wild plants in general
are increasingly limited by deforestation from logging and
conversion to plantations, pasture and agriculture. In many

cases, the impact through direct off-take goes hand-in-hand
with decline owing to changes in land use. Species
favoured by extensive agricultural management likeArnica
montanain central Europe go into decline with changes in
farming practices towards higher nutrient input on the
meadows. This requires habitat management as the key
factor in managing species populations.
One of the goals of the IUCN Medicinal Plant Specialist
Group is to identify the species that have become
threatened by non-sustainable harvest and other factors.
The enormity of this task is illustrated by the following
estimate: According to Walter and Gillett, 34 000 species or
8 percent of the world's flora are threatened with
extinction. If this is applied to our earlier estimate that
52 000 plant species are used medicinally, it leads us to
estimate that 4160 MAP species are threatened.
MAP UNDER CULTIVATION
Many medicinal plants, especially the aromatic herbs, are

grown in home gardens, some are cultivated as field crops,
either in sole cropping or in intercropping systems and
rarely as plantation crops.
In a survey carried out for the Rainforest Alliance,
companies involved in trade and production of herbal
remedies and other botanical products were asked what
percentage of their material is from cultivated sources and
what percentage from the wild.
On average, companies reported that 60-90 percent of
material was cultivated, with the remaining wild
harvested. However, when asked about species numbers
rather than volume of material, the figures are generally
inverted. Lange and Schippmann state that of the 1 543
species traded in Germany, only 50-100 species (3-6
percent) are exclUSively sourced from cultivation.
Of more than 400 plants species used for production of

medicine by the Indian herbal industry, fewer than 20
species are currently under cultivation in different parts of
the country. In China, about 5 000 medicinal plants have
been identified and about 1 000 are more commonly used,
but only 100-250 species are cultivated. In Hungary, a
l:ountry with a long tradition of MAP cultivation, only 40
species are cultivated for commercial production. In Europe
as a whole, only 130-140 MAP species are cultivated.
Based on these figures, we assume that the number of
MAP species currently in formal cultivation for commercial
production does not exceed a few hundred world-wide. A
global survey on the extent of MAP cultivation in terms of
species, volumes and values would be highly desirable. On
the other hand, however, we recognize that many more
MAP species are cultivated on a small-scale in home
gardens, either as home remedies or by herbalist or
cultivation by local people can take place as enrichment
planting.
DEMAND OF WILD AND CULTIVATED MEDICNAl PLANTS
Given the demand for a continuous and uniform supply of

medicinal plants and the accelerating depletion of forest
resources, increasing the number of medicinal plants
species in cultivation would appear to be an important
strategy for meeting a growing demand. But why are so few
species cultivated and why are some species cultivated and
so many others not?
One explanation may be found in the observation that
cultivated plants are sometimes considered qualitatively
inferior when compared with wild gathered specimens. For
instance, wild ginseng roots are 5-10 times more valuable
than roots produced by artificial propagation. The reason
is primarily cultural, as the Chinese community, which is
the largest consumer group of wild ginseng, believes that
the similarity in appearance of gnarled wild roots to the .
human body symbolizes the vitality and potency of the

root. Cultivated roots lack the characteristic shape of wild
roots and are therefore not as highly coveted by consumers.
In Botswana, traditional medicinal practioners said that
cultivated material was unacceptable, as cultivated plants
did not have the power of material collected from the wild.
Scientific studies partly support this. Medicinal
properties in plants are mainly due to the presence of
secondary metabolites which the plants need in their
natural environments under particular conditions of stress
and competition and which perhaps would not be
expressed under mono-culture conditions. Active
ingredient levels can be much lower in fast growing
cultivated stocks, whereas wild populations can be older
due to slow growth rates and can have higher levels of
active ingredients. While it can be presumed that cultivated
plants are likely to be somewhat different in their
properties from those gathered from their natural habitats
it is also clear that certain values in plants can be
deliberately enhanced under controlled conditions of
cultivation.
In general, in all countries, the trend is towards a
greater proportion of cultivated material. The majority of
companies, the mass-market, over-the-counter
pharmaceutical companies as well as the larger herb
companies, prefer cultivated material, particularly since
cultivated material can be certified biodynamic or
organic. From the perspective of the market, domestication
and cultivation provide a number of advantages over wild
harvest for production of plant-based medicines:
(i) While wild collection often offers material adulterated
with unwanted, sometimes harmful other plant
species, cultivation provides reliable botanical
identification.
(ii) Wild harvest volumes are dependent on many factors
that cannot be controlled and the irreguiarity of supply
is a common feature. Cultivation guarantees a steady

source of raw material.
(iii) Wholesalers and pharmaceutical companies can agree
on volumes and prices over time with the grower.
(iv) The selection and development of genotypes with
commercially desirable traits from the wild or
managed populations may offer opportunities for the
economic development of the medicinal plant species
as a crop.
(v) Cultivation allows controlled post-harvest handling
and therefore quality controls can be assured and
product standards can be adjusted to regulations and
consumer preferences.
(vi) Cultivated material can be easily certified organic or
biodynamic although certifiers are also presently
developing wildcrafting.
However, domestication of the resource through farming is
not always technically possible. Many species are difficult
to cultivate because of certain biological features or
ecological requirements (slow growth rate, special soil
requirements, low germination rates, susceptibility to pests,
etc.).
Economical feasibility is the main rationale for a
decision to bring a species in cultivation but it also is a
substantial limitation as long as sufficient volumes of
material can still be obtained at a lower price from wild
harvest. Cultivated material will be competing with
material harvested from the wild that is supplied onto the
market by commercial gatherers who have incurred no
input costs for cultivation. Low prices, whether for local use
or the international pharmaceutical trade, ensure that few
species can be marketed at a high enough price to make
cultivation profitable. Domestication of a previously wild
collected species does not only require substantial
. investment of capital but also requires several years of
investigations. On a time scale of sometimes many decades,

the transition from wild harvesting to possible cultivation
goes through various phases:
(i) Discovery phase: At this point the demand can be met
by wild harvest. Extractivism is done for local use or
for barter with others.
(ii) Expansion phase: It is clear that the product is potentially
useful and that demand is likely to increase. Harvest
is done for local or regional sale and eventually for
international markets. In general, speci~s with
naturally low densities are unlikely to H~come
important sources of commercially large quanb~es.
(iii) Stabilization phase: The species is unlikely tb be
attractive to growers unless prices are high enough and
wild-harvested resources are scarce enough. However,
desirable species may be grown on farm land and
planted around settlements.
(iv) Decline phase: Prices increase with scarcity due to
transport costs, search time and the long-distance
trade. Wild populations will have to decline further
before cultivation is a viable option. The trade is
characterized by fluctuations in supplies, often to the
extent of disrupting the trade balance. For slow
growing species, if controls on collection are not strictly
enforced, wild populations will be more seriously
eroded before cultivated material is available.
(v) Cultivation phase: Now, formal cultivation systems are
developed and instituted. The plants are domesticated
and incorporated in agroforestry systems sometimes
for the benefit of small-scale farmers. If international
market opportunities exist, commercial plantations are
created with substantial investment and genetic
selection, cloning, breeding and biotechnology may be
applied. More resilient species may recover in their
wild populations.
Health Care Needs

There is a worldwide trend of increasing demand for many
popular, effective species in Europe, North America and
Asia, growing between 8-15 percent per year. Rapid
urbanization and the importance of herbal medicines in
African health care systems stimulated a growing national
and regional trade in Africa. Demand for medicinal plants
also reflects distinct cultural preferences. In the USA, for
example, only 3 percent of people surveyed had used
herbal medicin,e in the past year, whereas in Germany, with
a strong tradition of medicinal plant use, 31 percent of the
over-the-counter products in pharmacies in 2001 were
phytopharmaceutical preparations.
The level of herbal medicine use in most developing
countries is much higher than this. While most traditional
medicinal plants are gathered from the wild, these are not
static health care systems, and introduced species are
commonly adopted into the repertoire of plants used by
African or South American herbalists. In many cases, herbal
medicines can also be cheaper than western medicines,
particularly where access to traditional healers is easier.
Demand for traditional medicine continues in the urban
environment even if western biomedicine is available.
Income Generation
Wild harvesting of medicinal plants is a chance for the
poorest to make at least some cash income. Especially those
people who do not have access to farm land at aU depend
on gathering MAP to earn at least some money. However,
local people generally get a low price for unprocessed plant
material. Although income fromPrunus africanabark sales is
an important source of revenue to villagers in Madagascar,
in some cases generating >30 percent of village revenue, the
price paid to collectors is negligible compared to
Madagascan middlemen. In Mexico, Hersch-Martinez
found that medicinal plant collectors only received an

average 6.17 percent of the medicinal plant consumer price.
Whether fruits, roots, bark or whole plants are involved,
the potential yield from wild stocks of many species is
frequently over-estimated, particularly if the effects of
stochastic events is taken into account. As a result,
commercial harvesting ventures based on wild populations
can be characterized by a "boom and bust" situation where
initial harvests are followed by declining resource
availability.
Small-scale Cultivation and Home Gardens

Small-scale cultivation, which requires low economic
inputs, can be a response to declining local stocks,
generating income and supplying regional markets. This
can be a more secure income than from wild harvest which
is notoriously inconsistent. For farmers that integrate MAP
into agroforestry or small-scale farming systems, these
species can provide a diversified and additional source of
income to the family. Home gardens are increasingly a
focus of medicinal plant propagation and introduction
programmes intended to encourage the use of traditional
remedies for common ailments by making the plant source~
more accessible.
Large-scale Cultivation
Large-scale cultivation has a number of socio-economic
impacts on rural people: "Commercialization is both
necessary and potentially harmful to farmers. It is
necessary in that without it the market for products is small
and the opportunity does not exist for rural people to
generate income. A degree of product domestication is
therefore desirable. On the other hand, commercialization
is potentially harmful to rural people if it expands to the
point that outsiders with capital to invest come in and
develop large-scale monocultural plantations for export
markets. Rural people may benefit from plantations as a

result of available employment and hence off-farm income
[... ]. However, plantations may also distort market forces to
their advantage, for example, by imposing low wages
which will restrict the social and economic development of
local people. The major beneficiaries of large-scale exports
will probably be the country's elite and, perhaps, the
national economy".
Also, those Socially disadvantaged groups who actually
depend on gathering MAP for their survival and cash
income, may not have access to farm land at all and are
therefore not able to compete with large-scale production
of MAP by well-established farmers. Other limitations to
the domestication approach include boom-bust and fickle
markets that let farmers down when consumers turn their
attention elsewhere.
ISSUES IN WILD CULTIVATION OF MAP
Cultivation of medicinal plants is widely viewed not only
as a means for meeting current and future demands for
large volume production of plant-based drugs and herbal
remedies, but also as a means for relieving harvest pressure
on wild populations. Booming markets with rapidly rising
demands often have devastating effects on wild collected
species. A closer look reveals that not all species are affected
in the same way by harvesting pressures. The seven forms
of rarity described by Rabinovitz make clear that a species
which
(i) has a narrow geographic distribution,
(ii) is habitat specific, and
(iii) has small population sizes everywhere, is more easily
over-harvested than species of any other pattern.
Secondly, the susceptibility or resilience to collection
pressure varies among species owing to biological
characters such as different growth rates, reproductive
systems (vegetative or generative propagation; germi-

nation rates; dormance; apomixis) and life forms (annual;
perennial; tree).
Species can be distinguished quite well in their
susceptibility to over-collection if their life form and the
plant parts collected are viewed together. Harvesting fruits
from a long-lived tree presents a far lower threat to the
long-term survival of the species than does collecting seeds
from an annual plant. In the latter case, if the seed is gone
the plant is gone. In some cases the harvest impacts are
more complex, e.g. with slow growing trees which
reproduce from seed but only produce few, large fruits.
This will increase their susceptibility to over-harvest from
low to medium or even high. A thorough summary of
predictors of resilience or vulnerability to harvesting wild
populations is presented by Cunningham.
Species most susceptible to over-harvest are habitat
specific, slow growing and destructively harvested for their
bark, roots or the whole plant. These species suffer most
from harvesting and many of them have been seriously
depleted, for example Prunus africana in West Africa,
Warburgia salutaris in southern Africa and Saussurea costus
in the Himalayas.
For threatened medicinal plant species cultivation is a
conservation option because the constant drain of material
from their populations is much higher than the annual
sustained yield. If the demand for these species can be met
from cultivated sources the pressure on the wild
populations will be relieved. In these cases, the need for
strict conservation of remaining populations, improved
security of germplasm ex-situ and investment in selection
and improvement programmes is extremely urgent as the
example of Jaborandi (Pilocarpus jaborandi) in Brazil shows.
However, among the species that can be marketed at a
high enough price to make cultivation profitable, only few
are in the highest threat categories. Examples for
threatened but cultivated species are Garcinia afzelii, Panax

quinquefolius, Saussurea costus and Warburgia salutaris. With
respect to economic viability many highly endangered
MAP do not qualify for cultivation. This group of plants
will enter cultivation only with the help of public
domestication programmes.
For all other harvested MAP species the priority
conservation option is sustainable harvest from wi.ld
populations, for a variety of reasons. Let's imagine that a
valuable medicinal plant is exploited by local collectors. A
pharmaceutical company has domesticated and begun to
cultivate the plant on a commercial scale. When the
company no longer needs the wild-harvested material,
local harvesters have to abandon the harvest and any
incentive the local collectors might have had to protect the
wild populations is gone. The domestication of MAP
species has an environmental inlplication in the sense that
it reduces the economic incentives for forest dependent
people to conserve the ecosystems in which the MAP
species occur.
If collectors and collecting communities can be
involved in the development of propagation and
management methods, the lL1<elihood of their having an
interest in protecting the wild populations from over-
exploitation, particularly if these are understood to be the
genetic resource "bank" for the domestic enterprises, will
be greater.
Another aspect to consider is the genetic diversity of the
species which is in demand. Long before non-sustainable
harvest practices lead to extermination of a whole species,
selection of favoured growth forms and concentration on
certain harvesting areas which may hold certain ecotypes
will lead to a degradation of genetic diversity of the wild
populations. The same is true under domestication:
Industry requirements for standardization encourage a
narrow genetic range of material in cultivation.
Domestication will not achieve conservation of genetic

diversity because a narrow group of high yielding
individuals will be selected for planting.
Challenges of Wild Harvesting
Sustainable harvest is increasingly seen to be the most
important conservation strategy for most wild-harvested
species and their habitats, given their current and potential
contributions to local economies and their greater value to
harvesters over the long term. The basic idea is that non-
destructive harvestS!' and local benefits will maintain
population, species and ecosystem diversity. Besides
poverty and the break-down of traditional controls, the
major challenges for sustainable wild-collection include:
lack of knowledge about sustainable harvest rates and
practices, undefined land use rights and lack of legislative
and policy guidance.
The most important ingredient required to achieve a
truly sustainable form of resource use is information. In
reality, resource managers are always confronted with the
lack of adequate information about the plants used, their
distribution, the genetic diversity of wild populations and
relatives and, above all, the annual sustained yield that can
be harvested without damaging the populations. Research
on the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants
and their habitats has fallen far behind the demand for this
globally important resource. Each species has unique
ecological, socio-economic, health and cultural associations
that must be understood. Model research approaches are
feasible, model solutions are not.
In many cases, access to the resource is open to
everybody, rather than a limited access or private
ownership. To make a living, commercial medicinal plant
gatherers therefore "mine" rather than manage these
resources. Open access schemes to harvestable plant
population prevent rational and cautious use and make it
difficult to adhere to quotas and closed seasons.
Policies Supporting Wild Harvesting Schemes

Information on trade in MAP is scarce and data are rarely
collected or published at a national level. Much production
and consumption is at subsistence level and as a
consequence the economic importance of these activities is'
largely under-estimated in government decision making
regarding rural development, natural resource manage-
ment planning and in government budget allocations.
Therefore, national legislation and policies mostly fail to
provide frameworks for a rational and sustainable use of
wild resource.
Opportunities for governments to develop legislation to
control and monitor harvest and trade of medicinal plant
species and to consider conservation and sustainable use of
medicinal plants as a priority in establishing protected
areas have been greatly enhanced by two recent
developments in international legislation: the addition of
medicinal plant species to the Convention on International
Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and the entry into
force of the CBD.
Future Trends
How will the market demand develop in the future?People
in developing countries are already and will increasingly
depend on medicinal plants as sources for their primary
health care. An estimate by the World Health Organization
that more than 80 percent of the world's population relies
solely or largely on traditional remedies for health care is
frequently cited. Also in the northern countries, use of
medicinal plants is expected to rise globally, both in
allopathic and herbal medicine. This upward trend is
predicted not only because of population explosion, but
also due to increasing popularity for natural-based,
environmentally friendly products. In general, the demand
for medicinal plants and herbal remedies and especially its
renaissance in the developed countries is driven by the

following factors:
increasing costs of institutional, pharmaceutical-based
health care;
interest of individuals, communities and national
governments in greater self-reliance in health care;
interest of communities and national governments in
small and large-scale industrial development based on
local/national biodiversity resources;
increasing success in validating the safety and efficacy
of herbal remedies;
legislation improving the status of herbal medicine
industry;
renewed interest of companies in isolating useful
compounds from plants;
search for new drugs and treatments of serious and
drug-resistant diseases;
marketing strategies by the companies dealing in
herbal medicine.
The limitations of cultivation as an alternative to wild
harvest have been examined by Sheldonet al. in several case
studies. We share their conclusion that, notwithstanding
the level of interest in cultivation as a means for enhanced
production and in a few cases as an effort to contribute to
conservation of the resource, most medicinal and aromatic
plant species will continue to be harvested wild to some
extent. There is therefore a need to recognize and
strengthen the role of local people in forest inventory,
monitoring and impact assessment processes and to
integrate non-timber product uses into forest management
Implementation of Management Plans
Limiting the harvest to a sustainable level requires an
effective management system and sound scientific
130 Advances in· Medicinal Plants
information (Table 2). The management system must

include annual harvest quotas, .consider seasonal or
geographical restrictions and restriction of harvest to
particular plant parts or size classes. In addition,
clarification of the access and user rights to the resources
providing MAP is part of the essential baseline
information. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of the
success is necessary to adapt the management strategy.
Table 2. Steps and standard elements of a management plan for MAP

utilisation
resouIce inventory of population abundance and distribution
assessment of regional and global threat based on all available
knowledge and expertise
biological studies (growth and regeneration rates, pollination
system, seed dispersal, potential for confusion with similar species,
etc.) and assessment of harvest impact on viability of individuals
assessment of annual sustained yield
review of local knowledge and harvest practices
review of harvest and trade levels in the past and evaluation of
market trends
revision of national regulations for the utilization in source country
assessment of tenure and access
design and implementation of management scheme: annual
harvesting quota, seasonal or regional restriction and on certain
plant parts or size classes, domestication programme
installation of continuing monitoring and re-evalutaion
In many cases harvesting techniques need to be improved

as the extraction of the roots or bark is often negatively
affecting the recovery of the species or may even kill it.
Collecting methods are often crude and wasteful, resulting
in loss of quality and reduction in price. Field-based
methods have already been developed for sustainable
harvest assessment and monitoring of non-wood forest
products, resulting in the publication of research guidelines
and predictive models.
Given that sustainable harvesting from the wild is

difficult to achieve, certification standards can playa role
to assure that a product meets certain standards of
sustainability. Certification programmes related to natural
resource use have mainly been developed for timber and
agricultural products but they are presently being adapted
for wild harvest of non-timber plants. Various schemes
focus on different areas along the supply chain: production,
processing, trade, manufacturing, marketing. Four
categories of certification schemes have been identified to
be of relevance for MAP products:
(i) forest management certification (e.g. Forest
Stewardship Council FSC),
(ii) social certification (e.g. Fair Trade Federation FTF),
(iii) organic certification (e.g. International Federation of
Organic Agriculture IFOAM), and
(iv) product quality certification.
The latter include parameters such as product identity,
purity, safety and efficacy. The Good Harvesting Practices
(GHP) developed for medicinal plants cover to some
degree ecological aspects but need to be more clearly
focussed on this aspect before they can make a meaningful
contribution to ensuring sustainability.
REFERENCES
Anon.Conservation impacf~ of commercial captive breeding workshop. Briefing

notes II. 7-9.12.2001, Jacksonville. Cambridge, UK, IUCN/Sse
Wildlife Trade Programme. 2002.
Bannerman, R.H."Traditional medicine in modern health care." World
Health Forum3(1): 8-13. 1982.
Bodeker, G., K.K.S. Bhat, J. Burley & P. Vantomme, (eds.) Medicinal plants
for forest conservation and health care. Rome, FAO (Non-wood Forest
Products 11). 1997.
Cunningham, A.B.African medicinal plants. Setting priorities at the interface
between conservation and primary healthcare. Paris, UNESCO. 1993.
Cunningham, A.B.Applied ethnobotany. People, wild plant use and
conservation. - London, Earthscan. 2001.
Farnsworth, N.R. & D.O. Soejarto. Global importance of medicinal

plants.InAkerele, 0., V. Heywood & H. Synge, eds.,Conservation
of medicinal plants. Cambridge, UK, University Press. 1991.
Groombridge, B. & M. Jenkins.Biodiversity data sourcebook. Cambridge,
UK, World Conservation Press. 1994.
Groombridge, B. & M.D. Jenkins.WorM-atlas of biodiversity. Earth's living
resources in the 21stcentury. Berkeley, USA, University of California
Press. 2002.
Penso, G. WHO inventory of medicinal plants used in different countries.
Geneva, Switzerland, WHO. 1980.
Uniyal, R.C, M.R. Uniyal & P. Jain.Cultivation of medicinal plants in India.
A reference book New Delhi, India, TRAFFIC India & WWF India.
2000.
6
Conservation of Medicinal Plants
The special significance of medicinal plants in conservation

stems from the major cultural, livelihood or economic roles
that they play in many people's lives. Several themes
consistently arise in the various sets of recommendations
that have been compiled relating to the conservation of
medicinal plants, such as those associated with
international conferences at Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 1988
and Bangalore, India, in 1998. They include: the need for co-
ordinated conservation action, based on both in situ and ex
situ strategies; inclusion of community and gender
perspectives in the development of policies and
programmes; the need for more information on the
medicinal plant trade; the establishment of systems for
inventorying and monitoring the status of stocks of
medicinal plants; the development of sustainable
harvesting practices; encouragement for micro-enterprise
development by indigenous and rural communities; and
the protection of traditional resource and intellectual
property rights.
Because so many species of plants are medicinal,
medicinal plant conservation is, in some ways, a microcosm
of plant conservation as a whole. Similar questions arise
concerning identification of the most Significant issues and
most effective approaches. This is especially so given that,
just because a species has been used somewhere
medicinally, it does not follow that it is so used everywhere

and at all times. There may be good reasons, for the purpose
of genetic conservation, to conserve particular populations
of 'medicinal plants', even though their designation as such
carries little or no meaning to people living in the
neighbourhood. The challenges facing conservationists are
then similar to those encountered with other groups of
plants singled out by 'plant conservationists' as special, but
which lack any special significance to local people, such as,
commonly, many 'threatened' species and wild crop
relatives.
There can be aspects of medicinal plant conservation
which 'plant conservationists' can pursue, working largely
outside the normal dynamics of people/plant relationships.
Work of this type can sometimes be found, for instance,
associated with seed-banks, information systems or 'totally
protected' nature reserves. The fact that efforts are made in
favour of medicinal plants, rather than plants of any other
type, is incidental, except as regards the criteria used for the
initial selection of species for attention.
Most work by conservationists on medicinal plants
should be with those people who own, manage or make use
of these species, or else own or manage the land on which
they grow. It is in working with such stakeholders that the
special meanings of medicinal plants to people can best be
'exploited'. Billions of people in the world rely chiefly on
herbal medicine, while millions gain income from their
wild harvest or cultivation, or are involved in their trading
or processing. Medicinal plants are symbolically significant
in many cultures, often being seen as sources of power. My
experience over the years, working for WWF, is that
medicinal plants hold more fascination for the British
public than any other facet of the botanical world.
Probably, the single most important 'role' for medicinal
plants in biological and ecological conservation stems from
the foundations that they can provide for the involvement
Conservation of Medicinal Plants 135
of people in conservation of natural habitats. In other

words, the significance of medicinal plants to people can be
sufficiently great that arrangements made for the
conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants can
lay important foundations for the conservation of natural
habitats and ecological services more generally. Therefore
the 'biological beneficiaries' of 'medicinal plant
conservation' are not necessarily only the medicinal plants
themselves. This is nowhere more so than in those remoter
parts of the world where cultural and biological diversity
tend to be most concentrated, and where medicinal plants
can assume high importance in cultures and for livelihoods.
Working effectively with communities requires
conservationists to have an appreciation of the cultures,
economies and social structures and dynamics of iocal
societies, in addition to the knowledge that they need about
the biology and ecology of the plants themselves. Similar
. 'lateral engagement' is also necessary for work with other
classes of people involved with medicinal plants.
For example, the main concerns of conservationists
about manufacturers are likely to revolve around questions
of the effects of their patterns of obtaining raw materials on
the environment. However, manufacturers will often be
more interested in other aspects of product quality than
biological and ecological sustainability, especially those
relating to quality control that involve species
authentication, presence of active constituents, limitations
to heavy metal content, and residues of pesticides and
fertilisers. Conservationists working with manufacturers
need to understand these facts of the business, just as they
need to understand those of village life when working with
communities. However, in doing so, they should never lose
sight of their own conservation objectives.
There can be debate as to what exactly constitutes a
'medicinal plant'. In many instances, there is little
controversy, but what about 'magical' plants, plants taken
136 Advances in Medlcinal Plants
basically as food but believed to have additional benefits to

health, or flavourings that also have medicinal properties?
There are cultural differences in the ways that plants are
classified according to their properties, for example, with
less of a distinction between food and medicine in Eastern
and African traditions than in the West. Medicinal plants
are grouped for many commercial purposes in the broader
category 'medicinal and aromatic plants' (MAPs), covering
not only plants used medicinally, but also for neighbouring
and overlapping purposes, for instance as foods,
condiments and cosmetics. The term 'botanicals' is
becoming commonly used for a wide range of plant-based
products.
VALUES OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
It is estimated that 70-80% of people worldwide rely chiefly

on traditional, largely herbal, medicine to meet their
primary healthcare needs. The global demand for herbal
medicine is not only large, but growing. The market for
Ayurvedic medicines is estimated to be expanding at 20%
annually in India, while the quantity of medicinal plants
obtained from just one province of China has grown by 10
times in the last 10 years.
An example of increased pressure on collecting grounds
is provided by the Gori valley in the Indian Himalayas,
where the annual period of MAP harvesting has increased
from 2 to 5 months. Factors contributing to the growth in
demand for traditional medicine include the increasing
human population and the frequently inadequate provision
of Western (allopathic) medicine in developing countries.
There are many traditional systems of medicine. Following
the practice in China, they may be classified into 3 broad
categories:
(1) Traditional medical systems, with written traditions of
documentation of knowledge, pharmacopoeias for
doctors and institutions for training doctors;
(2) Traditional medical knowledge (Folk Medicine), which is

orally transmitted and associated with households,
communities or ethnic groups; and
(3) Shamanistic medicine, with a strong spiritual element
and which can only be applied by specialist
practitioners (shamans).
Traditional medical systems are especially concentrated in
Asia. Some of the more widely familiar are Chinese
Traditional Medicine, Tibetan Medicine, Ayurveda,
Siddha, Unani and Western Herbal Medicine, the latter
being rather ill-defined.
PLANTS IN HERBAL MEDICINE
Herbal medicine is becomirig ever more fashionable in

richer countries, a market sector which has grown at 10-20%
annually in Europe and North America over recent years.
In addition, there are many related botanical products sold
as health foods, food supplements, herbal teas, and for
various other purposes related to health and personal care.
The extent to which herbal preparations are prescribed
within conventional medicine varies greatly between
countries, for instance being much higher in Germany than
in the UK or USA. Plants have contributed hugely to
Western medicine, through providing ingredients for drugs
or having played central roles in drug discovery. Some
drugs, having botanical origins, are still extracted directly
from plants, others are made through transformation of
chemicals found within them, while yet others are today
synthesised from inorganic materials, but have their
historical origins in research into the active compounds
found in plants. There are undoubtedly many more secrets
still hidden in the world of plants.
GLOBAL USE OF MEDICINAL SPECIES
In terms of the number of species individually targeted, the

use of plants as medicines represents by far the biggest
human use of the natural world. Plants provide the

predominant ingredients of medicines in most medical
traditions. There is no reliable figure for the total number
of medicinal plants on Earth, and numbers and percentages
for countries and regions vary greatly. Estimates for the
numbers of species used medicinally include: 35,000-70,000
or 53,000 worldwide; 10,000-11,250 in China; 7500 in India;
2237 in Mexico; and 2572 traditionally by North American
Indians. The great majority of species of medicinal plants
are used only in Folk Medicine. Traditional Medical
Systems employ relatively few: 500-600 commonly in
Traditional Chinese Medicine (but 6000 overall); 1430 in
Mongolian Medicine; 1106-3600 in Tibetan Medicine; 1250-
1400 in Ayurveda; 342 in Unani; and 328 in Siddha.
Table 1. Numbers and percentages of medicinal plant species recorded for

different countries and regions.
Country or Number of Total % of flora
region species of number of which
medicinal plants native is medicinal
species in flora
China 11,146 27,100 41
India 7500 17,000 44
Mexico 2237 30,000 7
North America 2572 20,000 13
World 52,885 297,000-510,000 10-18
The number of plant species that provide ingredients for

drugs used in Western Medicine is even fewer. It was
calculated for an article published in 1991 that there were
121 drugs in current use in the USA derived from plants,
with 95 species acting as sources. Despite the small number
of source species, drugs derived from plants are of immense
importance in terms of numbers of patients treated. It is
reported that ca. 25% of all prescriptions dispensed from
community pharmacies in the USA between 1959 and 1973
contained one or more ingredients derived from higher

plants. A more recent study, of the top 150 proprietary
drugs used in the USA in 1993, found that 57% of all
prescriptions contained at least one major active compound
currently or once derived from (or patterned after)
compounds derived from biological diversity.
The value of medicinal plants to human livelihoods is
essentially infinite. They obviously make fundamental
contributions to human health, and: Is not health dearer than
1/
wealth?" Financially, the retail sales of pharmaceutical

products was estimated at US$ 80-90 billion globally in
1997, with medicinal plants contributing very Significantly.
A study of the 25 best-selling pharmaceutical drugs in 1997
found that 11 of them (42%) were either biologicals, natural
products or entities derived from natural products, with a
total value of US$ 17.5 billion. The total sales' value of drugs
(such as Taxol) derived from just one plant species (Taxus
baccata) was US$ 2.3 billion in 2000. The world market for
herbal remedies in 1999 was calculated to be worth US$19.4
billion, with Europe in the lead (US$ 6.7 billion), followed
by Asia (US$ 5.1 billion), North America (US$ 4.0 billion),
Japan (US$ 2.2 billion), and then the rest of the world (US$
1.4 billion).
• There is much trade in MAPs, on scales ranging from
the local to the international. Much of this is unrecoTded in
official statistics or poorly documented - reasons why there
is typically so little awareness among decision-makers of
the significance of the trade to the healthcare and
economies of their people, or about problems of
unsustainability and the sometimes deleterious impacts of
wild collection on natural habitats. Large quantities of
MAPs are traded into urban centres from rural areas in
developing countries, and also regionally and
internationally. China's production of medicinal plants
from cultivated and wild-harvested sources, considered
together, was calculated at 1.6 million tonnes in 1996, with
a total value (excluding exports) in terms of finished

products of US$ 3.7 billion. The reported annual imports of
MAP material into all countries during the 1990s amounted
to an average of 400,000 tonnes, valued at US$ 1.2 billion,
showing a 100% rise between 1991 and 1997. The three
leading exporting countries are China, India (about one-
third of the Chinese amount) and then Germany. Europe
is the major trading centre for MAPs globally, with imports
into one European country or another amounting to 440,000
tonnes in 1996. There are at least 2000 species of MAPs
marketed in Europe, these originating from over 120
countries. It is guessed that the total number of MAPs in
international trade may be about 2500 species.·
Although virtually everyone on Earth benefits from
medicinal plants, it is the financially poorest who are
typically most closely dependent on medicinal plants -
culturally and for their medicines and income. Only 15% of
pharmaceutical drugs is consumed in developing countries,
and a large proportion of even this small percentage is
taken by relatively more affluent people. The poor have
little alternative to using herbal medicine, which, anyway,
they may prefer - at least for certain conditions. Both rural
and urban dwellers, in developing countries, rely on
medicinal plants, many rural people still depending largely
on plants collected from close to their homes, while town
folk depend, for the most part, on dried plants transported
in from rural areas.
Medicinal plants can provide a significant source of
income for rural people in developing countries, especially
through the sale of wild-harvested material. The collectors
are often herders, shepherds or other economically
marginalised sections of the population, such as landless
. people and women. Between 50-100% of households in the
northern part of central Nepal and about 25-50% in the
middle part of the same region are involved in collecting
medicinal plants for sale, the materials being traded on to
wholesale markets in Delhi. The money received represents

15-30% of the total income of poorer households.
Medicinal plants can be symbolically very important to
people. They can be held in special religious, nationalistic
or ideological esteem; This can be advantageous for
conservation efforts, given that it is an acknowledgement,
well rooted in culture, of the worth of a sizable proportion
of the world's flora. But it a1:so carries challenges, in that this
can result in dogmatic views about the medicinal properties
of plants, resistance to accepting equally effective
substitutes, and uncompromising attitudes towards the
ownership of the plants and who should benefit from (or
pay for) their continuing existence. The subject of
'medicinal plants' can arouse strong feelings, providing
opportunities for bringing key conservation debates into
the public arena. There is similarity to the emotions
surrounding charismatic species, such as elephants and
whales, with the difference that medicinal plants carry
much more universal appeal.
CONCERNS ABOUT MEDICINAL PLANTS
Loss of Biodiversity and Resoll!ces

These concerns exist, for a large part, because most species
of medicinal plants are collected from the wild. The total
number of species of medicinal plants cultivated on any
scale is few, although this does include some species of
MAPs that are traded internationally in large volumes, as
well as the many of the (small) number of species used as
starting points for pharmaceutical drugs. As an example,
the Rosy Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), a species which
originated in Madagascar and which is the source of the
anti-leukemia drugs vincristine and vinblastine, is widely
cultivated in Spain and Texas. China is probably the
country with the greatest acreage of medicinal plants under
cultivation, with over 300,000 hectares devoted to just one
species - Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae r~mnoides) - with
10,000 people employed. However, even in China, only 100-

250 species are cultivated and more than 80% of the 700,000
tonnes of medicinal plants reportedly used annually come
from wild sources. Only 130-140 of the 1200-1300 species
that are both traded in, and native to, Europe are derived
predominantly from cultivation. There are many parts of
the world in which there is virtually n<;> cultivation on any
significant scale, including, by way of examples, Albania
and Turkey in Europe, Pakistan and Bangladesh in Asia,
and ~ll countries in Africa. An estimated 99% of the 400-
550 species currently sold for use in traditional medicine in
South Africa originate from wild sources.
There is no reliable estimate for the number of
medicinal plants that are globally threatened., variously
calculated as 4160 or 10,000. There would seem little doubt
from theoretical considerations that many medicinal plant
species that have been listed as threatened, and indeed
others that have not, must be suffering from genetic erosion
now, or will do so in the near future. This is because
populations of many species are in retreat, with outlying
populations being destroyed, as the extent and quality of
many natural habitats decline. However, genetic erosion
among wild plants is very poorly documented. The
advantage of maintaining a pool of genetic diversity within
a medicinal species can be illustrated with reference to
Arnica (Arnica montana), a popular, but endangered,
European medicinal plant, in which genes from wild
populations have been used successfully to breed superior
cultivated strains. Another example is African Cherry or
Pygeum (Prunus africana), a forest tree yielding a medicinal
extract from its bark in high demand in Europe. Varieties
of P. africana are being tested in a breeding programme to
select types that will take less time to reach harvestable age.
The number of species of medicinal plants known to
have become globally extinct is very few and
conservationists are advised to avoid exaggerated claims in
this respect. One of the best advertised cases is Silphion, a

plant apparently found formerly in the dry hinterlands of
the Middle East and much prized by the Ancient Greeks.
It is believed to have become extinct in ca. 250 Be, with
over-harvesting thought to have been a contributory factor.
It should be noted that many medicinal plants are rather
widely distributed. In the USA, only 121 of the 3214 plant
species classified as of 'conservation concern' are report~d
to have been used medicinally or in any other way by native
Americans. This low percentage suggests that it may be
easier for people to recognise the useful properties of plants
that are common than those that are rare.
: It has been estimated that over-exploitation threatens
150 species of MAPs in at least one European country, but
it should not be deduced from this that many, if any, of
these species are in danger of complete continental
extinction. On the other hand, the seriousness of local,
national or regional extinction, or, indeed, of commercial
extinction should not be under-estimated. There can be
serious consequences for livelihoods and economies, quite
apart from issues of genetic conservation.
Many of the threats to medicinal plant species are
similar to those causing endangerment to plant diversity
generally. The most serious proximate threats generally are
habitat loss, habitat degradation and over-harvesting.
Medicinal plants can have other uses than as sources of
medicines, and the threats from over-harvesting may be
due, or partly due, to collection for purposes other than
medicinal. This is so in the case of the African trees Acacia
senegal, Boswellia papyrifera and Pterocarpus angolensis. So far
as collection for medicines is concerned, there is generally
agreement that it is collection for commercial trade rather
than home-use that is overwhelmingly the pro~lem.
One reason why medicinal plants have become
increasingly threatened has been the weakening of
customary laws that traditionally have regulated the use of
natural resources. Such laws have proved often to be easily

undermined by modem socio-econornic forces. In at least
one case, the collapse of customary institutions seems to
have been connected directly to changes in the ways that
a medicinal plant was exploited, and this may be a
widespread phenomenon. Commercial collection of Prunus
africana commenced in Cameroon in 1972, being at first a
monopoly of Plantecam Medicam, a company which took
steps to promote its sustainable harvesting. Bark was
removed from opposing quarters of trunks, avoiding
girdling, the rotation time for bark recovery being 4-5 years.
In 1985, the Government of Cameroon issued 50
additional licenses and the controlled harvesting system
broke down. Complete girdling now became the norm, or
else trees were simply felled so that all their bark could be
easily collected. In the case of one site, Mount Oku, it
appears that this sudden injection of capitalist enterprise
led to a great weakening in traditional customs that
formerly helped to maintain a forest cover. The result was,
not only destructive harvesting of P. africana, but a sudden
massive loss of forest to agriculture, with stabilisation only
becoming achieved through the intervention of an outside
project, able to act as a mediator.
Concerns about loss of medicinal plants, considered as
material resources, relate to worries about healthcare,
livelihood security and financial income. Among those for
whom these problems are most acute are the rural poor,
reliant on medicinal plants growing close to their homes for
their healthcare and perhaps an income. Manufacturers and
consumers, higher up commercial systems, are less
influenced by local scarcities of resources, often being
insulated by manufacturers switching their sources of
supply. Unsustainable harvesting practices result in
spreading frontiers of resource-depletion, with the negative
impacts of over-exploitation confined to the local level until
such time as regional or global resource scarcity becomes
critical. Poorer members of local communities can face

additional problems of loss of access to medicinal plants
due to the privatisation or nationalisation of land. There is
a major trend today in many developing countries towards
stricter individual ownership of land and plant resources,
replacing older forms of tenure and resource-rights in
which poorer people could be less excluded. Loss of access
through nationalisation can occur with the creation of more
strongly protected types of conservation area.
Declines in Local Knowledge

Knowledge of medicinal plants, as once embedded in tens
of thousands of indigenous cultures, is rapidly
disappearing. Every year, the sum total of human
knowledge about the types, distribution, ecology, methods
of management and methods of extracting the useful
properties of medicinal plants is declining rapidly - a
continuation of a process of loss of local cultural diversity
that has been underway for hundreds of years. There has,
of course, been a great growth in scientific information
about medicinal plants in recent decades, but in many ways
this has proved poor compensation, because such
information is accessible, in practice, only to a very few
people and, anyway, rather little of it is relevant to
problems of management and utilisation, as encountered in
the field.
Among those liable to suffer most from loss of
indigenous knowledge are those who live in harsh places,
such as mountain ranges,· and who have high degrees of
dependency on their local natural environments. The
cultures and economies of such people must be closely
adapted to the intricacies of their local environments, if they
are to prosper. Knowledge of the natural world is typically
a very important part of the knowledge-worlds of rural
people following more traditional life-ways. Further,
medicinal plants tend to figure prominently in these
galaxies. It is therefore not surprising that the revitalisation

of traditional systems of medicine can be high on the
agendas of those promoting local and indigenous cultures,
a political trend in many parts of the world. The Foundation
for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) is an
example of an organisation, in this case working in India,
which is engaged in many aspects of medicinal plant
conservation and sustainable use, including - prominently
- cultural aspects, as is clear from its name.
Concerns of Quality of Healthcare Services
The adequate provision of healthcare is threatened by

declines in traditional medical knowledge and related plant
resources. There are many people, notably in developing
countries who lack - and will continue to lack for the
foreseeable future - effective access to Western medicine,
while even those who do enjoy this privilege will be limited
in their choices of alternative therapies. Traditional medical
practitioners came under attack during the colonial era and
the legacy of this widely persists.
The spread of Western Medicine was aided in its
supremacy by association with the political and economic
power of the West. Western Medicine became part of the
'civilising colonial mission'. Ayurvedic medicine was
suppressed in state-funded medical colleges in India after
1835 and local medical traditions, with their 'witchdoctors',
denounced in Africa.
Even in China, never under full colonial rule, Western
Medicine came to be seen as progressive. The Kuomintang
Government decided that Traditional Chinese Medicine
was unscientific and passed a law in 1929 making its
practice illegal. The increasing nationalisation of medicine
during the 19th and especially the 20th centuries and the rise
in the power of pharmaceutical companies have given even
further impetus to Western Medicine.
Until recently, and then only in some countries, national

healthcare systems have devoted all, or nearly all, their
resources to the promotion and delivery of Western
Medicine, ignoring other traditions. This is now changing,
more so in some countries than others, but, even so, some
medical traditions, such as Tibetan Medicine in India and
Nepal, have yet to gain official recognition. Lack of official
recognition and associated support has implications for
conservation, because such recognition can raise the status
of practitioners at village level. Since such practitioners are
generally the most knowledgeable people about plants in
their communities and have an intrinsic interest in their
conservation, an increase in their authority has the potential
to greatly assist improved management of plant resources.
From the point of view of efficient and effective
provision of national healthcare, a problem facing those
countries which acknowledge the value of traditional
medicine is how best to utilise the resources available. One
approach is to provide official recognition to traditional
medicine, which is then permitted to operate as a separate
sector parallel to and largely unconnected with the main
Western medical services provided by the state. Other
countries, such as China, are attempting synthesis through
trying to draw on the best of different traditions.
Official recognition has several implications, including
the desirability of registering authentic practitioners and
supporting their training. There is also the question of how
best to develop traditional systems to meet modern
challenges. The environment in which traditional medical
practitioners are operating today is not the same as in the
past. Payment for treatment is now more frequently being
requested, associations of traditional medical practitioners
are being formed for networking and political lobbying,
and there is a move towards professionalisation, including
towards instruction based in schools rather than through
lineages.
The development of traditional medicine to meet

modern challenges can be resisted. For instance some
Ayurvedic practitioners in India can be conservative and
claim that their treatments have been authenticated
through long tradition and should not be subject to
research. Authentication of traditional medicine is both a
cultur~l and physiological matter and requires more than
just trials similar to those used to test pharmaceutical drugs.
Sensitive techniques are needed to avoid unnecessary
prohibitions. Due attention needs to be given to traditional
standards of quality, which, in Ayurveda, for example,
classically refer to cultural and tantric use as well as
therapeutic qualities.
Research Concerns
This has become the most publicised area of 'policy debate'
relating to medicinal plants. It is a field in which "there has
been a polarisation and we've ended up arguing over who is in
the wrong". In part, the issues can be traced back to the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), agreed at the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Parties to the CBD
accept that biodiversity is the property and responsibility
of states, that the components of this biodiversity should be
used sustainably, and that there should be a just sharing of
the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic
resources.
Some of the concerns have arisen because of
knowledge, or suspicion, that some scientists, research
institutes or commercial enterprises have taken samples of
plants to test for new products, such as pharmaceutical
drugs, without due permission or on ethically unacceptable
terms. The worry is that there will be no, or inadequate,
benefits accruing to the countries and communities from
where the materials originate. There are also concerns'
about the theft of local or indigenous intellectual property,
given that the traditional uses of plants as medicines can
be useful guides for the development of new drugs.

Proponents of local and indigenous rights argue that
traditional knowledge of the uses of plants can be based on
years, perhaps millennia, of experimentation, and therefore
it is not only scientists or pharmaceutical companies that
can claim to be inventors (scientists do so through the filing
of patents). There is also an argument that local jUld
indigenous communities have acted historically as the
keepers, or even developers, of biological diversity, and
thus should be 'compensated' by those who benefit later
from their care and labour.
On the other hand, there are accusations that some
countries and territories have over-reacted to the scares of
biopiracy and theft of intellectual resources through
creating such tight restrictions over research as to
potentially cause serious setbacks to conservation and
sustainable development. It is highly likely that issues
surrounding medicinal plants (especially) have been
largely responsible for these alleged over-reactions.
Probably, there are often misconceptions about the relative
prominence that research aimed at bioprospecting should
have (compared with research having other objectives), the
extent, of bioprospecting and the amounts of money to be
made.
There seems to be an unresolved conflict concerning
intellectual property rights (IPRs) between the CBD and the
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) agreement of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). It is not yet clear how a compromise will be reaChed
between the commitments to accessibility and equity
enshrined in the CBD and the pressures for private
ownership and profit-based systems of reward represented
by TRIPS. "There is no requirement on applicants (to
TRIPS) to involve or consult with local communities or
governments about patenting a compound based on a
natural product from that country. Nor is there provision
for sharing benefits or including the prior contributions of

indigenous peoples to an innovation".
APPROACHES TO MEDICINAL PLANT CONSERVATION
An ecosystem-based approach is endorsed by the CBD and

is appropriate for conservation of medicinal plants. It
encourages lateral thinking, inter-disciplinarity and
prioritisation. The ecosystem-based approach of the CBD,
as encompassed in its 12 principles, recognises that:
humans, with their cultural diversity, form an integral
component of biodiversity;
the delimitation of ecosystems for conservation action
needs to be defined conceptually on scales appropriate
to the problems being addressed;
work can involve all 3 objectives of the Convention,
requiring the striking of a balance between them;
there are uncertainties in managing ecosystems and,
consequently, a need for conservation measures to
contain elements of 'learning-by-doing' or feedback
from research;
the approach needs to be used flexibly, so that other
approaches to management and conservation can be
incorporated, such as protected areas and single-
species conservation programmes;
benefits need to accrue to those responsible for
producing and managing the benefits derived from
ecosystems, with a special emphasis on local
communities; and
networks are needed for the sharing of experiences and
information.
In view of the inherent uncertainties, the CBD recommends
an adaptive approach to ,interventions and management.
This requires the establishment of indicators to monitor the
effects of new measures, so that the need to make
adjustments can be recognised. Conservationists should
periodically take time to reflect fundamentally on their

work, drawing back from deep immersion in particular
matters. The desirability of changes in emphasis or taking
on new types of activity may become apparent.
Activists (conservationists) will be essential to ensure
the success of efforts to conserve medicinal plants. Their
work (or 'projects') should be designed to influence the
ways that resource managers, traders, manufacturers,
consumers or members of other defined social groups go
about their normal business. What is required is the
institutionalisation of new activities in favour of
conservation.
The attainment of institutionalisation requires the
taking of responsibility by the various stakeholders
involved, and therefore conservationists need to be careful
in how much they take a lead themselves, balancing this
with encouraging the development of initiatives by those
who are more fundamentally parts of the systems.
Conservationists can expect progress normally to be slow,
though hopefully with occasional breakthroughs. They
need to be persistent and imaginative. Inherent problems
in this field of conservation, as in others, stem from the
conservatism of human nature and the low priority that
people normally give to conservation over more pressing
day-to-day affairs.
Conservationists must identify priorities if they are to
stand much chance of being heard. The systems involved
in medicinal plant conservation tend to be complex, with
many variables and many types of actual or potential
stakeholders. For the sake of presentation, 4 distinct sub-
systems are recognised here, namely (1) production
systems and in situ conservation, (2) commercial systems,
(3) ex situ conservation, propagation, domestication and the
breeding of crop varieties, and (4) new product discovery,
though actually all can be closely connected.
It is emphasised that the heart of medicinal plant

conservation should be aimed at securing robust
management systems in favour of conservation or
sustainable production (or both) at the sites where the
medicinal plants grow. Given the diversity of field contexts,
most 'medicinal plant conservation projects' should be field
projects rather than projects of any other type. It will be
noted from the brief descriptions of approaches that follow
that many measures, which can be taken in favour of
conservation, are essentially indirect. They include changes
in laws and in the purchasing practices of companies and
consumers, the compilation of databases, the ex situ
preservation of germplasm in seed banks, and so on. What
should be borne in mind is that all such measures will be
essentially useless for supporting in situ conservation and
sustainable development unless they 'feed back' positively
to the field level.
Unless due attention is paid, then' distant' conservation
measures, taken with good intent, may be ineffective~r
even backfire. Take the case of medicinal plants and I:3wmdi
Impenetrable forest in Uganda. The upgrading of Bwindi
from being a Forest and Game Reserve to a National Park
in 1991 was a reaction to the rampant level of illegal
activities, such as timber harvesting, hunting and gold-
mining, that previously prevailed. Following parks policy
at the time, this declaration resulted in a total ban on the
collection of all forest produce, including medicinal plants.
What was not taken adequately into account, however, was
the impact of this tough new regime on local livelihoods
and attitudes.
One of the items no longer legally available was the
bark of Nyakibazi (Rytygynia spp.), a product so highly
valued for medicinal purposes that, without it, declared the
people, they would die". Conflict over this and other matters
1/
resulted in an increase in cases of deliberate burning of the

forest and threats being made against the mountains
gorillas, the flagship species of the forest. The conflict was

later partially defused through the formulation of
agreements on local rights and responsibilities allowing
regulated collection of Nyakibazi and other natural
products from the park.
Another example of a good intention back-firing
concerns a suggestion emanating from Europe in the late
1990s for the listing of the medicinal plant Devil's Oaw
(Harpagophytum procumbens) on CITES. A proposal to list a
species on CITES might be considered' to be an entirely
positive matter, but in this case this seems not to have been
so, related probably to a lack of appreciation of the situation
in the field. At the time, the non-governmental organisation
CRIAA (Centre for Research Information for Action in
Africa) SA-DC was just beginning to achieve considerable
success in assisting rural communities in Namibia to
harvest Devil's Claw in sustainable ways, also involving
more direct access to markets and greater income for the
harvesters. Even a mention of the idea of including the
species on CITES was apparently enough to cause a fall in
demand by the trade. This fed back to Namibia, causing a
slump in sales and a general feeling of disappointment,
threatening to undermine all that had been achieved
through hard work on the ground.
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND IN SITU CONSERVATION
In many ways, the approaches and methodologies used to

promote the in situ conservation and sustainable
production of medicinal plants differ little, in principle~
from those used for conservation and sustainable use of
plant diversity generally. In particular, there are many
similarities to those used for other categories of wild plants
that are harvested as resources, especially those subject to
the pressures of commercial trade.
The types and levels of activities that are possible will
vary greatly between projects, depending on the resources
of time and money availablet as well as the particular

int~rests and competencies of those involved. In any event,
it is desirable for project teams to be multidisciplinary,
preferably with coverage of the biological, ecological,
cultural, economic and political dimensions of ecosytems.
At least some members of project teams should have an
understanding of both the biological and social dimensions
of the ecosystems. Interventions will stand less chance of
being successful if conservation teams consist solely of
different types of specialist, without such linking expertise.
This is why a knowledge of applied ethnobotany is so
desirable.
The involvement of local communities will almost
invariably be a fundamental ingredient of in situ projects
aimed at medicinal plant conservation. One reason, crudely
stated: is that it is not difficult, in many parts of the world,
for collectors of medicinal plants to harvest medicinal
plants unsustainably or illegally, if the only controls present
are those associated with government officials. It is even
easier to avoid detection in the case of many medicinals
than with timber, which is illegally harvested on massive
scales in some countries.
Conservation agencies, such as Park and Forest
Departments, often suffer from shortages of resources and
sometimes also work in conditions of political instability.
Apart from the problems that they face in regulating
medicinal plants, government agencies, acting alone, are
liable to have little control over many other activities that
can endanger medicinal plants, which may include
excessive grazing by livestock, the harvesting of plants for
other purposes apart from medicinal and excessive
burning.
The forms of relationships between project teams, local
communities and other local stakeholders, established at
the onset of work, are critical. These relationships may well
be unwritten and relatively informal, but the tone that they
set is important if more precise agreements are needed later,

including if possibilities of commercial opportunities
emerge based on local biodiversity or knowledge. Projects
are also liable to go through a period of confidence-building
as trust is established.
Whatever the initial purposes of a project, it is
important that priorities are periodically reevaluated.As
work proceeds, it will often be found that presumptions
ab0ut priorities at the onset of projects are inaccurate, for
instance concerning the abundance and vulnerability of
medicinal or other types of plants. It may even be
discovered that medicinal plants are of no particular local
concern. If this is so, then the project is faced with a
challenge similar to .tha t which can occur with other
projects started by 'special interest' conservationists. The
project team must choose whether to continue narrowly to
concentrate· on its own special concerns, transform the
project into a general habitat conservation project or move
to a more promising site.
Successful conservation depends on the existence of
rules and regulations, and a reasonable degree of
compliance to them. Property rights and terms of access to
resources are critical factors. It is especially important to
ensure that the interests of those people in communities
whose lives are most dependent on MAPs are properly
accommodated. Despite reported successes of joint or
participatory forest management in India and Nepal, the
MAP sector has often been inadequately covered. For
instance, in Nepal there are frequent difficulties relating to
a general neglect of NTFPs, excessive restrictions on access,
heavy taxes and rent-seeking.
Both customary and statutory laws will often be
relevant to medicinal plant conservation. Each type of legal
system has its merits and disadvantages, and a critical
question facing conservationists will often be how they can
best be combined so that their positive elements are
strengthened, while avoiding a process of mutual

undermining. Analysis of the effectiveness of the two types
of laws in India and Nepal shows that there can be
considerable strength still remaining in customary
institutions, but that they often need reinforcement today,
as, for example, through their official recognition by
government agencies.
Protected areas, established through statutory law, can
be very useful for the conservation of medicinal plants.
There are many types (national parks, forest reserves, strict
nature reserves, etc.), generally serving various purposes in
addition to biodiversity conservation, and with various
rules applying to the conservation and collection of
m~a1 plants. Generally, medicinal plant issues have
proved to be low among the priorities of the responsible
agencies. In India, for example, the Forest Department is
much more interested in timber than nontimber forest
products (NTFPs) and, within the broad category of NTFPs,
often in other types of products apart from medicinal plants
(especially those regarded as being financially more
lucrative).
A study of the distribution and exploitation of 14
species of MAPs of high trade and conservation value in a
high valley of the Indian Himalayas has started to reveal
something of the details which local management plans
must incorporate. Research resulted in a classification of
species according to their distribution (including in relation
to altitude and habitat) and pressure (both as regards
collection for local use or trade, and pressure from
livestock). Recommendations, varying between groups of
species, included the protection of particular populations,
rotational harvesting, cultivation and development of
improved marketing.
The range of measures which can be taken to conserve
medicinal plants in protected areas differs little from those
that can be applied elsewhere, with the essential difference
of an extra layer of legal protection. This means that the

rights of communities and other 'outside' parties will be
more circumscribed than they are in the general landscape
(although, it may be noted, the rights of individual people
outside protected areas will depend greatly on systems of
land tenure and whether they have private property).
Agreements between communities and agencies
responsible for protected areas will be necessary if
collection of medicinal plants is to be controlled. This legal
necessity can create exceptional opportunities to strengthen
biodiversity conservation generally - not just in favour of
those particular species of medicinal plants which receive
specific attention. This is because of the special status that
medicinal plants can hold in local societies, related to their
symbolic, healing and economic properties. Agreements on
medicinal plants can form firm bases for improved
management of protected areas generally. If cultivation is
introduced in the support zones of protected areas, then the
provision of assistance by agencies to encourage this
development can usefully be tied to agreements which
enhance the participation of communities in conservation
of the protected areas.
Various, often isolated, initiatives are being tried to link
conservation and livelihoods through a focus on medicinal
plants. A project of the WWF-Nepal Programme with the
People and Plants Initiative, at Shey Phodsundo National
Park, is developing community-based systems for the
sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants, combined with
the strengthening of local medical services as provided by
amchis. The amchis are identified as key members of the
communities for promotion of conservation, with their
allied interests in plant diversity and livelihoods. The
Forest Department of the Great Himalayan National Park,
India, is promoting cultivation of medicinal plants as an
income-generating enterprise linked to conservation. The
emphasis is on women, in recognition of their economically
marginalised status and their special interest in plant

resources. By 2002, 92 Women Saving and Credit Groups
had been formed involving 930 people.
The Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health
Traditions (FRLHT) is active across the southern cone of
India with an integrated programme of conservation,
health security and livelihood support, centred around
medicinal plants and plant-based medicine. FRLHT
encourages the foundation of micro-credit groups, and
seeks to prioritise health problems and related local
remedies. Species in demand, and also endemic and
threatened species, are grown in nurseries, and planted out
in demonstration plots, homegardens, and for enrichment
planting in areas of degraded forest. Steps are taken to
encourage the transmission of medical knowledge between
generations.
The FRLHT model is proving successful and becoming
adopted elsewhere in India. Three levels of monitoring to
guarantee that MAPs are used sustainably have been
proposed for Prespa National Park, Albania. If
implemented, they would involve collectors and collectors'
organisations, the Forest and National Park Service and
scientists, all working co-operatively. They would cover: (1)
the recording of the amounts of all MAPs collected, and
associated information; (2) detailed population studies of
rare species; and (3) monitoring to detect changes in the
vegetation, especially on the landscape scale. Actually, in
practice, it is necessary to identify indicators in monitoring
programmes and the selection of these is important. Certain
species are of greater cultural or economic significance to
communities or agencies, and there is a greater chance that
monitoring programmes will give good results if these are
included as indicators..
The vulnerability of species to commercial collection
depends on the parts of plants used and how they are
collected. For example, the collection of underground
organs, as is the case with many species in the Himalayas,

is liable to be more damaging that if leaves are targeted, as
is the case with many species used in tropical forest areas
of Africa. Populations of specialist species associated with
habitats of restricted occurrence, as Mecanopsis spp. in the
Himalayas, can easily be decimated.
Some countries have laws specifically giving protection
to wild plants, some of which may be medicinal. The UK
Wildlife and Countryside Act prohibits the uprooting of
any species of wild plant, except by landowners and other
authorised people. In several Italian regions, Austrian
Lander and Swiss cantons, not only is the uprooting or the
collection of subterranean parts of plants prohibited, but
,there are restrictions on the gathering of aerial parts as well.
The number of flowering stems or branches that may be
picked varies from 5 to 20, or a handful, according to local
regulations. Only a few countries have laws specifically for
medicinal plants. In Nepal, the collection, sale,
transportation and export of Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Juglans
regia and Picrorhiza scrophulariifolia are all banned, while
other species are specifically banned for export. However,
in many parts of the world, for instance Africa and India,
laws protecting wild plants are little known by the general
public or, indeed, even among those charged with their
enforcement.
Cultivation is frequently advocated as a measure to take
the pressure off wild stocks, especially for species collected
in large quantities for trade. Cultivation can be
commercially attractive to companies, because they then
have greater control over quality and supply. Various
fa¢tors influence the feasibility of cultivation, its impact on
conservation and by whom it is best undertaken. If volumes
required and market prices are both high, then cultivation
is more likely to be economically feasible. The introduction
of medicinal plants into home-gardens is seen as a useful
means of providing accessible cures for common ailments
and supplementary income. Medicinal plants have been

introduced successfully into traditional farming systems in
Guatemala, providing regular incomes to farmers.
If cultivation is to be introduced, then there can be many
problems inhibiting success - for instance, in India, lack of
knowledge of cultivation and post-harvest techniques for
some species, and lack of availability of planting material
of good quality. If a species has not previously been in
cultivation, then domestication may be needed, which can
prove a difficult, expensive and lengthy process. There
should be public funding for domestication programmes
for those many species of MAPs which are highly
endangered but which economically or otherwise are
unlikely to become domesticated. It has been proposed for
the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa that faster-"
growing species are most suitable for communities, but that
the cultivation of slower-growing types of plants is best
undertaken by statutory bodies, such as the Department of
Water Affairs and Forestry, or by private companies.
There can be advantages to wild collection over
cultivation. From the medical viewpoint, there is a
widespread belief that wild-harvested material is more
efficacious, as is sometimes reflected in higher prices. Asian
buyers will pay up to 30 times more for wild-harvested
roots of American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) than for
those from cultivated sources. On the other hand, 82% of
healers interviewed in the Eastern Cape Province of South
Africa stated that they would readily make use of cultivated
plants, possibly because they recognise that wild supplies
are declining. The social benefits of wild harvest too can be
considerable, given that it is generally the most
economically and socially marginalisp.d members of
communities that are so involved. Even if cultivation is
introduced, then this may be adopted by relatively well-off
people, with better access to land, financial capital or
information. The landless and other disadvantaged sectors
of society may fail to benefit, but rather continue to collect

j1:lst as before. Another important factor is that individual
land-holdings can be very small and farmers are likely to
adopt a high risk strategy in terms of livelihood secur~ty if
they convet from food crops to MAPs. For example, in the
Himalayas topographic and demographic factors limit the
size of agricultural land per family often to only 0.4-1 ha.
However, from the conservation viewpoint, perhaps
the strongest argument for retaining or promoting wild
harvesting is that this will then maintain links between
people and the intricacies of their local natural worlds. The
successful conservation of biodiversity will always require
the existence of people who know about such details and
care enough for their existence that they will make efforts
to retain them. Without this type of involvement, there is
little cultural base at the local level on which to build
support for national or global conservation goals.
COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS FOR MAP CONSERVATION
Some conservationists interested in MAPs should become

engaged with the commercial sector, both because it is the
pressures of trade that are responsible for so much MAP
endangerment, and also, more positively, because of the
opportunities which engagement with industry and
consumers present. Various stakeholders are involved in
commerciar systems, including producers (collectors or
growers), traders of various types, manufacttu:ers and
consumers. Apart from self-regulation, commercial systems
for MAPs are subject to many types of standard, statutory
or otherwise.
Conservationists can become engaged in various ways,
including helping to formulate and promote appropriate
standards, supplying relevant information to the parties
involved, and also putting parties in touch which each
other. Because of the connections between different parts
of commercial systems, it will often be productive to work
simultaneously with different types of stakeholder. Thus,

it can make sense to work simultaneously both with
producers (to improve their management systems) and
manufacturers (to make their purchasing of raw materials
more conservation-friendly). In any event, what is vital is
that changes in the behaviour of those at the 'top' of the
trade chains (e.g. traders, manufacturers and consumers)
feed back to the production level, otherwise efforts will
have been in vain.
In many countries, the MAP sector is economically
liberalised and in the hands of private enterprise. In such
cases, commercial systems tend to be complex, poorly
integrated vertically and secretive. There is very little
overlap in the UK between the trading systems relating to
traditional European herbal medicine, Chinese Traditional
Medicine, Ayurveda and Unani. Bhutan has a central
system which controls the harvesting of medicinal plants
- made into medicines in the capital Thimpu - and then the
. distribution of the medicines to hospitals throughout the
country.
In China, there is 'one major business, the state-owned
Company of Chinese Medical Crude Drugs, which is
responsible for the bulk of the collection and distribution
of raw materials, but there are several major manufacturers
of Chinese Traditional Medicine, some under national and
others under private ownership. The collapse of Commu-
nist regimes in eastern Europe resulted in considerable
deregulation of statecontrolled commerce in MAPs and a
weakening of pre-existing quota-controlled harvesting
structures. As a result, the number of traders in MAPs has
increased and wild collection has grown in an unregulated
fashion, with associated conservation concerns. In Bulgaria,
an element of socialist centralisation remains. The main
national dealer in MAPs is Bulgarcoop, a co-operative
enterprise, but this is joined today by many small, largely
familyowned, businesses. Both Bulgarcoop and 50-60 of the
businesses provide help to growers with cultivation and

guarantees to purchase harvests.
Standard-setting with regard to MAPs is a complex
business, more so than with timber (which will be a point
of comparison for some conservationists). The complexity
is due to the variety of harvesting and socio-economic
circumstances, the complexity of the chains of custody
through which materials travel, the wide range of markets
and the numerous types of product. The latter include not
only medicines, but also foods, food supplements,
fragrances and personal care products. Quite a number of
therapeutic products made from MAPs are marketed as
food supplements or herbal tonics, rather than medicines,
avoiding the stricter regulations that apply to the latter.
The main concerns of the industry (and consumers) as
regards standards normally relate to medical efficacy and
safety. In terms of botanical ingredients, these concerns
translate into specific requirements, most basically that
MAP materials or products really are made from the right
species, but also concerning the parts of the plants used, the
times of harvest, the levels of active principles, and the
contents of pollutants. It is not unusual for species to be sold
incorrectly labelled.
Aside from these medical concerns, some enterprises
(and consumers) are also interested in social justice, for
instance relating to the distribution of financial benefits
received from the trade, and the fair treatment of women
and children. There are major questions of social justice in
the MAP sector, because of the very low prices generally
paid to collectors and, allegedly, the maintenan~e of
artificially high prices by a monopoly of wholesale
distributors. Environmental concerns may not be restricted
solely to matters strictly related to biological conservation
or the sustainability of harvesting. Some environmental
standards, such as those relating to organic accreditation,
only relate partially to biological conservation.
Many manufacturers, at least in some countries, are said

to care little about the standards of quality of the material
they purchase. If manufacturers actually are interested in
conservation, then they are faced with the problem of
knowing whether the raw materials that they purchase are
derived from plants harvested or grown in ways that
promote this objective. Manufacturers commonly think
about conservation, in this context, in terms of
sustainability. In general, even the most environmentally
inclined manufacturers will find it impossible to guarantee
that all their sources of medicinal plants are sustainable.
Many manufacturers buy largely from wholesalers. They
do so because they then can be more certain that stocks of
reliable quality are available, prices are relatively low and
purchasing is easy.
Therefore, a problem for environmentally inclined
manufacturers is how to learn about the origins of MAP
materials on sale. Some wholesalers are reluctant to provide
information about their sources, fearing that manufacturers
might use this information to side-step them in the future.
It has been suggested that one way that manufacturers
might be able to obtain greater assurance of sustainability
is through the incorporation of conservation criteria in the
specification sheets which they prepare for the formulation
of products. They can then require w\lolesalers to confirm
that they have met these standards or lose out to .other
suppliers.
Some manufacturers may be able to encourage higher
conservation standards through their more direct sourcing
of MAP materials. Likewise, ethical producers may be able
to 'jump up' market chains, for instance selling MAP
materials directly to manufacturers. Collectors and growers
often benefit from being organised into associations of co-
operatives, including to increase their negotiating power.
The US-based Rocky Mountain Herbalist Coalition
provides a list of ecologically conscious suppliers of
botanicals. Direct sourcing or marketing is not without its

drawbacks. Manufacturers may be faced with higher costs
and reduced reliability in supplies. For communities, social
and economic problems can arise if traditional trading
relationships are broken. Probably, direct sourcing is likely
to remain a preferred option mainly for manufacturers of
Iquality' products aimed at specialised markets, in which
there is an ability to pay the higher prices required.
Nevertheless, there are probably many unrealised
opportunities for more direct sourcing awaiting discovery
by enterprising communities and manufacturers.
Given the concerns of at least some manufacturers and
consumers to produce, or use, medicines of good quality,
there would seem to be opportunities for communities,
per~aps motivated by NGOs, to seek market advantage for
themselves through adopting higher environmental
standards and establishing direct market linkages. An
incremental approach is probably often realistic, starting,
for instance, from first meeting organic standards, with full
certification of sustainability (a complex undertaking) a
more distant possibility. If cultivation is attempted, then it
is important to select suitable species from the agronomic
and economic perspectives, the number of which may be
quite limited for any particular site.
An example, which so far is proving successful at
promoting a socially and environmentally ethical trade, is
the project, mentioned earlier, of the NGO CRIAA SA-DC
on Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens). Devil's Oaw
has become a very popular remedy in Europe, but the plant
has been unsustainably harvested in the past and it has
even been held that it could be in danger of extinction.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 harvesters rely on sales from its
collection as their only source of cash. In 1998, a sustainably
harvested Devil's Claw project was established at one
resettlement farm in Namibia and the scheme rapidly
expanded. In 1999, the project covered some 307,415 ha of
rangeland and 10,210 kg of Devil's Claw were produced,

providing local people with a sustainable product at a
guaranteed and fair price. Dave Cole and Cyril Lombard
write that: "We have been able to demonstrate through this
project that by ensuring good prices, by making
information available, by creating options, by
strengthening their bargaining position and by providing
general support, harvesters are taking responsibility for the
management of this resource. Compliance with sustainable
harvesting techniques, i.e. leaving the tap-root undisturbed
and refilling the hole, for example, has increased to between
80 and 85 percent. This is generally not the case in other
areas where Devil's Claw is extensively harvested in
Namibia."
Another example of a project aimed at organising
producers for market and conservation advantage is the
Medicinal Plants Growers Forum (MPGF) in Uttaranchal,
India. So far, 51 farmers in 4 valleys are members of the
Forum, committed to growing medicinal plants to organic
standards. One lesson from this and other experiences is the
need to involve a wide range of partners from the start,
including not only the farmers, but traders, the
government, NGOs and scientists, so that the necessary
linkages and access to tedlrucat expertise are established.
The involvement of industry from project inception can
help ensure that products will be purchased at agreed
prices, taking note of required species and standards of
quality. Marketing is a critical issue for the success of
organised collectors' or growers' schemes. Obstacles to
progress with the MPGF have included a cumbersome
system of required permits, lack of good quality planting
material, problems with cultivation practices and access to
markets. The Devil's Claw and MPGF projects are trend-
setters, but throw up many challenges, requiring dedication
and persistence.
Actually, biological conservation and sustainability

rarely figure prominently in these standards, being, for
example, mentioned with very little practical detail in
recent proposals for Good Harvesting Practices (GHP) for
Collecting Plant Material. Nevertheless, there can be
significant opportunities for conservationists in
commenting on standards produced by official bodies,
recommending improvements in favour of conservation.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) first published
guidelines for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for
medicines and herbal products in 1969, recommending
these to member states. The aim was to guarantee the
consistent quality of medicinal products.
The guidelines contained no provision requiring proof
of sustainable production, inclusion of which would have
stimulated the development of sustainability criteria. In
Europe, the European Herb Growers Association
(EURDP AM) is currently developing Good Agricultural
Practice (GAP) and Good Wild Harvesting Practice
(GWHP) guidelines for MAPs. These might be included in
the European Union (EU) Directive on Good
Manufacturing Practice for Starting Materials, if and when
this directive becomes operational. The-GAP guidelines are
more or less finalised and have already been endorsed by
the European Medicine Evaluation Agency (EMEA). They
are weak from the sustainability perspective. There might
possibly be a greater chance of incorporating sustainability
criteria in the GWHP guidelines, since these are still under
active development. There is an EU Directive on Traditional
Medicinal Products nearing completion. This deals mainly
with issues of efficacy and safety, and apparently will
contain nothing on conservation and sustainable
production.
In the case of China, a new law came into effect in June
2002 relating to the standards of traditional medicines. The
main purpose is the regulation of products produced by
larger enterprises. The law was introduced because of

concerns about inadequate supplies, toxicity and lack of
standardisation of ingredients. The law will require various
types of information to be supplied with each batch of MAP
material, including the botanical name, the place of origin,
the time of harvest and the level of insect contamination.
Material of cultivated origin will require information on the
fertilisers and pesticides used, and on heavy metal content.
Quotas will be set for the quantities of species allowed for
wild harvest in particular areas. This is a framework law
and regulations for individual species will follow.
The current government target in China is to ensure that
50 species of MAPs are cultivated according to GAP by
2010. Promotion of GAP is regarded as the most important
type of quality standard from the conservation point of
view, because. it applies directly to the source of the
material, but other standards are being pursued in China,
including Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), GMP, Good
Clinical Practice (GCP) and Good Service Practice (GSP).
Some countries have laws that regulate the commercial
collection or trade of MAPs. Poland lists species of MAPs
that, cannot be collected without permit. An Italian law of
1931 stipulates that permits for the commercial collection of
species that are listed will only be issued to people who
have degrees in herbalisrn from schools of pharmacy.
Bulgaria has established a quota system for the gathering
of certain MAPs that is reviewed annually, according to
species and region. Countries may also ban exports, as did
the Government of India in 1994 for 50 species believed to
be endangered in the wild.
To return to the matter of standards, it is known that
there can be problems in adherence because there are so
many types of standards and some of the requirements are
cumbersome to meet. Furthermore, the expense involved in
meeting some standards means that they can be
dL~riminatory against small producers. Another issue is
that conservation organisations have had problems in

devising useful messages for consumers, related to the
challenge of combining simplicity with accuracy. A general
warning that some medicinal plants are threatened is
hardly helpful. There is no unified label existing today
guaranteeing sustainability. Fortunately, there is a ground-
swell in sections of the industry to improve their
conservation standards, partly in recognition that, unless
they do so voluntarily, they may well be forced to do so by
law. There is also a sizeable market, especially in more
affluent countries, for environmentally-friendly products.
At present, the best that can be expected generally i~ that
some manufacturers will gain just recognition for their
environmental efforts and will accordingly be rewarded by
concerned consumers. It might also be useful for a few
species which should be avoided by consumers to be
identified and' publicised, but these have yet to be
authoritatively listed.
Because presumably mostl consumers have some
interest in the standards of efficacy and safety of medicines,
and at least some of them are concerned also about social
justice and the environment, it would be useful for
conservationists to explore the possibility of establishing a
unitary concept of 'quC'lity', covering all of these matters.
If so, this could be followed by the development of a system
of labelling, with a chance of general recognition,
guaranteeing the quality of products containing MAPs
across the board. This would greatly help the ethical
consumer. Such labelled products should be third-party
certified.
APPROACHES TO EX SITU CONSERVATION
Plant species can be found away from the sites where they
naturally occur in a range of contexts, including in botanic
and other types of gardens, nurseries, seedbanks, tissue
culture units, etc. In fact, ex situ conservation is not always
sharply separated from in situ conservation. There are

intermediates between the 'purest' forms of in situ and ex
situ conservation, as represented possibly, on the one hand,
by the total protection of wild populations of species
without any other form of management and, on the other
hand, by seedbanks with specialist scientists situated at a
far distance from the places where the plants naturally
grow. The term circa situ conservation has been used for a
range of practices commonly associated especially with
more traditional agricultural systems. They include the
deliberate encouragement of certain species of 'wild' plants
in 'natural' habitats, the retention of valued 'wild' plants
when land is cleared for agriculture or crops are weeded,
the growing of valued 'wild' plants in home gardens, and
the selection and storage of seed at household level for later
replanting. Circa situ conservation grades into both in situ
and ex situ conservation.
As an example of how ex situ collections of MAPs can
be connected to conservation and livelihoods through circa
situ means, consider the case of the Pepper-bark tree
(Warburgia salutaris), the most highly prized medicinal
plant in southern Africa. This species has been collected to
the point of national extinction in Zimbabwe, causing
difficulties in obtaining the medicine, a matter of great
concern to traditional medical practitioners and patients
alike. Dr Tony Cunningham and the Zimbabwean NGO
SAFIRE have managed to successfully re-introduce this
species from nurseries in South Africa into Zimbabwe.
However, reintroduction was not back into its natural forest
habitat, from which it would probably again soon
diSappear since the causes of its over-collection in these
largely open-access areas remain. Rather, rooted cuttings
were distributed for the home-gardens of local farmers, all
of whom knew and valued the species. It is believed that
many of these farmers will be prepared to guard the plants
with the attention that will certainly be required.
Given that such a large proportion of the world's flora

is medicinal, it is not surprising that MAPs are well
represented in botanical gardens, even though, in most
cases, they will not have been selected for grpwing because
of their medicinal properties. This said, there are many
botanical gardens with collections of MAPs and, in some
parts of the world, such displays are quite commonly also
found attached to schools, museums and other institutions.
In general, these living collections consist of only one or a
few specimens of each species and, while sometimes of
value educationally, they are of limited use from the point
of view of genetic conservation. Botanic gardens can play
further major roles in medicinal plant conservation through
developing propagation and cultivation protocols, and
undertaking programmes of domestication and variety
breeding. Such research can benefit from traditional
knowledge. For example, the seeds of Paris polyphylla, a
medicinal plant in China, have proved difficult to
germinate in trials, but much greater success was achieved
after following the practice of a farmer in Yunnan who
mixed the seeds with those of another species.
Seedbanks offer a more attractive way of storing the
genetic diversity of many plants ex situ than botanic
gardens, at least in terms of cost. However, medicinal
plants are poorly represented in seedbanks. Currently, the
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is
supporting an Economic Crop Protection/Genetic
Resources (ECP /GR) Group for MAPs. However, only few
members of the group, which convened for the first time
in Slovenia in September 2002, have shown an interest in
the conservation of threatened species. More concern was
expressed at the meeting with gene-banking common
culil!ary herbs with complicated taxonomy.
Unless properly organised, the contribution of ex situ
collections to in situ conservation and sustainable
, development can be limited. In practice, most seedbanks
are used mainly as repositories of the genetic diversity of

agricultural crops and their main users are agricultural
scientists - breeders of 'improved' varieties of crops.
Seedbanks will remain of limited use for conservation of
MAPs until, 'and unless, their fundamental purposes and
modes of operation are rethought. It is not just a question
of increasing the stocks of MAPs in genebanks. Nor is there
much point in reintroducing endangered species from ex
situ collections back into natural habitats, unless the factors
that caused their endangerment in the first place are
reduced or eliminated.
What is needed to make ex situ collections more useful
for conservation is connection with the socio-economic and
cultural dimensions of in situ ecosystems. This means that
ex situ collections must be designed to serve developmental
purposes, as well as for crop-breeding and' strict' biological
conservation. There is progress in this field in India, where
4 genebanks have been established specifically for MAPs,
producing considerable quantities of planting materials for
conservation and production purposes.
APPROACHES TO NEW DISCOVERIES
Several stages are involved in the process of prospecting the

chemical properties of plants to discover drugs or other
novel products. First, unless discoveries are fortuitous,
decisions are made about which plants to sample and how
to sample them. Sampling may be in the field or from ex
situ collections, the latter perhaps represented by plants
growing in botanical gardens or by dried specimens in
herbaria. These decisions are based on published and
unpublished information, including sometimes knowledge
of local medical uses and about the relative difficulty of
undertaking research in different contexts. The next step
involves isolation of chemical fractions for automated
screening, for example the in vitro testing of activity against
cell lines. Promising results may lead to further tests,
including perhaps clinical trials, and these may result in the

development, including licensing, of marketable products.
As an alternative to chemical screening, there is growing
interest today in screening extracts from plants for genetic
information, a branch of science set to grow spectacularly.
Although, according to the CBD, benefits for
conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development
should accrue from this process, there are often difficulties
for researchers, national authorities and communities to
agree exactly what these should be. The onus is on all
parties to be reasonable, which itself requires a good grasp
of the complexities involved. Various types and levels of
benefits are appropriate at different stages.
Agreements with communities are likely to prove null
and void unless they can demonstrate that they have been
made ~ith 'prior informed consent'. The experience of the
last 10 years is that the most significant benefits to source
countries have resulted from the research process. The
foundation has been partnerships between bioprospecting
companies and institutions in source countries, such as
research agencies, universities and local businesses. These
benefits have so far been mainly in the form of scientific and
technological capacity-building. They have also been
channelled chiefly to central government, and to urban-
based companies and institutions, often with little (if any)
contributions to conservation or sustainable development
at the sites at which the plants actually grow. Even when
there have been discussions or inclusion of benefits to
source areas, much more interest has generally been taken
in equity than conservation.
Thus the challenge remains for those interested in
conservation of biological diversity or development
compatible with this objective to connect biodiversity
prospecting to real benefits at field level. It is extremely
useful if developing country institutions, which enter into
agreements with companies, develop clear and transparent
institutional policies to ensure that some benefits really are

extended to the field. Similar types of policies are also
needed on the parts of protected areas, local and indigenous
communities, and other involved parties.
Parties to the CBD are required to pass the principles
of the CBD into national law to make them effective. Several
countries, including the Philippines, the 5 countries of the
Andean Commission and Costa Rica have already
introduced access and benefit sharing laws, and over 40
other countries are now developing legislation. The current
challenge is to create a permit system for authorising work
by researchers, allowing a fair and equitable distribution of
benefits from bioprospecting, while, at the same time, not
being overrestrictive and bureaucratic, and thus preventing
or delaying useful research.
REFERENCES
Akerele, 0., Heywood, V. & Synge, ·H. The Conseroation of Medicinal

Plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 1991.
Balick, M. J. & Cox, P. A. Plants, people and culture: the science of
ethnobotany. The Scientific American Library, New York, USA.
1996.
Hawkes, J. G., Maxted, N. & Ford-Lloyd, B. V. The ex situ conseroation
of plant genetic resources. Kluwer Academic Publishers, London,
UK.2ool.
Schippmann, U. Medicinal plants significant trade study. German Federal
Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn, Germany. 2001.
Sheldon, J. W., Balick, M. J. & Laird, S. A. {Medicinal plants: can
utilization and conservation coexist?". Advances in Economic
Botany 12, 1-104. 1997.
7
Heritage of Indian Medicinal Plants
The ethos of conserving b4>diversity is deeply ingrained in

ancient Indian culture. Traditionally, patches of pristine
forests were set aside as sacred groves; planting of shade
and fruit bearing trees had religious sanction, as also
prescriptions to regulate hunting, e.g. ban on killing a
pregnant female animal and designating certain parts'of the
year as closed season. This serious concern for ecology
continued to thrive side by side with developments related
to economic progress, international trade, and science and
technology.
In fact the Indian health system which goes back to 1500
Be, and is mainly based on plants and animals, symbolises
how deep-rooted was this concern for biodiversity
conservation and its sustainable use. The Indian people
know a great deal about medicinal plants. Studies reveal
that the largest proportion of the biodiversity in all our
ecosystems is used by village communities for human and
veterinary health care (Table 1).
Table 1. An example of uses of biodiversity by "ecosystem people"

Purpose Number of species
Medicinal uses 202
Veterinary uses 109
As fish poisons 23
For pest control 51
For water purification 3

As wild edible plants 87
As fodder plants 65
For fuel 30
Hunting purposes 3
Cultural and religious purposes 38
Over 7,500 species of plants are estimated to be used by lithe

ecosystem people" who belong to some 4635 ethnic
communities. India probably has the oldest, richest and
most diverse, cultural traditions in the use of medicinal
plants. Medicinal plants continue to provide health
security to rural people in primary health care (Table 2 ).
According to WHO estimates, over 80% of people in
developing countries depend on traditional medicines for
their primary health needs. In India the coverage of. rural
population by the modern health system varies between
different regions from three to thirty percent. Thus, for
some 4-5 hundred million people, traditional medicine is
the only alternative. This is also borne out by the fact that
there still exist over one million traditional, village-based
carriers of the herbal medicine traditions in the country.
Table 2. Richness of folk medicine: Examples of ethno medicinal plants with

ten or more uses reported across ethnic communities in South India.
Plant species Reported number of uses

Centella asiatica 33
Pergularia daemia 23
Aristolochia indica 22
Ichnocarpus frutescens 22
Alstonia scholaris 19
Holarrhena antidysenterica 18
Trachyspermum ammi 16
Hygrophila auriculiculata 15
Triar,therna portulacastrum 15
Heritage of Indian Medicinal Plants 177
Semecarpus anacardium 15
Hen;rldesmus indicus 15
Catharanthus roseus 14
Apama siliquosa 13
Anacardium occidentale 12
Costus speciosus 12
Justicia gendarussa 11
Perguiaria extensa 10
Table 3. List of species banned from export by the Ministry of Commerce.

Aconitum sp. Gnetum sp.
Acorus sp. Gynocardia odorata (Chaulmogri)
Angiopteris sp. Hydnocarpus sp.
Aristolochia sp. Hyoscyamus niger (Black henbane)
Artemisia sp. Iphigenia indica
Arundinaria jaunsarensis Meconopsis betonicifolia
Atropa sp. Nardostachys sp. Oatamansi)
Balanophora sp. Nepenthes khasiana (Pitcher plant)
Berberis aristata Osmunda sp.
Colchicum luteum (Hirantutya) Paphiopedilium sp. (Ladies' slipper
orchid)
COmmiphora wightii Physochlaina praealta (Bajarbang)
Coptis sp. Podophyllum hexandrum
Coscinium fenestratum
(Calumba wood) Pratia serpumlia
Costus speciosus (Keu, Kust) Rauvolfia sp. (Serpgandha)
Cyathea gigantea Renanthera imschootiana (Red vanda)
Cycas beddomei
(Beddomes cycad) Rheum emodi (Dolu)
Didymocarpus pedicellata Rhododendron sp.
Dioscorea deltoidea Saussurea lappa (Kuth)
Dolomiaea pedicellata Strychnos potatorum (Nirmali)
Drosera sp. Swertia chirata (Charayatah)
Ephedra sp. Taxus baccata (Yewu, Birm)
Gentiana kurroo (Kuru, Kutki) Urginea sp.

Gloriosa superba Yanda caerulea (Blue vanda)
Today these biodiversity-dependent rural communities are

facing a serious resource threat because of the rapid loss of
natural habitats, and the over-exploitation of medicinal
plants from the wild. To meet the demands of the Indian
herbal industry which has annual turnover of about US$
300 million, tons of medicinal plants are being harvested
every year from some 165,000 ha of forests. The biodiversity
loss is not only a threat to ecology of the planet but a more
immediate threat to the livelihood security of rural
communities.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN INDIA
The biodiversity of medicinal plants is associated with a

very 'rich cultural diversity related to India's traditional
systems of medicine. Traditional Medicine as practised in
India consists of two streams, viz. folk medicine and the
codified systems of medicine.
Folk Medicine
This is a diverse stream which is ecosystem and ethnic
community specific. It is an oral tradition purely empirical
in nature that exists in all rural communities throughout the
length and breadth of India (Table 4).
Table 4. Types of carriers of village-based health traditions.

Traditional carrier Conditions treated Numbers
Housewives and elders Home remedies, food
and nutrition-related millions
Traditional birth
attendants Normal deliveries 700,000
Herbal healers Common ailments 300,000
Bone setters Orthopaedics 60,000
Visha vaidhyas
(snake, scorpion,
dog bite specialists) Natural poisons 60,000
Other specialists Eyes, skin, respiratory,
dental, arthritis, mental 1,000
diseases, gastro-intestinal, in each
wounds, fistula, piles
One comes across many examples of the great depth and

range of the folk tradition in unpublished reports on
medical practices in different regions. For instance, in 1793,
two medical officers of the East India Company-James
Finlay and Thomas Cruso-reported on the practice of
rhinoplasty by a potter's community in Pune district in the
Madras Gazette. It was this technical report that led to
further developments in Britain of plastic surgery of ~he
nose. To cite a current example, it is well known in south
Kamataka that certain paralytic conditions can -effectively
be treated using 'Ankola' oil. Ankola is the name of a
village; this particular herbal oil is part of its folk medical
legacy.
There is also the case, in Tamil Nadu state, of the so-
called 'Coimbatore orthopaedic treatment' for straighte-
ning out a club foot by the combined use of a special herbal
oil which softens the bony tissues and traditional forms of
traction.
Codified Traditional Medicine

Systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and the Tibetan
system are expressions of this stream. The'codified' stream
consists of medical knowledge with sophisticated
theoretical foundations expressed in thousands of regional
manuscripts covering treatises on all branches of medicine
and surgery. However, of an estimated 100,000 medical
manuscripts lying in oriental libraries and private
collections in India and abroad, less than one percent are
available and in current use by students and teachers in
Indian medical schools. The earliest Ayurvedic texts, the

Susruta Samhita and Caraka Samhita, are believed to have
been written between 1500 and 1000 Be.
The main branches of Ayurveda are Kayacikitsa
(General Medicine), Balacikitsa (paediatrics), Grahacikitsa
(Psychiatry), Salakya Tantra (Ophthalmology and ENT),
Salya Cikitsa (Surgery), Visa Cikista (Toxicology), Rasayana
(Rejuvenation) and Vajikarana (reproductive health).
Besides these, there are specialised treatises on a range of
subjects including Pharmacy (Bhesaja Kalpana),
Pharmacopoeia (Nighantu), Diagnostics (Nidana), Special
diagnostic techniques like Pulse diagnosis (Nadi Cikista),
Iatrochemistry (Rasasastra), Dietetics (Pathyapathya),
Pharmacology (Dravyaguna) and Positive health and
preventive medicine (Svastha Vrtta).
Today there are over 400,000 licensed registered
practitioners of the codified stream practising in the towns
and cities of India. Unfortunately, despite the large
presence of a "living bio-health culture" in villages
throughout India, it receives marginalised policy and
financial support from national and international agencies,
either for conserving its bioresources or for maintaining its
indigenous knowledge base. This is evidently due to the
western ethnocentric bias in health policies around the
globe.
CULTURAL HERITAGE CHAllENGES
Whereas the reasons for loss of plant diversity are well

known, the reasons for loss of cultural diversity are much
less understood. In the domain of knowledge, non-western
medical systems like Ayurveda have so far failed to stake
their claims to originality. Their epistemological
foundations lie unexplored outside of their cultural worlds.
The universal attributes of the indigenous knowledge
systems remain unrecognised due to the marginalised
political status of the southern societies and more
mundanely due to the limitations of language and

ethnicity.
A major problem that non-western societies have to
contend with in any serious evaluation of their own
indigenous knowledge systems, is the common claim of all
western scientists and philosophers that, after all, science
is one, universal and uniquely expressed in the western
scientific paradigms. Thus, while it may be possible to
conceive of alternative methodologies, theories and
practices in other domains such as music, linguistics, logic,
art and politics, there is no such possibility conceded with
regard to alternative sciences.
Table 5. Examples of strength of codified stream.
Discipline Nature of treatment or advice offered
Prenatal care detailed diet and promotive herbs;
behaviorial advice for healthy progeny and
for all stages of foetal development
Obstetrics reliable advice which can help in ease of
delivery
Post -natal care herbs that can raise the general immunity of
the mother & child
Food & nutrition advice on seasonal diets suited to different
constitutions; advice on specific (therapeutic)
diets for various ailments/disease stages;
food values provided on a range of relevant
parameters different from modem nutrition;
advice on incompatible foods
Gynaecology Safe herbal treatments for all typical ailments
of women; better management of suspected
infertility conditions
Respiratory disorders Safe herbal treatments for entire range of
respiratory disorders including asthamatic
conditions & allergies
Skin disorders Safe herbal treatments for wide range of skin
conditions including diseases like Psoariasis
and Erysipelas
GIT disorders Safe herbal treatments for hyperacidity,
ulcers & metabolic disorders
Cardiac diseases herbal drugs for lowering chlorestrol, chronic

angina and congenital heart diseases
Ophthalmology Safe herbal treatments for intra-occular
haemorrhage, diabetic retinopathy,
paediatric myopia and a range of common
eye diseases
Orthopaedics management of compound factures with
open wounds; management of polio;
management of osteal deformities
Nervous & muscular herbal drugs for degenerative diseases in
disorders their early stages; hemiplegia, paraplegia,
cereberal palsy etc.
Mental health safe herbal drugs for anxiety neurosis,
obsessions, hysteric manifestations, epilepsy
etc.
Specific diseases Herbal treatments for non-insulin-dependent
diabetes, arthritis, hepatitis, rheumatic
fevers, gall & kidney stone, ano-fistulas &
haemorrhoids, promotive care of cancer and
AIDS cases.
The fact, however, is that different cultures have developed

fundamentally different ways of perceiving and viewing
nature and this in tum has given rise to different traditions
of. knowledge.
The comparative understanding between Ayurveda
and modem medicine in fact has not progressed sufficiently
to correlate diagnosis of the two systems of medicine or
translate Ayurvedic pharmacology (Dravya gun shastra) in
terms of modem pharmacological parameters or reduce
Ayurvedic lines of treatment to satisfy Allopathic
therapeutic logic. Efficacy of disease management by
Ayurvedic means and methods based on its own theories
and monitored using modem parameters could form the
basis for a dialogue between the two systems where the
outcome would be in the form of prima Jacie evidence of
success or failure in management but not a one-to-one
correlation in diagnosis or a modem explanation of how
and why of the traditional line of treatment.
The scope of this kind of comparative research designs

from the modem medicine viewpoint will inevitably be
limited. It will provide modem medicine only with some
evidence of the efficacy or otherwise of A yurvedic
management. If modern medicine wants to apply the
success of Ayurvedic treatment more widely based on the
prima facie results, it will have to take the trouble to learn
Ayurvedic principles and its diagnostic, pharmacological
and treatment theories and procedures.
The kind of comparative research outlined above will
not, for instance, lead to any 'short-cut' ways to directly co-
opt Ayurvedic drugs into the modem Materia Medica. This
should be seen as a short-term loss. A pursuance of genuine
dialogue with the traditional systems of medicine may pave
the way for more rneaningfullong-term advances in world
medicine that may broaden the scope of modern
understanding of health and disease at more fundamental
levels.
PHYTO·MEDICINAL MARKET IN INDIA
Ancient Indian system of medicine is known as Ayur7Jeda

in which the medicines are prepared mostly from wild
plants. The roots, tubers, bulbs, leaves, fruits, flowers and
barks of wild vegetation, depending on their active
principle contents, are used for the preparation of
medicines for different ailments. Indian rich biological
diversity supported the system of medicine from times
immemorial.
The diverse agro-climatic conditions, variation in
regional topography, occurrence of variety of floral and
faunal types, different human practices have not only
contributed to the richness of Indian biological diversity,
but also have maintained the same to a great extent. Tribal
people in India, mostly forest devellers, played very
significant role in the identification, conservation and
collection of medicinal plants form the very ancient times.

Depending on the availability of principal medicinal plants,
the country has been divided into eight phyto-geographic
regions.
In olden period the forest-dwellers used to collect a
variety of leaves, fruits, seeds, nuts, roots, barks, tubers and
rhizomes havrng medicinal value and used to exchange
such products with their Aryan counterparts through a
barter system. Surprisingly enough, the system still
continues without much change or modification.
Collection of medicinal plants and other non-timber
forest produce provides income for the forest dwellers for
their subsistence. Studies indicate that agricultural
production from tribal land is inadequate to maintain a
household at subsistence level. The forest dwellers hence,
depend on collection of medicinal plants and other non-
timber forest produce for their livelihood.
Realising the importance of collection of wild medicinal
plants and other non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in the
tribal economy, the Indian Forest Policy, 1988 provided for
safeguarding the customary rights and interests of tribal
people. The provision asks for protection, regeneration and
optimum collection of minor forest produce along with
institutional arrangements for the marketing of such
produce.
Market Imperfections
Trade in medicinal herbs, like any other natural product,
suffers from market imperfections. Such imperfections are
apparent on supply side, on the demand side and also on
the difficulties in marginal-pricing system for such
products. Factors contributing to such market
imperfections are:
absence of a system of defining property right,
- problems in arriving at a convincing patenting policy,
unique characters of medicinal plants and uncertainty

of their availability,
knowledge about medicinal plants being restricted to
a limited people,
absence of organised market,
interplay of middlemen in the trade and
problems in marginal cost pricing of the medicinal herb
i.e. absence of a mechanism for determining the share
of the primary collector8m the final revenue obtained
from the finished products.
Imperfections on the supply side

There has been steady reduction in the area of natural
forests producing the wild medicinal plants. The
conversion of forest cover into non-forest uses between
1951 and 1980 has been given in Table 6.
Table: 6 Forest cover converted into non1orest uses between 1951 and 1980
Purpose Forest Converted (million hectares)
Agriculture 2.623
River velly projects 0.502
Industires and Twonships 0.134
Transmission lines and Roads 0.061
Miscellaneous 1.008
Total 4.328
Since the enforcement of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980

although there has been considerable decrease in such
conversion of forests for non-forest uses, the process has not
altogether stopped. The shrinkage of forests has
considerably affected the supply of wild medicinal plants.
The depletion of medicinal plant resources are also due to:
Irregular and unscientific collection,
- unscientific mining and quarrying,
uncontrolled forest grazing,

forest fires,
shifting cultivation,
biotic pressure, beyond carrying capacity of the land.
Inadequate knowledge about the medicinal value of' many
of the plants occurring locally is also responsible for short
supply of medicinal herbs. The situation has aggravated
due to the absence of property rights, institutional
arrangements and an authority system. The tribal people
are far from fully informed about what they can legally
collect and what is prohibited. Such uncertain situation
benefit the traders and petty contractors.
The wild medicinal herbs are sold without any
significant processing or value addition. The producers' /
collectors' access to consumers is limited to the sales made
locally or in the weekly village markets. A major portion
of their product is sold to intermediaries like contractors
and commission agents who operate in such areas.
Although the medicinal plant materials reach a much larger
market, as far as, the producers or collectors are concerned
the market is geographically very limited. The limitation in
access to real market is more pronounced in the case of
perishable items or items containing active principles,
which change or deteriorate rapidly with time. The
situation is worst when a tribal woman is a collector of
medicinal herb. Traditionally burdened with her other
household jobs, an woman generally look for local market
having limited access.
Sporadic spatial distribution of the plants, having
medicinal value, makes their bulk collection impossible.
Small collections force the tribal population into a vicious
small market circle, low production and (leading to) small
surplus continuously erode their bargaining capacity as
their need for conversion of small production into cash
becomes more acute.
Wide variation in active principle contents of the wild

varieties of medicinal herb constitutes yet another supply
side imperfection. Such variations complicate the process of
manufacturing herbal medicines that determine the efficacy
rate and their subsequent quality control. Scientific
cultivation of medicinal plants through bioengineering and
modern farming techniques could overcome the problem.
But that would generate an imperfect competition, having
the tribal subsistence economy on the one hand, and the
capitalistic return maximisation through scientific farming
on the other.
Knowledge base of phyto-medicine is eroding steadily.
Migration of forest dwellers in search of employments,
their displacement from the developmental project areas,
low returns from collection of medicinal plants and
invasion of market economy alien to the forest dwellers
have systematically contributed to the erosion of the local
knowledge. Knowledge about the local botany, the habitat
of medicinal plants, their fruiting or flowering seasons, the
time when the plants have the highest concentration of
active principle contents, are becoming gradually rare. The
policy approach for augmentation of supply position and
sustainable use of medicinal plants should include a
combination of institutional, economic, administrative and
legal agenda.
Imperfections on the demand side

The present bad shape of the market for medicinal plants
is due to the interplay of the middlemen or the petty
contractors. The market is very disorganised. The forest
dwellers collecting the medicinal plants do not know about
the phyto-medicinal market, nor do they know about the
prices of the products at which those are sold to the
consumers. The middlemen act as impervious screens,
blocking the vital communications between the primary
collectors of the medicinal plants and their consuming
centers. The contractors, generally, purchase the collected

medicinal herbs at a low price, or even exchange those for
trivial consumer goods. In the absence of any control or
restriction, the firms engaged in manufacturing· herbal
medicines are involved in profiteering. They purchase the
raw material at negligible prices and sale the final products
at much higher rates. The poor collectors have no share in
the high profit earning business.
Traditionally, knowledge about phyto-medicines in
Indian society is handed over from generation to generation
in the same family. Scope for analysing, researching,
modifications. and refinements in such family-based
occupation are limited. Such secrecy restricted the growth
of Indian traditional medicine system. Family secrecy,
absence of sustained research & development and gradual
erosion of knowledge about medicinal plants have
contributed to the decline of Ayurveda system leading to
demand side imperfections in medicinal plant trade.
Low growth in demand for phyto-medicine is also due
to the absence of a system of standardization of different
formulations extracted from plants. Medicines in indigenous
systems require multi-ingredients and multi-processing. It
is impossible to monitor various formulations, each
formulation having a number of ingredients. There are
cases, where the traditional medical practitioners
themselves prepare their formulations. Strict secrecy is
observed about such medicines. In absence of standard
practice, and in the atmosphere of secrecy the market for
phyto-medicine could not flourish.
Further, when the efficacy of plant-based medicine is
compared with the Allopathic system of medicines, there
are some treatments in Ayurveda for which there is no
substitute in the alternative medicine system. This
constitutes a typical market imperfection, since the
opportunity cost of treatment through traditional medicine
is so huge that it is difficult to be valued.
Another potential threat on the demand side of the

market is from the piracy of indigenous knowledge and of
biological resources by both national and international
companies and corporations engaged in the trade of phyto-
medicines. However, various Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and the Governments from the
developing countries are increasingly raising their voices
against such piracy.
There has been a general demand for the rights of the
originators and of the communities involved in
conservation of the natural resources. Such rights of the
communities need to be protected both through national as
well as international laws. Recent expression of such
concern is contained in the Convention of Biological
Diversity. The recommendations ofthe Convention commit
that every country will respect and maintain local
knowledge, try to promote its application and encourage
equitable sharing of benefits arising from the same.
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GAIT)
allows signatory countries to implement intellectual
property rights over plant varieties. Such concession needs
that India should either adopt an existing international
convention on protection of plant varieties or develop its
sui generis alternatives. As India has vast biological
diversity of economically important plants, it is expected
that the tribal population of the country will benefit from
such arrangements.
Imperfection in the marginal- pricing system
Imperfections are also introduced due to faulty marginal
cost pricing system that is generally followed. Price of the
medicinal plants collected by the tribal population has no
relation with the unique character of the materials and their
rare availability. The biological diversity of medicinal
plants is increasingly on the decline due to various factors
190 Advances in MedicinaJ Plants
as discussed earlier. Under such conditions, it is necessary

to evolve a system of pricing the medicinal plants in such
a way that it includes the ecological costs of irreversibility,
uncertainty of their collection and their unique properties.
In this process, the problem arises from the fact that
determining ecological costs of irreversibility is not an easy
job. The problem still vexes the economists in general,
OVERCOME MARKET IMPERFECTIONS
Supply Side Corrections

The supply side imbalances could be overcome by ensuring
extraction of medicinal herb without depleting the resource
base. To achieve this, it is needed to have:
well laid out inventory of medicinal herb occurring in
the wild,
statistics of their incremental aspects for ensuring that
only the periodic increments are removed
scientifically,
rejuvenation of the degraded forests with the
regeneration of medicinal plants,
cultivation of endangered and extinct species in forest
nurseries and on degraded common properties (CPs).
The provision of the Indian Forest Conservation Act, 1988
prohibits the plantation of medicinal plants on forestlands
without the prior permission from the Government of
India. Such provisions need revision under the present
context.
The silvicultural system presently followed for
encouraging monoculture is very much responsible for
gradual depletion of various varieties of medicinal herb.
Most of the medicinal plants occur in the ground or middle
canopy of the forests. These are periodically burnt under
controlled burning or are eliminated through cultural
operations for encouraging the economically import:mt tree
species producing commercial timbers. The present practice
of having a single canopy of valuable species needs replac-

ement through a management of multi-canopy forestry
system such multi canopy forest system would thus
provide encouragements to biological diversity.
Though the rights and concessions enjoyed by the forest
dwellers have been protected by the Indian Forest Policy,
1988, there has been no bar against others collecting wild-
medicinal plants and plant-materials. The exclusive rights
of the forest dwellers regarding collection of minor forest
produce need to be recognised. Tribal knowledge about
phyto-medicine needs wider acceptance and their
integration with the present systems of medicine. NGOs
can play vital role in such integration process. NGO
interventions are also necessary in the fields of:
study of pharmacopoeia of tribal medicine system and
the standardisation of different formulations,
identification and codification of locally occurring
medicinal plants,
standardising the collection methodology,
designing of effective processing and efficient storing
of collected plant materials.
NGO and Governmental interventions at the supply point
will eliminate the middleman. There are some encouraging
examples of augmentation of supply of medicinal herbs
through benefit-sharing mechanisms between the tribal
people and the Government agencies. One such example is
about the benefit sharing mechanism that has been adopted
by the Kani tribal population of the Agstyar hills and the
Tropical Botanical Gardens and Research Institute, Palode
of Kerala regarding the anti-tress and anti-fatigue herb
Trichopus zeylanicus. The scientists from the Institute have
developed a formulation, having brand name /eevani from
the herb. They also made marketing arrangements with a
pharmacy. The Kani people gets 4% of the revenue obtained
from the sale of the product. Such vertical integrations with
research laboratories, pharmacies or NGOs will improve

the supply side economics.
Conservation and sustained yield of wild- medicinal
plants are directly related to the survival of the forests and
other common property resources (CPRs). So there is an
urgent need for protecting such areas from further
degradation. Protection of forestlands and the CPRs can be
achieved only through the active participation of the tribal
population living in those areas. The modalities for
achieving such participation may vary from place to place,
depending upon the aspirations of the loca\ tribal
population.'
Demand Side Corrections

Demand side corrections need more transparencies in the
market deals .. Such situations are possible when the
middlemen and the petty contractors are removed from
market operations. Presently, the middlemen by and large,
control demand of the phyto-medicine market. There is
need for intervention of some benevolent institution,
cooperative or organisation for taking up the function of
marketing of medicinal plants. Multi-stage approaches are
needed. The strategy should include making finances
available to the tribal people during the lean seasons,
making value additions of the collected materials, taking
the products to the niche market and getting appropriate
returns from the sale of the Phyto-medicinal herb.
Institutional Interventions
There have been some successful institutional interventions
in this aspect in different states of the country. One such
example of intervention is that of the Kerala State
Federation of schedule caste/schedule tribal (SC/ST)
Development Co-operative. The Government of Kerala has
granted exclusive rights of collection of some of the notified
items of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the Tribal
Co-operative Societies (TCS). There is a state level

committee, called NTFP Committee, which detemunes the
prices for different NTFPs for different stages, namely
"collection charges", "procurement charges" and "sale
prices".
The "collection charges" are the minimum prices by
which the TCS collect NTFPs from the tribal people; the
"procurement charges" are the minimum prices by which
the SC/ST Federation procures the produce from TCS and
the "sale prices" are the sales of the produce. The SC/ST
Federation, under its marketing strategy, sales some of the
produce to the Pharmaceutical Corporation (I.M) Kerala
Ltd. and the remaining part of the produce is sold through
auctions. Studies have shown that the procurement of
NTFPs through TCS has liberated the tribal people in
Kerala from the clutches of the private traders.
Another example of institutional intervention is that of
the Gujarat State Forest Development Corporation
(GSFDC) Ltd. GSFDC appoints collection agents who
collect the NTFPs from the tribal people at a price fixed by
a state level committee. The state level NTFP price fixation
committee has representatives from the tribal people,
business community as well as GSFDC. The procured
NTFPs are sold by GSFDC through open auctions. Studies
show that the poor sections of the society have been
gainfully employed during the non-agricultural season
through such intervention. GSFDC has also started proces-
sing units for manufacturing herbal medicines which will
ensure reasonable returns to the tribal people engaged in
the collection of medicinal herbs.
In Madhya Pradesh, three level cooperative societies
have been formed for looking after the total business of
NTFPs. The primary society is at the level of the NTFP
collectors; the secondary societies are formed at the district
level and at the final level the Madhya Pradesh State Co
operative operates. The collection, storage and marketing of
NTFPs, are taken care of by the three tier cooperative

societies.
Uttar Pradesh, Forest Corporation has recently entered
into the marketing of the medicinal herbs collected by the
tribal people of Lalitpur district. This was essential for
stopping the exploitation of the local Sahariya, Gond and
Ravut tribal communities. These tribal communities
previously used to sell their collected materials to the midd-
lemen. Now they sale their products to the Uttar Pradesh
Forest Corporation. The major NTFPs, like leaves of
Diospyrus melanoxylon (not a medicinal plant) and resin
from Pinus roxburghii are traded directly by the Forest
Corporation and the Forest Department respectively.
REFERENCES
Abdul Kareem, Inventory of Plants used in Indian Systems of Medicine,

FRLHT Research Report, Bangalore, India, 1995.
Alvares, C. , Homo Faber, New Delhi, India; Mentor Publications, 1984.
Anthropological Survey of India, People of India Project Report for 1994.
Bodeker, G, "Traditional health knowledge and public policy", Nature
and Resources 30 (2): 5-16, 1994.
Darshan Shankar, "Indigenous health services", In: State of India's Health.
Published by Voluntary Health Association of India, 1992.
Dharmpal, Indian Science and Technology in the 18th Century, Hyderabad,
India; Academy of Gandhian Studies, 1983.
Farnsworth, N. R. & Soejarto, D.D., "Global importance of medicinal
plants", In: Akerele, 0, Heywood, V. & Synge, H. (eds)
Conservation of Medicinal Plants, Cambridge, UK; Cambridge
University Press, 1991.
8
Quality Control of Plant-based
Medicines
Quality control in the case of synthetic drugs is much

simpler and easier than in the case of drugs prepared from
medicinal plants where multiplicity of active ingredients
can create a difficulty in quality assurance. The main
difficulty in preparing the standards is that most of these
products use whole herbs or parts of plants or their extracts
and in some cases even a mixture of number of plants. It
is also difficult to identify these plants, as, medicinal plants
collected in different seasons from the same place can
exhibit marked difference in the content of active
constituents. It is challenging to develop suitable standards
because the preparation of drug based on medicinal plants
is regarded as one active entity in its entirity.
It is difficult to measure in quantity and quality the
various constituents and their therapeutic activity. Again,
the standardisation of such drugs does not end with the
identification or assay of active ingredient, rather it
embodies total information and controls which are
necessary to guarantee constituents of composition. Their
standards are influenced by many factors such as age of the
plant, the area of origin, harvesting time, method of drying,
storage condition, manufacturing process, packing etc.
Thus, there are number of bottlenecks in establishing
standards for medicinal plants.
PHARMACOPOEIAL STANDARDS Of ISM&H DRUGS
Government of India have set up pharmacopoeial

committees for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy
systems. The Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian
Medicines (PLIM) and the Homeopathy Pharmacopoeial
Laboratory (HPL) at Ghaziabad are providing the technical
back up to these committees. At present 178 monographs
are ready for publication. The pharmacopoeia committee
has also published two volumes of Ayurvedic Formularies
of India consisting of 635 formulations. The siddha pharm-
acopoeia committee has brought out seven volumes
containing standards of 910 drugs.
The Unani pharmacopoeia committee has published
one national formulary of 441 formulations of Unani medi-
cines. Now 45 monographs on single Unani drugs have
been published. The Homeopathy pharmacopoeia commit-
tee has brought out 7 volumes containing standards of 910
drugs. A large part of the work relating to about 1000 drugs
used in ISM remains to be done. The standardisation of
compound formulations is yet to take off. Realising the
growing urgency of standards, the Department of ISM&H
has implemented a scheme for evolving of standards thro-
ugh government, semi-government research labora-tories.
Financial assistance is provided to these laboratories.
Each laboratory is allocated In drugs per year. So far 32
organisations have been assigned with the job and roughly
300 drugs have been covered. Work on 100 drugs is mature
for preparation of monographs. However, this is going to
be a time consuming process. As yet, even the established
standards have not been tried out.
QUALITY CONTROL IN RAW MATERIALS
The quality control must start with raw materials. At

present, the big markets of medicinal plans are in Khari
Baoli in Delhi, Amritsar and Mumbai. Here, the raw or
crude drugs are sold in the traditional manner. There is no
Quality Control of Plant-bar.ed Medicines 197
cleaning, grading or selection of the medicinal plants. The

buyer has no yardstick to judge the genuineness of the
plants and their quality. There are no indications about the
shelf life. There is no proper packing or labeling. The
following steps are, therefore, recommended:-
omOAL CERTIFICATION CENTRES (OCC)
First of all, the crude drugs of standard quality need to be

identified and preserved as the reference standard.
Therefore, a National Repository of Crude Drugs of ISM&H
with an excellent herbarium having authentic reference
samples needs to be establis~ed. This centre should have
the crude drug samples, herbarium specimen, chemical
finger print profiles, anatomical slides, supporting litera-
tures and a collection of living plants.
I~ should provide easy access to wide range of groups
including traders, medical practitioners, plant chemists, TM
students, academics, regulators as well as the
pharmaceutical industry.
User services will also have to be made available. This
repository should then become the official certification
centre for raw materials. The drug industry can get the raw
materials certified from the centre. Perhaps, some regional
branches of this centre could also be started.
The centre could generate some income by way of
charging fee for the authentication work of the crude
samples. Perhaps some of the existing institutes working on
medicinal plants could be developed into official
certification centre.
QUALITY CONTROL DURING PROCESSING
The next stage is the quality control during processing and

manufacturing. The Government of India in the
Department of ISM&H have notified elaborate good
manufacturing practices only recently. This is a very
important step which will ensure quality during the

manufacturing process. It is' also felt that in order to ensure
availability of genuine, authentic medicinal plants, it would
be better to have a centralised agency for marketing of the
medicinal plants and it may be made mandatory for all to
purchase, the certified material only from authorised
agencies like Forest Development Corporation or the
proposed National Board for Medicinal Plants.
The packing also needs to be made more attractive and
in suitable containers and sizes. There is also the question
of labeling of products. The labels should give all the details
and specifications.
STATE DRUG TESTING LABORATORIES
There are about 7483 drug manufacturing units of

Ayurveda, Siddha & Unani (ASU) Systems of MediciRe in
the country. Keeping in view the growing demand of plant
based drugs and cosmetics in domestic and international
market, there is felt need to have good quality plant based
medicines and cosmetics. To ensure the quality there is a
need of public test houses as well as statutory State Drug
Testing Laboratories for ASU drugs.
Presently there are only a couple of laboratories in the
country, which can perform few basic tests. In order to
assure that quality medicines reach the consumer it is
necessary to set up renovate or upgrade State Drug Testing
Laboratories capable of testing ISM&H drugs in 20 State
where there is good infrastructure for manufacture of ISM
drugs.
In the absence of such a mechanism being available the
licensing of ISM drugs has no safety standard and this can
lead to a situation where adulterated/spurious items are
sold to the public which could be toxic and hazardous. It
is equally essential to check that no synthetic/chemical
substitutes are added into the ISM&H products and this
responsibility has to be fulfilled while checking that the
Quality Control of Plant-based Medicines 199
vital plant based ingredients are actually contained in the

preparation. One time assistance to support the State
Government to establish or strengthen such laboratories is
essential. This is a very useful investment which will
improve the credibility of the system as well as increase the
export of plant based products.
RECOGNISING PUBLIC TEST HOUSES
For modern system of medicine facilities are being

extended by the public test houses to the pharmaceutical
industry on commercial basis. Oh the same pattern public
test houses need to be encouraged for ISM&H drug testing
and recognised for testing plant based drugs. Necessary
legislation needs to be introduced in the Drug and Cosmetic
Act 1940. Strengthening of Indian Medicine Pharmaceutical
Corporation Limited (IMPCL) and State Government
.Pharmacies of ISM&H.
There are about 25 pharmacies run by the State
Governments themselves. At Govt. of India level also there
is a public sector undertaking, Indian Medicine
Pharmaceutical Corporation Limited, located at Mohan,
Almora District of V.P. It is a joint venture with V.P.
Government and is manufacturing classical Ayurvedic and
Vnani drugs. Its authorised and paid up share capital is Rs.
1.00 crore.
The Govt. of India's share is 51%. This corporation is
functioning in old barrack type accomm-odation. Lot of
repairs, renovation and modernisation are required to
enable this corporation to produce the drugs on a larger
scale and ensure quality at every stage.
It also needs to enter the open market. It is necessary
to provide additional share capital of the order of Rs. 5.00
crore to this corporation. Similarly some funding could be
provided to the State Government pharmacies to
strengthen their existing pharmacies.
QUALITY CONTROL MANAGEMENT
The processes, which are used for the production of plant,

based drugs vary widely and there is variation in quality
of the same product produced by the process used by
different manufacturers. Therefore, it is necessary to
standardise the in-process quality control which is repro-
ducible and some of the processes which are very
traditional need to be modernised without changing the
concept of ISM drug preparations.
Any change in the process would need validation of
establishing the equiva-Ience of quality produced by the
traditional methods as compared to the modem methods.
It may be appropriate to have two centres for in process
quality control standards development, which may cost
about Rs. 5.00 crore. Some good existing centre could be
developed accordingly.
ROLE OF SAFETY EVALUATION CENTRES
Although the plant based drugs are considered to be

comparatively safer, but some of the drugs are toxic
especially when these are not properly processed and used
judiciously. It has become mandatory to ensure the safety
of all drugs put into the market for human consumption.
At present we do not have any centre for safety evaluation
of the plant based drugs.
It is necessary to designate a safety evaluation centres
with Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) norms. This will
facilitate the acceptance of the drugs at a global level. Safety
evaluation of herbometalic-mineral formulation of
Ayruveda, Unani and Siddha is necessary.
Although majority of the plant based drugs are time
tested but still the clinical validation is necessary for
confirming the efficacy. Some of the hospitals utilising
plant based drugs could be identified for undertaking
clinical trials following the double blind protocols to
validate and reestablish the clinical efficacy following

standard protocols as prescribed by WHO. For this certain
additional financial inputs should be provided to such
recognised hospital for promoting clinical evaluation status
and recurring expenditure.
FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF ISM
The drug related fundamental concepts are unique in

Ayurveda and the standardisation of these concepts has not
been attempted so far. The traditional system of medicine
can be strengthenged further if these concepts of "Rasa,
gun., virya-vipaka, Karma and prabhava are standardised
in terms of modern scientific parameters also. These will go
a long way in better acceptance of Ayurvedic and plant
based drugs.
It has been felt that this is an area which needs serious
exploration and it will be advantageous to have an
independent institute of developing standards for drug
related concept of Ayurveda and validating these in terms
of modem molecular pharmacology. This will need a multi-
disciplinary approach involving Clinical Bio-Chemist,
Clinical Pharmacologist, Modern Clinicians, Ayurvedic
Clinicians, Phyto chemists etc.
This will open new vistas for finding rare potentials of
our traditional drugs. In the modem system of medicine
there are many diseases for which there is no treatment
available but exploring the fundamental concept of
Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani may unfold treatment for
dreaded diseases.
No Pharmacopoeia is considered perfect because each
pharmacopoeia needs up-dating from time to time and
development of newer methods for maintaining quality
control for plant based drugs. Therefore, constant R&D
inputs are needed for developing newer methods of
standardisation and quality control.
INFLUENCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Human resource development in the drug related area of

plant based products is very essential. There is need to
appoint Drug inspectors qualified in the area of ISM
medicines to inspect the plant based drug industry. Also
there is a need to impart focused training to the existing
Drug Inspectors on plant based drugs.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and
pharmacopoeial standards of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani
medicines are in the process of being notified. Therefore,
the training of both the aspects viz. GMP and
pharmacopoeial standards should be an essential part of
the training for which specific modules need to be urgently
prepared. .
Expert Institutions should be identified for training
purposes and a systematic programme drawn to impart
training to the Drug Inspectors as well as the persons
working in plant based drug industry responsible for
quality control. At least one officer/expert working in the
factory /industry should undertake this training which is
also required as per the rules of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.
Plant based products whether in the name of Ayurveda,
Siddha & Unani medicines or marketed as food items have
been regularly used in the country.
The knowledge about the medicinal value of the plants
has been systematically documented and the therapies are
regularly practiced in the South-Asia region. With the
recent trends towards the use of herbal and natural
products there is a need to popularise these products at an
intemationallevel especially in Europe and USA.
The ingredients and the efficacy of the plants need to
be projected through the print and electronic media,
particularly their strength in treating specific problems like
Diabetes, hypertension, liver, disorders, Allergic disorders,
Arthritis, Neurological disorders, Obesity and Ulcerative-
colitis. Their immunomodulatory properties and their

efficacy in treating autoimmune disorders like rheumatic
conditions must be made known more widely. Various
Mission, High Commissions, Embassies of India in various
countries also need to be provided with the literature on
Indian Medicinal plants, their uses as well as the literature
on systems of health care like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani
for various countries.
MEDICINAL PLANTS: DEMAND AND SUPPLY
There are 7843 licensed pharmacies of Indian System of

Medicine in addition to 857 of Homeopathy and a number
of unlicensed small scale processing units engaged in the
manufacture of the medicines to meet the requirement of
4.61akh 'registered practitioners of ISM & H and other users
in the country. These pharmacies range from large Indian
drug houses like Baidyanath, Dabur, Zandu, Himalaya
Drugs etc., employing modern/sophisticated equipments
and methods for production of drugs on mass scale to small
ones which manufacture drugs generally following the
traditional prescriptions of ancient medical texts in the form
of Nighantus (Lexicons) and texts on Bhaisaj Kalpana
(Pharmacy) that specifically deal with plants and plant
products.
Many pharmacies attached to Ayurvedic institutes and
hospitals and Vaidyas of villages produce drugs for their
own consumption. The largest numbers of these
pharmacies are located in the states of Uttar Pradesh,
Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat and the lowest numbers
in the States of North East (N.E.) region. Apart from
pharmacies of ISM&H there are herbal industries like
Alchem International, Delhi; Hitashi Chemicals, Calcutta;
Kanga Aromatics, Madurai; Herbochem, Hyderabad;
Chemiloids, Vijayawada; Natural Remedies, Bangalore,
etc., which specialise in production and marketing of plant
extracts for the use in the products of allopathy and

Homeopathy.
Although about 8000 species of plantsare estimated to
be used in human and animal health care and over 10,000
herbal drug formulations have been recorded in codified
medical texts of ayurveda, the pharmaceutical industries
are largely based on about 400 plant species.Though
accurate and updated data on the requirement of total
quantity and quality of crude drug is not available,
conservative estimates put the economic value of medicinal
plant related trade in India to the order of Rs.1000 crore/
yearand the world trade over u.s. $ 60 billion.
Unfortunately, data regarding the participation of both
licensed and unlicensed firms in the medicinal plants raw
material trade, and the extent of their demand for the raw
materials are not readily available.
The structural break-up of licensed pharmacies in terms
of large and small companies is unknown, making it
difficult to assess the level of concentration in the market.
Extensive and systematic surveys are required to generate .
data and information on this crucial aspect for useful
resource planning. However, the task force has made an
attempt to assess the demand and supply position with the
help of simple questionnaire sent to about 25 pharmacies
but only about half of them have responded and that too
partially. Requirement of individual pharmacies varies
depending upon the total number and quantity of high and
low value medicinal herbs used by them. For example,
Gufic, Mumbai, engaged in production of herbal
formulations and extracts requires annually 49.5 tons of
raw material derived from 49 species worth Rs.18,70,000/
-, while an ayurvedic pharmacy Shree Dhootapapeshwar
Ltd., Mumbai, requires 204 tons of raw material of 30
species worth Rs.32,46,960/-. M/s.Sandu Brothers Ltd.,
need 1760 tons of 156 species worth Rs.1,26,0000/-.
'.~
In a survey conducted in 1991 by Vaidya Khadiwale of

Pune for 120 species, a total demand of S09.4 tons of raw
drugs was estimated for pharmacies located in
Maharashtra. With a modest annual growth rate of 18%
suggested for the industry the figure for 1999 works out to
733S.36 tons for the state. However, Natural Remedies Pvt.
Ltd., Bangalore, engaged in the sale of veterinary
formulations and herbal extracts puts its annual demand of
raw material to 6771 tons. Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakal, the
most popular one of the 1000 odd pharmacies of Kerala has
an annual demand of 3000 tons of raw material comprising
of 700 species of medicinal plants worth Rs.30 crores.
Medicinal Plants Business Farm Project, a feasibility
done by AFC in 1995, has estimated the annual requirement
of raw herbal drugs for ayurvedic pharmacies to 92,994 tons
for the Kerala State which is expected to double by 2000
A.D. An assessment made by the traders of Guwahati
suggests that the annual turnover of pharmaceutical
concerns in Assam, where only 18 licensed companies are
known to be in operation, could be in the range ·of Rs.3S0
to 450 c!ores requiring supplies of more than 700 tons of
high value medicinal plants in the region every year. The
total crude drug demand of Government run pharmacies
of some states in 1998-99 varied from 60 tons for Madhya
Pradesh to 2300 tons for Kerala. The demand averages to
386 tons per state worth Rs.l.48 crores.
In statewise assessment of demand for 10 major states
it works out to 33000 tons per State per year totaling to
approximately 3.S lakh tons for the country as a whole.
However, individual pharmacy requirement works out to
1292 tons annually. Assuming that there are 100 major
pharmacies, the country's demand for crude drugs on this
basis comes to 1.29 lakh tons per year. Combining the
averages of the two sources, the demand estimate is worked
out to 2.4 lakh tons of crude drugs per annum. With
doubling of the rate of demand every five years the figure

is expected to cross 10 lakh tons by 2010 A.D.
The information received through CHEMIXCIL
indicates the total annual demand of major raw herbal
material of 55 species to be 31,680 tons. ADMA puts the
figure to 29,413 tons of 110 species. Large variation in the
figures received makes the estimation of demand and
availability of medicinal plants at the national level a
difficult task which re-affirms the need for a systematic
survey in this regard.
The estimated annual demand of some of the important
herbal crude drugs used in preparation of Indian system of
medicines is - Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) (10,000 T),
Rasna (Pulchea racemosa) (3000 T), Amla (Emblica
officinalis) (2750 T), Aswagandha (Withania somnifera)
(2500 T), Shatawari (Asparagus racemosus) (2500 T),
Mandukparni (Centella asiatica) (1500 T), and Gugul
(Commiphora wightii), Sonamukhi (Cassia ungustifolia),
Harda (Terminalia chebula), Kalmegh (Andrographis
paniculata) and Kumari (Aloe vera) 1000 tons each.
Progressive increase in demand of raw material can be
inferred from the fact that Dabur India Ltd., one of the
largest ayurvedic companies has recorded annual growth
rates of 25% in their sales since 1990 and a doubling of their
turnover, every three years. A study of the ayurvedic
products in both the organised and unorganised marketing
channels from 1987-1990 has revealed an increase of nearly
30% in the trade. APC's study of 1995 estimates the Kerala
State's demand. to double by 2000 A.D.
SUPPLY CHAIN AND PRICES
Around 90% of the medicinal plants used by the Indian

Pharmacies today are collected from the wild/ natural
sources. Less than 20 species of plants are under
commercial cultivation and many of these have their uses
for other purposes like perfumary / condiments/ spices. The
crude drug trade is based on local names. The bigger supply

of the raw material is procured by pharmacies from the
drug dealers in the markets of cities like Mumbai, Delhi,
Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Patna and many
small cities of the country. These drug dealers of the cities
in-turn procure them from the so called unknown sources
(as it forms a part of their trade secret) though 90% of them
ultimately come from natural sources of various parts of the
country collected by unskilled forest dwelling communities
and purchased by the contractors at a nominal price. This
supply chain often extends to 3 - 4 tiers without much value
addition but with increase in sale price at each level.
There is, on an average, 70 to 100% increase in sale price
of crude drugs from primary collectors level to pharmacy
level. Many times the same crude drug is available in
various grades with major traders having considerable
difference in price. For instance various grades of "safed
musU" are available at varying prices of Rs.BOO/ - to 1200/
-per kg. The gradation is generally dependent on physical
features of the crude drug as well as the geographical
source of origin. Current market price of certain expensive
crude drugs are given as follows:
S.No. Crude drugs Botanical name Price (Rs./kg)

1. Akkalkada Anacyclus pyrethrum 1200/-
2. Ativisha Aconitum heterophyllum 1300/-
3. Safed Musli Chlorophytum arundinaceum 880/- to
1200/-
4. Kallawi Gloriosa superba 700/-
5. Triman Gentiana kurroo 504/-
6. Kankol Piper cubeba 440/-
7. Kakad Singi Pistacia chiensis 385/-
8. Jaiphal Myristlca fragrance 348/-
9. Phansombe Arotocarpus heterophyllus 200/-
(Fleshy fungus)
10. Vavding Embelia ribes 195.50
II. Chopchini Smilax china 192/-

12. Dhotra bee (Blue) Datura innoxia 176/-
13. Nakeshar Mesua ferrea 175/-
14. Maiphal (galls) Quercus infactoria Piper 165/-
Piplamool longum
15. Pipallendi Piper longum 120/-
(Inflorescence)
16. Kutki Picrorhiza kurrooa 150.50
17. Kapur Kachari Curcuma zedoria 160/-
18. Chirata Swertia Chirata 135/-
19. Gugul Commiphora wightii 143/-
20. Jatamanshi Nadrostachys jatamansi 120/-
Crude drugs trade in certain states like Kerala, Andhra

Pradesh and Maharashtra operates through Tribal Co-
operative Societies established to ensure fair price for tribals
who collect the crude drugs. However, the operation of
many of these organisations is unsatisfactory and the tribals
prefer to sell their produce to middle men who ensure quick
payment in cash. Most of the pharmacies of ISM have long
standing relationship with large traders, through
generation and at personal level and users satisfaction level
is quite high.
They often have preference for crude drugs originating
from specific geographical region e.g., Tamalpatra' of N E
and 'Kadechirayata' of arid tracts of Gujarat and Rajasthan
are preferred over supplies from other regions. Most of the
ayurvedic pharmacies rely on purity of their raw material
supplied through their traditional source of suppliers and
are generally sceptical about quality of crude drugs from
cultivated source.
It appears that these informal trade routes are able to
supply various types of raw materials in the quantity
required by the pharmacies, though at varying prices
depending upon the availability of the raw source in the
market. Information supplied by ADMA indicates that of
the total 3,15,826 tons of raw herbal drug material produced

in the country annually only 29,413 tons are utilised by the
ayurvedic pharmacies indicating that only 9.31% of total
production is consumed by pharmacies.
Unsustainable ways of harvesting and unrestricted
marketing have led to the reduction in population of some
of the high demand medicinal plants leading to sudden
escalation in prices of these crude drugs in the market. AVS,
Kottakal, informs that it is unable to get sufficient raw
drugs of Saussurea lappa (Kustha), Aconitun
heterophyllum (Ativish), Trichosanthes cucumerina Gangli
Padwal), and Coscinium fenestratum (Maramanjal) for use
in their pharmacies. Bharat Ayurvedic Stores, Lucknow,
informed that Safed musli (Asparagus adscendens),
Salumpunja (Orchis latifolia), Akkalkadha (Anacyc1us
pyrethrum) are in short supply.
In addition to Safed musli and Salum punja (Orchis
latifolia), Karpur Kachori (Hedychium spicatum), Ativish
(Aconitum heterophyllum) and Raktachandan
(Pterocarpus santalinus) are also reported to be in short
supply by Gufic Healthcare, Mumbai. A list of species in
short supply as communicated by Sandu Brothers,
Mumbai. Similar is the case with Coptis teesta,
Podophyllum hexandrum, Rheum emodi, Rauwolfia
serpentina, Embellia rlbes, Gloriosa superba, etc.
Recognising the trend many larger pharmacies like
Dabur, Zandu, Himalaya drugs, AVS, Kottakal, Shree
Dhootpapeshwar etc., have started promoting contract
farming of medicinal plants to meet their demand. The
modern pharmaceutical industries like Cipla, Natural
remedies, Core Health Care, Cadila Health Care, Bio-Ved
Pharma etc., who specialise in production of a few
speciality drugs/chemicals from plant sources are also
involved in contractual cultivation to supplement their
requirements. They enter into buy-back arrangements with
the growers and employ modem product standardisation
techniques. Established traders of crude drugs also feel that

promotion of cultivation of medicinal plants is a step in
right direction.
Growing popularity of herbal medicines in health care
systems and the trend of increase in their export demand
are quite apparent. Estimated figures indicate 15 -20%
growth of Indian pharmaceutical concerns per year. Figures
projecting global trade in medicinal plant species indicate
a steep upward trend in near future. According to the
World Bank report 1998 world trade in medicinal plants
and related products is expected to be of the order of US
$ 5 trillion by A D 2050.
Unrestricted exploitation of crude drugs from natural
sources without proper measures of conservation have
brought the natural medicinal plant wealth of the country
to a situation where twenty six species have become
endangered, seven species on the verge of extinction and
ten to threatened status. This calls for urgent measures for
in-situ and ex-situ conservation of such species coupled
with cultivation for sustained development of growing
herbal drug industry. Policy intervention and support is,
therefore, urgently needed for conservation and to
encourage and facilitate investments into commercial
cultivation of medicinal plants.
IMPORT AND EXPORT OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
According to the Convenor (Ayurvedic Products Sub-

Panel) of CHEMEXCIL National pharmaceutical market is
of the order of Rs. 12500 Crores inclusive of Ayurvedic
market, which is of Rs.2500 crores. Out of this, Rs.2000
Crores is of OTC range and Rs. 500 Crores is of Ethical
range. The rate of growth of the market is approximately
20% per year. However, in absence of any systematic
survey no authentic data of the Ayurvedic market is
available.
Import
All the raw materials used by the Pharmacies are not of
indigenous origin. Considerable supplies are received from
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afganistan,
Singapore, etc., often through informal routes. For instance
most of the 'Chirata' and other Himalayan medicinal plant
crude drugs come from Nepal and Bhutan, 'Oleoresin
gugul' of best quality from Pakistan, 'Liquorice' from
Afganistan and good quality of 'Banshalochan' from
Singapore.
According to the data received from CHEMEXCIL, of
the total estimated annual demand of 31,780 tons of raw
herbal material of pharmaceutical industries 7180 tons is
met with through import.
The requirements of Akkalkada - Anacuclus
pyrethrum, Jestimadh - Glycrrhiza glabra (Pakistani Iran,
Afganistan), Dalchini -Cinnamomum zeylanica (China),
Gajpimpli -Scindapus officinalis, and Kankol- Piper cubeb a
(Indonesia), Chopchini - Smilax china, Maiphal - Quercus
infectoria and Revchini - Garania pictoria are mostly met
through imports.
About 90% requirement of Gugul (Commiphora
wightii) is received from Pakistan. Clove (Syzygium
aromaticum), Nutmeg mace (Myristica fragrence aril) ,
Ginger (Zingiber officinale), Kapurkachri (Hedychium
spicatum) and Patang (Caesalpinia sappan) are the other
r~w materials partially imported to fulfill the requirement.
Export
Apart from requirement of medicinal plants for internal
consumption, India is one of the major exporters of crude
drugs mainly to the six developed countries, viz. USA,
Germany, France, Switzerland, UK and Japan who share
between them 75 to 80% of the total export of crude drugs
from India. The principal herbal drugs that have been
211' Advances in Medicinal Plants
finding a good market in foreign countries are Aconite,

Aloe, Ammi majus, Belladona, Bach, Cinchona, Cassia tora,
Dioscorea, Digitalis, Ephedra, Ergot, Hyoscymus, Ipecac,
Isabgol, Liquorice, Opium, Papain, Podophyllum,
Pyrethrum; Rauwolfia, Rhubarb, Senna, Stramonium,
Valerian, Vinca etc. of which Senna leaves, Isabgol seeds/
husk and cassia tora seeds are in maximum demand.
The total value of export of crude drugs, Ayurvedic not
put-up for retail and Ayurvedic put-up for retail has
increased from Rs.394 crores in 1996-97 to Rs;446 crores in
1998-99. Itemwise data for a 3 years period is given in the
following table: .
Item 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99

Crude drugs 2559501617 2831380625 2824862157
Ayurvedic not .395000210 422417579 406265096
put for retail
Ayurvedic put-up 985250139 1187745520 1232053813
for retail
Total 3939751966 4441543724 4463181066
.
( ]~q5o}'t opportunities of natural products are tremendous,
as the world market is looking towards natural sources for
the purposes of therapeutic use as well as nutritional
dietary supplements.
The global herbal remedies market can be classified into
five strategic areas as follows:
Phyto-Pharmaceuticals - the plant derived drugs
containing isolated pure active compounds used to
treat diseases,
Medicinal Botanicals / Botanical Extracts / Herbal or
Dietary Supplements-the whole plant or plant-part
extracts, used for maintenance of health by affecting a
body structure and its function,
Nutraceuticals - the foods containing supplements

from natural (botanical) sources, that deliver a specific
health benefit, including prevention and tr~atment of
disease,
Cosmeceuticals - the cosmetic products which contain
biologically active ingredients having an effect on the
user
Herbal raw material
Details of the strategic areas are as under:-
Phyta-Pharmaceuticals: The Global market for sale of
Phyto-Pharmaceuticals in 1997 stood at US$10 billion.
It is estimated that this market will increase at an
average annual growth rate of 6.3% through 2002. India
has tremendous potential to contribute to this market
segment.
Nutrac'euticals: The nutraceuticals market in Europe is
expected to increase from 1.05 to 1.6 billion US $ and
in U.S. from 3 to 4.6 billion US $. Cosmeceuticals
Annual Market for cosmeceuticals have been estimated
at 2.5 US $ billion in U.S. and 5.0 US $ billion in Europe.
Herbal raw material: Herbal raw material market is very
large but no definite estimates are available till date to
quantify its size in dollar terms. The principal suppliers
however to this market are the developing countries
who collect the raw material mainly through wild
sources. Immense opportunities for Indian herbals
industry exists in the global market in view of its vast
herbal resources. With one quarter of all prescribed
medicines in addition to aTC products now being
herbals in the western countries, there is a vast market
potential for India to exploit by catering to the
international market on a much larger and organised
scale than what it is doing presently.
Most of the medicinal plants required globally for
processing of top-selling value added products and
formulations in the Phyto-Pnaqnaceuticals, Botanicals,

Nutraceuticals and Cosmeceutlcals category are the
followings:
Sr.No. Common Name Botanical Name

1 Periwinkli Catharanthus roseus
2 Senna Cassia senna
3 Valerian Valeriana wallichii
4 Cayenne Capsicum annuum
5 Guar Cyamopsis tetrogonolobus
6 Himalayan mayapple Podophyllum emodi
or P. hexandrum
7 Carlic Allium sativum
8 Nettle Urtica dioica
9 Horse chestnut Asculus hippocastanus
10 Phyllanthus Phyllanthus amarus
11 Puncture vine Tribulus terrestris
12 Winter cherry Withania somnifera
13 Green tea Camellia sinensis
14 Turmeric Curcuma tonga
15 Ginger Zingiber officina Ie
16 Aloe vera Aloe barbadensis
17 Henna Lawsonia inermis
18 Chamomile Metricaria chamonilla
19 Rosemary Rosmarinus officina lis
20 Marigold Tagtus erecta
21 Hibiscus Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
The above medicinal plants either grow wild in the country

or are grown commercially on a small scale. They need to
be cultivated on a bigger scale and as an organised activity.
The cHmatic conditions prevailing in various parts of India
are conducive for the cultivation of many exotic and "hot
sellers" of the west.
I
The processed and value added products from the

aforementicmed herbals can be a big source of foreign
exchange for India, if their expanding markets could be
better catered. For instance the Phyto-chemical of Valerian·
i.e. V'alepatriate sells at the rate of US $ 6000/kg as against
the crude drug selling at the rate of US $ 2.3/kg. Average
bulk (100 kg) wholesale prices in the US and leading
European markets for certain medicinal plants are as
follows:
Sr. Dried Roots Price (US $/kg)

1 Echinflcea root 40
·2 Echinacea leaf 18
3 Valerian root 15
4 Himalayan May-apple root 5.5
Nutraceuticals are gaining popularity in USA and W.

Europe in recent years comprise of many botanicals, which
are available in India. Considering the markets of over US
$ 14 billion, capturing the market share of even 10% will
lead to export values equivalent to 50% of the Indian
pharmaceutical turnover in the domestic market and equal
to the projected total exports of drugs and pharmaceuticals
by 2000 AD. US demand for bulk nutraceuticals for the year
1997 has been estimated at about US $ 4 billion.
Apart from the opportunities for 'Herbais ana
Ayurvedic', there is considerable scope for medicinal plants
based phytochemical products development also. Market
Opportunity for Herbal Products.
REFERENCES
Alvares, c., Homo Faber, New Delhi, India; Mentor Publications, 1984.
Anthropological Survey of Jndia, People of India Project Report for 1994.
I
Bodeker, G, "Traditional health knowledge and public policy", Nature
and Resources 30 (2): 5-16, 1994.
216 Advances in Medidnal Plants
Darshan Shankar, "Indigenous health services", In: State of India's Health.

Published by Voluntary Health Association of India, 1992.
Wijesekera, R.O.B. "Is there an industrial future for phytopharmaceutical
drugs? An outline of UNIDO programmes in the sector", Journal
of Ethnopharmacology 32: 217-224, 1991.
Wijesekera, R.O.B., Renaissance of the Phytopharmaca, Vienna, Austria;
United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 1987.
9
Industrial Utilisation of Medicinal Plants
Modem pharmacopoeia still contain at least 25% drugs

derived from plants and many others which are synthetic
analogues built on prototype compounds isolated from
plapts. China, India, Sri Lanka and a few other countries
have officially recognised the use of traditional medicines
in their health care delivery systems.
A major factor impeding the development of the
medicinal plant based industries in developing countries
has been the lack of information on the social and economic
benefits that could be derived from the industrial utilisation
of medicinal plants. Except for the use of these plants for
local health care needs, not much information has been
available on their market potential and trading possibilities.
As a result, the real potential of these plants has not been
exploited by the governments or entrepreneurs.
The demands of the majority of the people in
developing countries for medicinal plants have been met by
indiscriminate harvesting of spontaneous flora including
those in forests. As a result many plant species have become
extinct and some are endangered. It is therefore necessary
that systematic cultivation of medicinal plants be
introduced in order to conserve biodiversity and protect
threatened species.
Systematic cultivation of these plants could only be
initiated if there is a continuous demand for the raw
materials. It is therefore necessary to establish processing

facilities preferably in the vicinity of cultivations in order
to create a demand and assure farmers of the sale of raw
material. Thus cultivation and processing should be started
simultaneously. In cases where parts of mature plants from
forests are to be harvested, sustainable harvesting
tech.."liques are needed to protect these plants,
The promotion and development of processing of plant-
based products have been given a fresh impetus due to
certain ground realities:
Green consumerism and the current resurgence of
interest in the use of "Naturals" in developed
countries.
Free market economy bringing in more openness and
expanding markets and demand for new resources,
materials and products.
A growing acceptability of the social responsibility of
minimising socio-economic inequalities in favour of
rural people resulting in creating additional job and
income opportunities for poor people.
Poor economic conditions in developing countries
restricting import, thereby placing increased reliance
on medicines using local plant resources.
Increasing awareness regarding biodiversity
conservation and the sustainable and protective use of
plant resources.
Search for new phytopharmaceuticals for the
prevention and cure of deadly diseases such as cancer
and AIDS.
In 1981, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIOO) established a programme for the
systematic utilisation of this renewable natural resource for
the benefit of the populace of developing countries. The
programme aims for initia~g development projects for
increasing the industrial output of developing countries in
Industrial Utilisation of Medicinal Plants 219
the field of locally-used herbal drugs and

phytopharmaceuticals which affect the economies of both
developing and developed countries.
Some of the constraints associated with the processing
of medicinal plants which may result in reducing their
competitiveness in global markets and which have to be
remedied are:
Poor agricultural practices
Poor harvesting (indiscriminate) and post-harvest
treatment practices
Lack of research on development of high-yielding
varieties, domestication etc.
Poor propagation methods
Inefficient processing techniques leading to low
yields and poor quality products
Poor quality control procedures
High energy losses during processing
Lack of current good manufacturing practices
Lack of R&D on product and process development
Difficulties in marketing
Lack of local market for primary processed products
Lack of trained personnel and equipment
Lack of facilities to fabricate equipment locally
Lack of access to latest technological and market
information
Systematic cultivation of many medicinal plants needs
specific cultural practices and agronomical requirements.
These are species-specific and are not only dependent on
soil, water and climatic conditions. Hence research and
development work has to be done to formulate Good
Agricultural Practices which will include proper selection
and identification, propagation methods, cultivation
techniques, harvesting, step-wise quality control of raw
material up to processing stage, post-harvest treatment,

storage and safety. These aspects have to be incorporated
into protocols for the cultivation of medicinal plants.
Organic farming is another practice that is gaining wide
acceptance as world demand particularly in developed
countries for organically grown crops is rapidly on the
increase. Farmers have to be trained in all aspects of organic
farming of medicinal plants and herbs including obtaining
certification from associations that do the monitoring
starting from cultivation to final harvesting. Organic
farming which is labour-intensive gives the developing
countries the comparative advantage to be competitive.
PROCESS MElHOD
Traditional Medicines
The medicines for internal use prepared in the traditional
manner involve simple methods such as hot- or cold-water
extraction, expression of juice after crushing, powdering of
dried material, formulation of powder into pastes via such
a vehicle as water, oil or honey, and even fermentation after
adding a sugar source. Traditional herbal medicines were
produced using age old methods by the practitioner him/
herself who was able to identify the correct plant species.
This practice of the traditional practitioner dispensing his
own medicines is being gradually shifted to herbal drug
stores which are profit-oriented. As a result, there is no
guarantee of the authenticity and quantity of plant material
used in the preparations.
The quality of traditional medicines so produced vary
widely and may not even be effective. Therefore, there is
a need to select proper and appropriate technologies for the
industrial production of traditional medicines such that the
effectiveness of the preparation is maintained. Traditional
methods used have many disadvantages which could be
corrected by selecting the suitable technologies. It has to be
stated that the traditional methods were dependent on the
status of technology that was available at that time. It

therefore follows that these can be modified and improved
using the technologies available today to make them more
effective, stable, reproducible, controlled and in dosage
forms that can easily be transported or taken to office.
Hence the introduction of appropriate, simple and low-
cost technologies should be encouraged maintaining as
much as possible the labour-intensive nature of such
activities, conservation of biodiversity through small-scale
production and preservation of cultural knowledge. Use of
sophisticated modern technology will alienate the
traditional practitioner as he has no control over such
production methods.
Even in the use of appropriate technologies, the
practitioner who produces these drugs has to be educated
about the advantages of using such production and quality
control methods. One major concern in introducing modem
technology for the production of traditional medicines is
whether the final preparation will be acceptable to the
practitioner who has sole faith in extemporaneous
preparations. This problem has to be overcome by a process
of education, whereby the disadvantages of the old
methods and the advantages of the new methods can be
imparted.
Value of Medicinal Plants
The value of medicinal plants as a source of foreign
exchange for developing countries depends on the use of
those plants as raw materials in the pharmaceutical
industry. These raw materials are used to:
Isolate pure active compounds for formulation into
drugs (quinine, reserpine,digoxin,etc.)
Isolate intermediates for the production of semi-
synthetic drugs
Prepare standardised galenicals
If one is to produce known pure phytopharmaceuticals

used in modern medicine, more processing stages and more
sophisticated machinery are required. Furthermore, safety
and pollution aspects have to be considered. Most of these
processes and formulations are patent-protected. Evell
transferring technology through contractual agreements
and payment will not be of much help unless there is a large
local demand for these drugs. Often the drugs so produced
are more expensive than world market prices owing to the
limitations of the economy of scale of production.
Certain plants are rich sources of intermediates used in
the production of drugs. The primary processing of parts
of plants containing the intermediates could be carried out
in the country of origin thus retaining some value of the
resource material. For example, diosgenin (from Dioscorea
sp.) and hecogenin (from sisal) used in the production of
steroids can be commercially produced in the cduntries of
origin where there are steady supplies of sufficient raw
materials.
Processed products (galenicals) from plants could be
standardised fluid/solid extracts or powders or tinctures.
Standardised extracts of many plants are widely used in
health care. Some of these have to be formulated for
incorporation into modern dosage forms. New
formulations require some development work, particularly
on account of the nature of the processed products. Plant
extracts are difficult to granulate, sensitive to moisture and
prone to microbial contamination. Hence the types of
excipients to be used and the processing parameters have
to be determined.
Most of the activities of UNIDO in the industrial
utilisation of medicinal plants have involved: the
production of standardised traditional medicines,
galenicals and extracts, the formulation and development
of dosage forms, the development of new preparations
based on the traditional pharmacopoeia, research and
development in processing and formulation and basic

chemical and pharmacological studies. Processing using
clean and pollution free technologies have been introduced.
Facilities for Pilot Scale Production
Development of process parameters has to be carried out
at a pilot scale in order to be up scaled to industrial
production. Many R&D institutions and universities in
developing countries do not have such facilities and are
therefore unable to pass on their R&D findings to the
industry. UNIOO has played a significant role in achieving
university-industry interaction by designing a polyvalent
pilot plant which could be used for many unit operations
needed for the production of plant-based products.
Detailed engineering drawings with specifications and bills
of quantities are published in a separate UNIDO
publication.
The pilot plant has enabled the R&D work to be
demonstrated to produce final products which could be
market tested. Universities in turn have been able to realise
the hidden potential of industrialisation of their R&D
work. Any institution which wants to initiate downstream
processing of medicinal plants and other non-wood forest
products should possess facilities for pilot scale production.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR QUALITY ASSESSMENT
Improved methods for the processing of medicinal and

aromatic plants and new techniques for quality assessment
are being developed rapidly and continuously and they
have to be introduced to developing countries if they are
to forge ahead to keep up with recent developments and
new international requirements. One such method of recent
development is Supercritical Fluid Extraction of natural
products as an alternative for solvent extraction. It is now
used both for processing.- of phytopharmaceuticals and
other plant products and for the removal of trace amounts
of contaminant substances such as pesticides, toxins and

surfactants.
The control of the quality of the raw materials, finished
products and of processes is an absolute necessity, if one
is to produce goods for world markets and human
consumption. International Standard Specifications exist
for some processed products and some countries and
buyers have their own requirements. The quality
requirements for medicinal plant preparations are stringent
in terms of content of active principles and toxic materials.
Whereas the production of traditional medicines for local
use does not require such stringent standards, what is
produced will be a much more improved version of the
already produced medicines using traditional methods.
Quality has to be built into the whole process beginning
from the selection of propagation material to the final
product reaching the consumer. It is therefore a
management system where all steps involved in the
industrial utilisation process have to be properly and
strictly controlled to produce the desired quality products.
All elements of Total Quality Management(TQM) have to
be introduced in any industrial project. The requirements
for ISO 9000 certification and Good Manufacturing
Practices (GMP) have to be introduced and the personnel
trained so that enterprises could introduce the proper
systems needed for certification.
Many developing countries have a core of trained
personnel in the fields of chemistry, biology, agriculture,
pharmacology and pharmacy: They lack resources in such
fields as chemical engineering and technology. This can be
considered as a major constraint upon industrial
development. UNIOO therefore has developed the human
resources required for this specific area of industrial
development by conducting training in industrial practice
including quality assurance, management and marketing.
Industrial Utilisation of Medicinal Plants 22S
Management and Marketing

Marketing is an unsurmountable problem besetting the
development of the plant-based industry in developing
countries and marketability will be a crucial factor in
determining the failure or success of these industries. The
market outlets can be for local use and for export. As for
local use, some products could reach the consumer directly
while others have to be either further processed or used as
secondary components in other industrial products. Hence
user industries have to be promoted so that locally
produced extracts can be used to save foreign exchange
needed for importation of such additives.
Further processing to yield value added products will
be limited by the local demand situation unless they could
be produced at prices to be competitive in the world
market. Even if the CGst of production is low and quality
of the products is good, substantial market promotion has
to be undertaken in order to penetrate the world market.
Market tie-ups with progressive entrepreneurs from the
developed world would be a convenient and a realistic
option for securing markets for the finished products. Joint
ventures or trade agreements could be initiated with
companies that are expanding their production to meet the
ever increasing demand for green products.
Industrial development requires parallel research and
development. Research in chemistry and bioactive
components of indigenous flora of developing countries
has been ongoing for quite some time, funded by multi-/
bi- lateral aid or non-governmental donor organisations. A
systematic and a concerted approach to this activity has not
been maintained for want of sophisticated equipment and
high-cost chemicals. Much of the research has been mainly
academic.
The concept of applied research in the industrial use of
plants has not received much attention. Research in support
of industrial development encompasses all activities
ranging from the development of superior propagation

materials, agrotechnology, low cost and efficient processing
technologies to improve quality and yield, new
fommlations to new products and the marketing of finished
products.
Role of Property Rights

Many developing countries do not have procedures to
register medicinal plant preparations although they are
widely used for the health care needs of the majority of
people. The regulations if any, are very stringent requiring
the same standards expected of modern medicines. WHO
has recently published guidelines for the assessment of
herbal medicines taking into account the long and extensive
usage of them.
These guidelines should encourage developing
countries to relax some of the current regulations to be
realistic in recognising the role of traditional medicines in
the health care delivery of their countries. The vital
question of property rights to developing countries for the
use of know-how and genetic resources in the development
of modern drugs in developed countries has been discussed
in many forums but without a final solution.
As the use of plant-based drugs has declined with the
introduction of synthetic drugs especially in developing
countries, the need to collate all available knowledge on
medicinal plants and their uses has become imperative
particularly because of the recent revival of interest in the
use of "natural" medicines. In view of the greater demand
for information on traditional uses and proper
identification, and the enormous volume of information
being generated, a user-friendly information storage and
retrieval system will be of considerable importance. As
such a computer database would be 9f invaluable assistance
to developing countries in R&D work on industrial
utilisation of local plant resources.
Data on the medicinal plants are also available in

international journals and a number of databases, the
premier being Napralert established at the University of
Illinois in Chicago with WHO assistance. Many developing
countries lack the resources to subscribe to research
journals or acquire access to these databases. In fact, the
data required by the scientific personnel in developing
countries with respect to technologies and methods used
for processing and formulation of medicinal plants are not
re~dily available in the literature nor in the databases as
some of these are patent-protected.
REFERENCES
Tcheknavorian-Asenbauer, A. & Wijesekera, RO.B., Industrial Utilization

of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, UNIDO 10.505, 1982.
United Nations Industrial development Organization, Design Options for
a Polyvalent Pilot Plant Unit for the Distillation and Extraction of
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, IPCT.143(spec), 1991.
Wijesekera, RO.B. "Is there an industrial future for phytopharmaceutical
drugs? An outline of UNIDO programmes in the sector", Journal
Wijesekera, RO.B., Renaissance of the Phytopharmaca, Vienna, Austria;
World Health Organization, Guidelines for the Assessment of Herbal
Medicines. Geneva; Switzerland; WHO, 1991.
10
International Trade in Medicinal Plants
Medicinal plant material is used by a large number of

industries. This chapter attempts to focus mainly on
demand from industries which use these plants for their
medicinal or health giving properties as explained below.
The problem lies in the fact that statistical data do not
usually differentiate between these groups and other users
such as manufacturers of: cosmetics, detergents, dyes,
insecticides, foods, paints etc.
PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
This sector uses medicinal plants:

for the isolation of single purified drugs, e.g. digitoxin
extracted from digitalis and vincristine from
Catharanthus roseus.
in advanced extract form where the extract is highly
standardised in terms of the active constituents it
contains. In many cases, these are in admixtures with
other ingredients, e.g. senna extract from Cassia senna.
as starting material for the production of other semi-
synthetic pharmacologically active substances. For
example, plant saponins can be extracted and alte~d
chemically to produce sapogenins required to
manufacture steroids.
International Trade in Medicinal Plants 229
Demand for medicinal plants from this group alone is

significant with an estimated 25% of prescription drugs in
the US containing plant extracts or active principles
prepared from higher plants.
PHYTOPHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
In some countries (e.g. Germany), there is little distinction

between pharmaceutical and phytopha.rmaceutical
companies as both may sell products made from
standardised extracts of plant material. However, in other
countries where the licensing criteria for plant extracts are
very different from those for medicines, there is more of a
distinction.
Phytopharmaceutical companies not only use plant
extracts but also raw plant material for example to make
tinctures, teas or in capsule form.
HEALTH PRODUCT COMPANIES
Examples of some of the more important health products

are garlic, ginseng, propolis, royal jelly, tonics, guarana and
herbal drinks for which there has been a growing demand
recently. There is also a fine line of distinction between
health products and phytopharmaceuticals as many health
products are being marketed as such in order to avoid the
need to license a prodact as a medicine (a costly and
complex process).
TRADmoNAL MEDICINES
Although traditional medicines could equally be covered

under phytopharmaceuticals, a distinction is made here in
order to highlight their importance in the medicinal plants
trade. The WHO estimated that 80% of the population of
developing countries rely on traditional medicines
(primarily plant drugs) for their primary healthcare needs.
The most renowned traditional systems are Ayurvedic,
Unani and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In
addition, there are many less well documented systems of

traditional medicine which have been handed down from
one generation to the next by word of mouth and practised
in many parts of the world. In the Cote d~voire, a market
survey of 800 households found that traditjonal medicines
were not just used in rural areas but increasingly in urban
areas as well.
ALTERNATIVE PRACTITIONERS
In addition to the traditional medicine practitioners in

developing countries, there are an increasing number of
alternative practitioners of natural medicine in the
developed world. Demand for medicinal plants is
undoubtedly increasing in all the above sectors (with the
possible exception of their use as pure chemical isolates)
and this growth is fuelling an increase il1: both the number
of species and volume of plant material being traded. What
we now need to consider is from what sources this demand
is being met.
MEDICINAL PLANT SUPPLY
There are two sources of supply of medicinal plants, viz.

material collected from the wild and cultivated material.
Surprisingly, the bulk of the material traded is still wild
harvested and only a very small number of species is
cultivated.
Wild Harvested Material

Wild harvesting is the collection of plant material such as
the herba (plant above ground), flos (flowers), folia (leaves),
lignum (wood), or radix (roots) from wild sources. In many
traditions of medicine, wild harvested material is
considered to have higher therapeutic benefits, and
therefore, for example in China, commands higher prices.
Although there are many common species that can be
harvested sustainably and with little impact on their
survival, an increasing number are not in this category. A

study undertaken by WWF found that in several African
countries, wild harvesting for local requirements was not
detrimental to plant survival as the quantity collected
tended to be small and also most of the material collected
came from the more common varieties.
What is of major concern is the fact that a major part
of wild harvested material is now traded commercially. As
the prices paid to the gatherers tend to be very low,
commercial plant gatherers, often 'mine' the natural
resources rather than manage them, as their main objective
is to generate an income.
A critical factor in wild harvesting is the availability of
cheap labour to undertake the very labour intensive work
of gathering. As in many cases income from such sources
represents the only form of paid employment for members
of remote rural areas, there is an eagerness to undertake
such work.
Most countries have little or no regulations controlling
the collection of material from the wild. India is one
exception and has banned the export of severai wild species
in the form of raw material although the export of finished
products containing the material is allowed. Despite this,
an e~timated 95% of medicinal plants collected in India are
gathered from the wild and the process of collection is said
to be destructive. Equally, a major part of the high range
Himalayan plants are wild harvested and many of these are
close to extinction from over-harvesting or unskilful
harvesting e.g. Nardostachys jatamansi, Aconitum spp.
An estimated 70-90% of the medicinal plant material
imported into Germany is wild harvested and only 50-100
species among these are currently propagated on a large
scale.
In China, the output of the area cultivated is estimated
to be between 300,000 and 400,000 tonnes whilst in 1994 the
total demand for medicinal plant material was 1,600,000

tonnes. This huge gap must be made up from wild
harvested material. What is particularly worrying is that
TCM tends to use the roots of plants which are the most
difficult plant parts to harvest sustainably.
Although the major part of wild harvested material is
sourced from developing countries, a surprisingly high
amount is also gathered in developed countries. For
example, in the United States, an estimated 200 tons of
Echinacea angustifolia is wild harvested annually and
220,589 pounds of ginseng was wild harvested in 1992. In
France, more than 500 species were wild harvested during
1988-89, including those used homeopathically, i.e. in
minuJe quantities. Volumes harvested for the most
important among these are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Tonnage of wild haroested 71Ulterial for leading medicinal plants in

France during 1988-89.
Plant species Tonnage of dried plant 71Ulterial
Arnica montana 3-6
Betula pendula& Betula pubescens 5-10
Calluna vulgaris 50
Conyza canadensis 50
Fraxinus excelsior 50
Hippophae rhamnoides 50-10
Hypericum perforatum 50-100
Prunus spinosa 5-10
Rhamnus frangula 5-10
Ros71Ulrinus officinalis 50-100
Ruscus aculeatus 5-10
Sorbus aucuparia 50
Filipendula uI71Ulria 5-10
Although one can cite data for some such specific cases,
there is very little global data on the volume wild harvested.
This is partly because it is very difficult to distinguish

between wild and cultivated material, as such wild
harvested material is often sold as cultivated. This means
that even CITES (Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species) data are often questionable given that
the process of issuing licenses and acquiring import/ export
papers as required by CITES is rarely checked and may
often be the subject of corruption.
Cultivation
The other main source of medicinal plants is from
cultivation. Cultivated material is infinitely more
appropriate for use in the production of drugs. Indeed,
standardisation whether for pure products, extracts or
crude drugs is critical, and will become increasingly so, as
quality requirements continue to become more stringent.
Examples of countries that do cultivate on a large scale
are Hungary, Poland, India (psyllium), China, Spain
(liquorice), and Argentina (chamomile, psyllium).
Requirements of successful commercial cultivation
operations are to produce high quality drugs using low
input cultivation methods keeping in mind that the
material has to compete within a highly competitive
international market.
Given the higher cost of cultivated material, cultivation
is often done under contract. In the majority of cases,
companies would cultivate only those plant species which
they use in large quantitie~ or in the production of
derivatives and isolates, fOJ! which standardisation is
essential and quality is critical.
More recently, growers have set up co-operatives or
collaborative ventures in an attempt to improve their
negotiating power and achieve higher prices. One such COt
operative is VNI< in the Netherlands; others have also
emerged in Eastern Europe to help them compete in a now
privatised sector. Eastern Europe exports significant

quantities to the rest of Europe and North America. Before
the subsidies were cancelled post-1989, these countries
were reliable suppliers of good quality material. However,
since then reliability and quality have become a problem.
The question "that begs to be asked is why more material
is not cultivated 4ltemationally. There are several reasons,
notably the low cost of wild harvested material, and the fact
that cultivated material requires management/ agricultural
expertise, time (sometimes more than 10 years before the
crop is ready for harvesting), land, financial resources etc.
before an income can be derived.
Channels of supply
The following section considers the different forms of trade
that exist and examines the channels through which
medicinal plants pass.
Cunningham describes three trading sectors for
medicinal plants:
On the first level, there is the national trade in
medicinal plants which can involve hundreds of
species. This trade would be undertaken at regional
medicinal plant markets where hundreds of plant
species are traded. For example in urban markets in
Kwa Zulu, Natal, more than 400 species were being
traded out of a total 1,000 that were used medicinally
in the area.
The second level again is informal and consists of trade
across national borders but within the same continent.
This trade terids to consist of fewer number of species,
although many of these are threatened. For example in
Africa, Warburgia salutaris and Siphonochilus aethiopicus
are two !species with high demand and very scarce
supply. In Asia, Nardostachys grandiflora and Valeriana
jatamansi are examples of species which are threatened,
Intemational Trade in Medicinal Plants ?35
but both are still traded from Nepal to India.

The third level comprises formal export trade. In
Africa, Cunningham found that at this level only a
limited number of species were traded in significant
volumes. Cunningham cites Cameroon which exports
four species to Europe including Prunus africana (a bark
extract of 'which is used in the treatment of benign
prostatic hxpertrophy), all of which is exported to
France; and Pausinystalia johimbe, 65% of which is
exported to Holland, 18% to Germany and the rest to
Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
However, based on the imports of plant material into
Germany; a significant number of species are indeed traded
internationally, i.e. at this third level, and several hundred
species in significant volumes.
From the source of collection, plant material passes
through a network of buyers including collectives'
organisations and state run organisations, and agents or
subsidiaries of the plant traders.
The major part of material is sold to plant trading
companies. These plant traders hold enormous stocks, and
also have the facilities to undertake the quality controls
required for raw material used in the production of drugs.
The major trading companies are located in Hamburg, New
York, tokyo and Hong Kong. They play an enormously
powerful role in the medicinal plant trade, partly because
of the large quantities they purchase which enables them
to more or less dictate the price. In addition, their ability
to reliably undertake the quality control analysis also helps
to protect their position of power.
The situation in Germany illustrates the critical role of
the traders, where drug' imports of medicinal plants is
I
undertaken almost entirely by 20 drug trading companies.

Another critical point which helps safeguard the
position of the traders is the guarantee that they will supply
material of a specified standard of quality at a fixed price.

This price and quality guarantee is a major incentive to the
end user, for whom cost, quality, reliability and flexibility
are said to be the key requirements for purchasing
pharmaceutical raw materials.
There are also brokers who buy plant material and sell
it on adding a commission; however, they do not stock
material or have any warehousing facilities. In the past the
brokers played a more important role as they had the
contacts at the purchasing level.
Other traders have been emerging, referred to as the
'ecological trade' by Lange, they source botanical material
for use generally by the smaller herbal medicine/health
product companies and alternative practitioners. These
trading companies tend to be more discerning/ethical in
their purchasing approach, and often trade extensively in
. organically cultivated products. They often establish their
own contacts in the source countries and have shorter sales
routes involving fewer parties, partly as they purchase only
raw material not extracts.
One such example is a company in the United Kingdom
called Hambledon Herbs (HH), who endeavour to build
relationships with trustworthy and ethical suppliers who
practise sustainable harvesting or organic/semi-organic
cultivation methods. For example, Hambledon Herbs
source Harpagophytum from Namibia as part of a
conservation project that they have set up with Oxfam. The
material is collected from the wild in a controlled and
sustainable way, planting is encouraged, and quality
control measures have been introduced. HH are now the
leading supplier of Harpagophytum, supplying an estimated
50 tonnes per annum.
Plant Extracts
A significant percentage of medicinal plant material is used
to make plant extracts. This process is carried out either by
the end product manufacturers or by extract companies.

Sales of plant extracts is undoubtedly increasing as
evidenced by the growth of one of Europe's leading extract
suppliers, Indena, which increased its operating revenue by
92% from 1991 to 1994 .
More recently, several extract companies have been set
up in the Far East, in an attempt to increase the value of
the raw material through processing. For example, Qingdao
Huanzhong Pharmaceutical Ltd is a Sino-Japanese joint
venture in China with a production capacity of 240 tonnes
of extracts all of which is destined for export to Japan and
other international markets. Another example is that of
Southern Herbals in India which started production in 1992
of plant extracts and is reported to be supplying companies
such as Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Fujisawa with
vincristine and vinblastine from Catharanthus roseus.
Volume Traded
Having examined the channels of supply, consideration
needs to be given to the volume that passes through those
channels. Unfortunately, there are very few data on the
volume of international trade in medicinal plants. What
little data there are, are further complicated by the fact that
medicinal plants are, as previously mentioned, used in
many other industries.
Much of the following data have been sourced from the
UNCTAD COMTRADE database and compiled from
statistical information from approximately 100 countries.
The other main source of data is the market report
published by the German Federal Agency for Nature
Conservation. With both sources, the SITC codes used to
compile the data need to be considered in the light of the
fact that they are not exclusively used as medicinal plants.
Furthermore, the data do not include the trade in
glycosides and vegetable alkaloid derivatives which are
both important raw materials to the pharmaceutical

industry. Table 2 provides some perspective on the growth
in sales of glycosides and vegetable alkaloids based on the
increased quantities being imported globally.
Table 2. Global imports of vegetable alkaloids, glycosides and their
derivatives.
Year Imports of vegetable Imports of

alkaloids and derivatives glycosides and
Standard units derivatives
in Million kg Standard units in Million kg
1966 1,922,449 312,252
1976 4,339,750 621,569
1986 13,359,933 1,984,916
1988 13,839,193 2,524,890
1990 12,516,068 3,016,647
1991 11,412,323 2,929,112
Major Supplying Counbies and Regions

There are major source countries for medicinal plants
traded internationally.
Table 3 provides more information on which countries
in each geographical region, are important suppliers of raw
material to Germany (indicative of trends in exports to
Europe and North America).
Table 3. Countries with exports to Germany in excess of 500 tonnes for

Commodity Codes 1211 90 80bzw 1211 9090 (0) . Volume exported to
Germany in tonnes.
Country 1994 1993 1992 1991

Europe
France 1,011.4 1,016.7 748.7 670.0
Netherlands 641.6 684.5
Greece 580.9 601.5

Austria 1,125.3 1,169.9 1,247.6
Yugoslavia 1,457.6
Croatia 557.8
Poland 2,065.8 2,168.3 2,142.8 2,209.2
Hungary 2,185.0 2,0395 2,170.2 1,623.5
Rumania 656.9 747.5
Bulgaria 2,723.3 1,360.1 3,487.6 3,644.3
Albania 1,471.4 1,158.7 2,296.9 1,876.2
Asia
Turkey 608.4 500.1 1,208.4 990.1
India 4,247.3 4,294.3 3,981.3 6,040.1
Thailand 651.1 1,236.9
China 1,594.6 1,336.7 1,633.3 1,420.5
AFrica
Morocco 567.8 562.5
Egyptl,729.1 1,351.2 1,687.0 1,987.0
Sudan 3,755.4 2,891.4 1,949.1 1,655.8
Zaire 912.1 728.4
America
USA 1,172.7 789.3 1,767.3 1,119.8
Brazil 658.8 670.0 579.2
Chile 1,711.3 2,440.6 2,934.4 961.7
Argentina 1,129.0 1,477.2 1,812.9 2,204.5
Others
Australia 530.4 648.2
Anonymous countries 535.7 522.5 899.3 952.0
Total 35,362.1 32,832.5 42,346.7 35,849.1
Table 4 gives more of an international perspective in that

it identifies the leading exporters of medicinal plant
material in general, i.e. not to any specific market. Again
these data highlight the importance of Asia as a supplier
of medicinal plants.
Table 4. Leading exporters of Pharmach Plants Nes: value in in excess of

US$ 10,000,000.
Country Unit US$ 000 Index 1995/1991

1995
Sum World879,7S7 136

China 337,162 204
Germany 49,887 89
USA, Puerto Rico,
US Virgin Islands 36,269 146
France 23,505 84
orn ASIA NES 23,148 84
Korea Rep. 20,125 112
Bulgaria 16,049 111
Italy 15,865 125
Thailand 15,806 100
Vietnam 15,237 283
Egypt 13,789 109
Hong Kong 12,767 103
Chile 10,582 239
Morocco 10,558 89
Albania 10,036 102
MAJOR IMPORTING COmrmIES AND REGIONS
Germany
Germany dominates the Europeari trade in medicinal
planfs as it dominates the European market for
phytopharmaceuticals. During the last three years, 40,000
tonnes of 'botanicals' were imported annually into
Germany with a value of US$ 109 million (DM 160 million).
These were from a total of 109 countries and one-third of
the material was re-exported as finished plant based
products primarily to Western Europe and the United
States.
North America
North America is another important importing region for
medicinal plant material. IUCN /WWF sources estimate the
annual turnover of the plant derived pharmaceuticals
industry in the US at US$ 10 billion. Retail sales of the
herbal medicines industry in 1994 were estimated at US$
1.6 billion. Indeed, the North American health products
market is a fast growing market and its demand for
medicinal plant material is significant. The major part of
material is sourced from Europe (notably Eastern Europe)
and Asia. Over the last five years, demand in North
America for Latin American herbs and Chinese and Indian
material has also been significant.
Asia
The major importers of medicinal plants in Asia are Hong

Kong (most of its imports being destined for mainland
China), and Japan.
Traditional systems of medicine
When considering major sources of demand, the volumes
of material used in traditional systems of medicine,
particularly in Asia, need to be taken into account.
China's total output of medicinal plants from both
cultivated and wild harvested sources is 1,600,000 tonnes.
In comparison, that of Germany is relatively small at 40,000
tonnes. China is also a significant exporter of medicinal
materials with export sales in 1993 reported as US$ 270
million although this figure does not only include plant
material but also animal and mineral matter.
Ayurvedic and Unani herbs are also traded in large
quantities and over a very wide geographical area. For
example in 1992, an estimated 4,117,254 kg were exported,
largely to Bangladesh, Japan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, USA
and the UAE.
As already noted above, the major importers of

medicinal plant material are Germany, China (via Hong
Kong and Singapore) and Japan. The data presented in
Table 5 substantiate this and identify other leading
importers.
Table 5. Leading importers of Pharmach Plants Nes: value in excess of US$

10,000,000
Country Unit US$ 000 Index 1995/1991
1994
Sum world 824,212 227
Hong Kong 125,277 1,092
Germany 86,496 166
Japan 73,927 328
Singapore 60,519 729
OTH, ASIA NES 57,004 232
Korea Rep. 49,884 2,219
France 49,748 206
USA, PR, US VI 47,787 110
Malaysia 36,068 244
Italy 22,629 140
Switzerland 17,649 144
United Kingdom 17,5Q4 150
Spain 15,6~6 121
Saudi Arabia 15,314 192
United ArabE 12,572 237
Canada 12,507 147
Belgium/Luxembourg 11,396 100
Netherlands 11,104 108
Conservation Implications of Medicinal Plant Trade

It is evident that the trade in medicinal plants has serious
implications on the survival of some plant species. If one
considers that 70-90% of material imported into Germany
and 75% of material collected in China are wild harvested,

the survival of some of these species may well be under
threat, given the increasing demand for medicinal plants.
Although there are only a relatively small number of
species that are traded in any significant volume, the fact
that so few species (50-100) are produced entirely under
cultivation is a matter of great concern. Examples of major
cultivated species are: Catharanthus roseus, Chamomilla
recutita, Cinchona spp., Digitalis lanata, D. purpurea, Duboisia
spp., Mentha piperita, Papaver somniferum and Plantago ovata.
There are a number of reasons as to why the trade in
wild harvested material has been left to reach such a critical
point:
Firstly, the legislation that exists to control harvesting
and trade of medicinal plants is inadequate and
ineffective in its current form; new policies and easier
mechanisms to control the trade are needed.
Secondly, the lack of awareness among many of the
end users, as to the extent to which wild harvested
materials are used; indeed, it is only during the last five
to ten years that wild harvesting has become a subject
of concern.
Thirdly, in an attempt to control the market, the traders
will give virtually no information on the extent of wild-
harvesting.
Finally, as already mentioned, the low price of wild
harvested material has made the pro~urements of
alternative sources of raw material (via cultivation)
financially unattractive.
International Policy and Regulation
Despite the seriousness of the problem, there exist a limited
number of measures for controlling international trade in
medicinal plants. Currently the main form of regulation is
through CITES (Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). However,

this agreement is not specifically concerned with medicinal
plants and, in fact, has only a limited number of medicinal
plants listed in the Appendices.
The CITES treaty was signed in Washington in 1973,
and has signatories from 99 countries. The treaty functions
on the basis of its three appendices, each of which sets out
different trade restrictions. Only very recently has a list
been compiled of medicinal plants that are included in
CITES and only for plants that are in trade in Germany.
Included in this list are 43 species.
New policy is needed and an easier mechanism to
control the trade of plants. Apart from the recent (and
continuing).Jnvolvement of The World Bank, most of the
current cOrlservation efforts seem to be led by non-
governmental organisations and privately funded
internatioI¥ll agencies, notably World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (WCMC), the Worldwide Fund for
Nature (WWF), the Nature Conservancy (of USA), the
World Conservation Union (IUCN), several botanic
gardens, mainly Kew, Edinburgh, Missouri and New York.
The problem lies in the fact that there is little or no
legislation restricting the use of wild-harvested materials in
finished products, or for assuring the sustainable utilisation
PROMOTION OF HERBAL MEDICINE
Medicinal herbs are moving from fringe to mainstream use

with a greater number of people seeking remedies and
health approaches free from side effects caused by synthetic
chemicals. Recently, considerable attention has been paid
to utilise eco-friendly and biofriendly plant-based products
for the prevention and cure of different human diseases.
Considering the adverse effects of synthetic drugs, the
Western population is looking for natural remedies which
are safe and effective. It is documented that 80% of the
worlds population has faith in traditional medicine,

particularly plant drugs for their primary healthcareo
India is sitting on a gold mine of well-recorded and
traditionally well-practised knowledge of herbal medicine.
This country is perhaps the largest producer of medicinal
herbs and is rightly called the botanical garden of the
world. There are very few medicinal herbs of commercial
importance which are not found in this country. India
officially recognises over 3000 plants for their medicinal
value. It is generally estimated that over 6000 plants in India
are in use in traditional, folk and herbal medicine,
representing about 75% of the medicinal needs of the Third
World countries. Three of the ten most widely selling herbal
medicines in the developed countries, namely preparations
of Allium sativum, Aloe barbedensis and Panax sp. are
available in India. There are about 7000 firms
manufacturing traditional medicines with or without
standardisation.
Medicinal herbs have been in use in one form or
another, under indigenous systems of medicine like
Ayurveda, Sidha and Unani. India, with its traditional
background, needs to increase its share in the world
market. But unlike China, India has not been able to
capitalise on this herbal wealth by promoting its use in the
developed world, despite their renewed interest in herbal
medicines. This can be achieved by judicious product
identification based on diseases prevalent in the developed
world for which no medicine or palliative therapy is
available. Such herbal medicines will find speedy access
into those countries.
Undoubtedly, the plant kingdom still holds many
species of plants containing substances of medicinal value
which have yet to be discovered. India is a land of immense
biodiversity in which two out of eighteen hot spots of the
world are located. India is also one of the twelve mega
biodiversity countries in the world. The \otal number of
plant species of all groups recorded from India is 45,000. Of

these, seed-bearing plants account for n~arly 15,000-18,000.
India enjoys the benefits of varied climate, from alpine in
the Himalaya to tropical wet in the south and arid in
Rajasthan. Such climatic conditions have given rise to rich
and varied flora in the Indian subcontinent.
In order to promote Indian herbal drugs, there is an
urgent need to evaluate the therapeutic potentials of the
drugs as per WHO guidelines. Ironically, not many Indian
products are available in standardised form, which is the
minimum requirement for introducing a product in the
Western market.
Adulteration in market samples is one of the greatest
drawbacks in promotion of herbal products from India.
Plant samples in the market are stored under undesirable
conditions over the years, and often contain a mixture of
other plant species, thus adversely affecting their
bioefficacy. The efficacy of many of drugs is fading because
of the adulterated, dried raw materials profusely available
in the indigenous market. Due to this adulteration and
altered efficacy, the faith in crude drug promotion has
declined. Desire for quick returns by some of the
pharmaceutical firms by not processing the herbal materials
in a proper way, is the major cause of decline of Ayurveda
in India. It also adversely affects the global promotion of
Indian herbal products. Workers in these firms frequently
lack the knowledge and skill required in processing. The
common examples which are well known are substitution
of the bark of Holarrhena antidysentrica by Wrightia tictoria,
and Saraca indica by Trema orientalis.
Mycotoxin Elaboration in Stored Drug Samples
It has been reported that the stored drug samples harbour
mycotoxin-producing fungi in high frequency.
Degradation of alkaloids and medicinally valuable
secondary metabolites of stored plant drugs due·to fungal
•
infestations has been reported. WHO has also paid serious
attention on mycotoxin contamination in herbal drugs,
considering it as a global problem. However, its incidence
is higher in tropical and subtropical countries as the
harvesting practices and high temperature and moisture
contents are conducive to fungal invasion and mycotoxin
elaboration. Some of \he powdered drugs bearing
trademarks of standard Indian herbal firms have been
reported to contain high concentration of aflatoxin B1.
Detection of mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin, citrinin
and zearalenone) is certainly a mattt!r of great concern in
stored drugs of important medicinal plants, e.g. roots/
rhizomes of Asparagus racemosus (0.16 mg/ g), Atropa
belladonna (0.27 mg/g), Withania somnifera (0.68 mg/g)
Plumbago zelanica (1.13 mg/ g); fruits of Emblica officinalis (up
. to 1.51 mg/ g), Terminalia chebula (1.19 mg/ g); seeds of
Macuna puriens (1.J6 mg/g).
Such herbal drugs containing mycotoxins above the
toleranCE limit fixed by WHO for human consumption, will
be certainly rejected in the global market. This is because
of improper storage and processing of herbal drugs by
Indian firms. The situation is alarming and appropriate
qualitycontrol measures have to be taken urgently. It would
be, therefore, advisable to treat plant drugs with nontoxic
chemicals at various stages of storage and processing.
Improper Harvestation
Another major issue reqUIrmg immediate attention
concerns the harvest of medicinal plants in appropriate
seasons. The medicinal properties of plants vary with
respect to different seasons. These properties may be
restricted to one particular part of the plant. The age of thE'
plant also decides its medicinal potency. Therefore, the
authentic part of medicinal plants of a particular age should
be harvested in a particular season before processing for
drug manufacture, to avoid any alteration in its medicinal
potency. The medicinal potency of an angiosperrnic taxon

also varies among its populations occurring in different
geographical localities. Besides, the period of storage in sun
or shade conditions also affects medicinal properties of the
plants. Precautions during harvestation of medicinal plants
are not observed by most of the firms and it ultimately
results in decline in efficacy of the herbal drugs.
Responsibility of Research Organisations

Research needs to be enhanced to identify plants with
potential medicinal value and to isolate compounds of
medicinal importance. Every plant-based product should
be documented properly with regard to the identification
of species and utilisation of specific parts of the plant. Some
of the common medicinal plants are known in different
parts of the country by different names. 'Shankhpuspi' is
an important medicinal plant. Different plants, viz. Clitoria
ternatea Linn. in Kerala, Canscora decussata Schult. in Bengal,
and Convolvulus pluricaulis Chois. and Evolvulus alsinoides
Linn. in other parts of India are known as Shankhpuspi.
This type of confusion is also met with other medicinal
plants. There is an urgent need of taxonomic databases of
ethnomedicinal plants prepared in joint collaboration by
Ayurvedic practitioners and experienced plant
taxonomists. Correct taxonomic identification of medicinal
plants before their processing for drug manufacture is an
important aspect. Wrong identification of herbs has led to
many cases of poisoning. Boerhaavia diffusa is used widely
as a 'quality of life enhancer' in the traditional system of
medicine. However, both B. diffusa and the plant Trianthema
portulacastrum are known as 'Punarva', and so both the
plants may be collected at the same time.
Most of earlier plant scientists attracted towards huge
Indian flora, made extensive surveys and proposed their
systems of classification. But in the present scenario of
newly born modem disciplines in botany; taxonomy is
treated as a neglected discipline. Even in most of the botany

departments of Central Universities, no facilities are
provided for herbaria of regional medicinal plants. There
is a lack of trained personnel for both proper identification
of plants and to teach plant taxonomy. So every university
where botany is taught as a subject should have a well-
maintained medicinal plant garden. Also, it should be their
responsibility to conserve the rare medicinal plants of the
area. Training the youth of the country in taxonomy of
ethnomedicinal plants would help in developing such
databases.
Safety Profile Assessment

Ayurvedic practitioners have not given much emphasis to
the evaluation of adverse side reactions. The efficacy of
some herbal products is beyond doubt. However,
mutagenic and carcinogenic effects have been identified in
some of these drugs. Although herbal medicines are widely
used, cases of toxicity reported seem to be less. A commonly
used drug, Licorice is reported to cause oedema and
hypertension if used for a long time. Likewise Ginseng, one
of the most widely used herbal drugs causes hypertension,
gynaecomastica and vaginal bleeding. Toxic materials like
arsenic, mercury, lead, etc. have been detected from time
to time in some herbs.
The Food and Drug Administration, USA has banned
utilisation of many plants by human beings on this ground.
Hepatotoxidty, nephrotoxicity and most critically, drug
interactions with synthetic medicines are common in some
of the herbal practices. One of the popular plants, Acorus
calamus, has been banned due to the presence of B-asarone,
which has shown carcinogenic properties. This plant is
popular among Ayurvedic practitioners. The toxic effects of
herbal drugs may also be because of adulteration,
contamination by pesticides and their diseased state. WHO
has laid down guidelines for determination of adverse
reactions as essential requirements for human application.

Keeping these facts in view, the safety limit profile of the
herbal drugs should be recorded in order to popularise
Indian pharma in the global market. The government and
drug industry must come forward in funding and
undertaking this task, so that good quality and safe herbal
preparations are a reality.
Active Principle Identification and Standardisation

The identification of biologically active compounds is an
essential requirement for quality control and dose
determination of plant-based drugs. A medicinal herb can
be viewed as a synthetic laboratory as it produces and
contains a number of chemical compounds. These
compounds, responsible for medical activity of the herb, are
secondary metabolites. For example, alkaloids which are
nitrogenous principles of organic compounds combine
with acids to form crystalline salts. In addition, herbs may
contain saponins, resins, oleoresins, lactones and volatile
oils. Complete phytochemical investigations of most of the
medicinally important herbs of India have not been carried
out so far. This would be beneficial in standardisation and
dose determination of herbal drugs. Further, there should
be a quality control test for the entire preparation to ensure
the quality of the drug.
Bioprospecting of Indigenous Medicinal Flora

Gene technology has given unlimited powers to developed
countries to exploit the genetic resources of poor nations,
leading to a situation of' biopiracy' and 'gene robbing'. A
number of herbs, viz. neem, haldi and ashwagandha and
plant drugs of India have been patented by outsiders on the
basis of secondary researches.
In such a putative situation, it is extremely important
for the biodiversity-rich nations to build capabilities at least
to know their biodiversity and prevent biopiracy. To
achieve such a capability, it is a prerequisite to inventorise

and document the bioresources, putting a price tag to them.
More recently, the term bioprospecting has been widely
used to assess the economic potential of different plant
species. It would involve economics of sustainable
utilisation of our biodiversity. It can throw light on new
classes of materials.
Bioprospecting would be one of the challenging areas
for future research in the 21 st Century. It would enable us
to make use of our rich biological heritage. Bioprospecting
can enhance the conservation value of Indian medicinal
plants. In addition, this would check illegal exploitation of
such indigenous plants through biopiracy or gene robbing
by biotechnologically developed countries and wot,tld be
helpful in many fold enhancement of Indian herbal
medicine in the global market. If quick and urgent steps are
not taken in bioprospecting our ethnomedicinal plants, the
fate of some of the valuable Indian plants will be like that
of neem and haldi.
Synergy in Relation to Pharmacological Action of Phytomedicines
There is no doubt that most herbs exhibit their effects on

a variety of constituents and the idea of synergy within and
between them is also gaining acceptance. It is not well-
documented in most of the herbal medicines whether they
are acting truly in a synergistic way or by additive effects.
Clinical evaluation is also difficult, without knowing the
extent to which synergy occurs within the herbal
preparations. Some of the components of the crude drugs
may not have any biological activity, but may be the
enhancers of potency of the active components. St. John's
wort (Hypericum perforatum, family Hypericaceae) is one of
the most important herbs of proven clinical efficacy as an
antidepressant. Its activity is due to hypericins which are
napthodianthrones. It has also been suggested that pure
hypericins are very weak and the positive results are due
to impurities in the fraction used, which would suggest

some polyvalent action as well as synergy. St John's wort
thus represents a good example of a herb which may exhibit
synergism and polyvalent action medicinal herbs are moving
from fringe to mainstream. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is
another example of a chemically unstable range of
compounds being responsible for the activity and probably
acting synergistically.
Synergism or enhancement of activity of herbal drugs
is also possible using combinations of herbs. In case of
multiple herb extracts, some of the herbs enhance the
potency of the real effective herb. Besides, in some cases,
herbs or their constituents reduce the toxic effects of the
main medicinal herb, making the herbal combination safe
for the human system. Our ancient Ayurvedic system relies
on this principle. In order to promote Indian herb
preparations in the global market, care should be taken
during drug standardisation. Appropriate proportions of
each herb used in the formulation of more efficacious drugs
should be taken, so as to get effective chemotherapeutic
response.
Synergism between herbal drugs may be also beneficial
in the treatment of a disease caused due to multiple factors.
Synergy in herbal medicine may lead to improved products
and it would be better if new and improved drug
formulations are prepared with some of the globally
demanded drugs of Indian medicinal plants so that India
may occupy a leading position in the world market of
herbal drugs.
Conservation and Sustainable Exploitation

The unscrupulous collection of medicinal plants from wild
habitats by traders has threatened the very existence of
valuable medicinal plant resources. Due to biopiracy and
over exploitation, some of the ethnomedicinal plants are
becoming rare. Reserves of medicinal plants are
diminishing and are in danger of extinction due to

unfriendly harvesting techniques, loss of growth habitat
and their unmonitored trades. Coleus forskohlii, an Indian
species is now listed as vulnerable to extiction in the wild
as a result of indiscriminate collection for the isolation of
forskolin, a diterpenoid used in the treatment of glaucoma
and heart disease.
Some important species that need immediate attention
for conservation in India are Aconitum deinorrhizum, A.
heterophyllum, Angelica glauca, Arnebia benthemii,
Artemisia brevifolia, A. maritiII\e, Atropa acuminata,
Berberis aristata, Colchicum luteum, Corydalis govaniana,
Dactylorhiza hategirica, Dioscorea deltoidea, Ephedra
gerardiana, Ferula jaeschkeana, Gentiana kurroa,
Hedychium spicatum, Jurinea dolomiaeae, Nardostachys
jatamansi, Orchis latifolia, Picrorrhiza kurroa,
Podophyllum hexandrum, Rheum emodi,' Swertia chirata,
V.aleriana wallichii and Zanthoxylum alatum. These are
important medicinal plants and their conservation in
sustainable environment is urgently needed, keeping in
view the demand of their drugs in the global market.
Cultivation of Wild Medicinal Plants

Both wild and cultivated plants are used for drug
formulation. However, in many cases cultivation is
advisable because of the improved quality of the drug. The
efficacy of medicinal herbs is affected by different
environmental factors. Temperature, rainfall, day length
and soil characteristics are some of the factors which affect
the potency of the medicinal plants. A plant may grow well
in different situations, but fail to produce the same
constituents (e.g. Cinchonas growing at altitudes and in
plains). The cultivation of some medicinal plants in
demand under appropriate environmental conditions will
provide (i) better development of plants owing to improved
conditions of the soil, pruning, and control of insect pests,
and (ii) better facilities for treatment after collection. For

example, drying at a correct temperature in the case of
colchicum, belladonna and valerian.
For success in cultivation it is necessary to study the
conditions under which the plants flourish in the wild state
and reproduce these conditions or improve on them. India
is satisfactorily cultivating some wild medicinal herbs.
Several research institutes have undertaken studies on the
cultivation practices of medicinal plants, which were found
suitable and remunerative for commercial cultivation. The
agronomic practices for growing poppy, senna, cinchona,
belladonna and a few other plants have been developed.
One should start cultivation of some more globally
important medicinal herbs which are endemic to India or
comparatively grow more luxuriantly in this country. India
has a huge unused saline land in its sea coast and it should
develop agrotechnological procedures to use such land for
cultivation of medicinal plants.
. Quality Control During Collection and Processing
The season at which each drug is collected is a matter of
considerable importance. The amount and nature of active
constituents is not constant throughout the year. The age
of the plant is also of considerable importance and governs
not only the total quantity of the active constituents
produced, but also the relative proportions of the active
principles. Duration of the drying conditions of the
harvested medicinal herb also varies from a few hours to
many weeks. If enzyme action is to be encouraged, slow
drying at moderate temperatures is necessary. Storage of
the harvested plant parts under hygienic conditions is
another important factor to be considered during
processing of the drug.
Drugs such as Indian hemp and sarsaparilla deteriorate
even when carefully stored. It has been reported that the
content of taxol in Taxus baccata leaves and extracts stored
at room temperature for one year decreased by 30-40% and

70-80% respectively, while storage in a freezer and out of
direct sunlight produced no adverse deterioration. Such
information regarding suitable conditions for storage of
most of our medicinal herbs, is not available,
Careless processing of medicinal drugs without
considering these points is a major reason Jor
ineffectiveness of some of our traditional medicines. Such
deteriorated drugs will definitely not be accepted in the
global market The drug-manufacturing firms in India
should take care during processing of medicinal herbs like
some firms in other Asian countries which are our real
competitors in the global market
Plant Cell and Tissue Culture, Biochemical Conversions and

Clonal Propagation
Low seed set, poor seed viability, high dormancy and low
percentage of seed germination are some of the problems
in propagation of some medicinal plants. Seed set is
extremely poor in safed musli. Seed germination is poor in
Swertia. Although, tissue culture protocols in safed musli,
guggul and some other medicinal plants have been
reported, none of them has been commercially adopted so
far.
The production of crude drugs is subject to the vagaries
of the climate, to crop disease, to varying methods of
collection and drying which influence quality, and to the
inherent variation of active constituents arising from plants
of the same species having different genetic characteristics.
To overcome this problem, recently, one of the rapidly
expanding areas of pharmacognosy has involved the
application of tissue culture of plant cells, tissues and
organs in the study of medicinal plants. This includes
development of commercial production of expensive bio-
medicaments, discovery of new metabolites, selection
superior strains of medicinal plants and improvement

medicinal plant species by genetic engineering.
In some laboratories of India like the Regional Research
Laboratories Bhubneshwar, research work is in progress on
the enhancement of valuable secondary metabolites of
some medicinally important aromatic plants (e.g. geraniol
content in Cymbopogon martinii oil) which are produced
plants in low levels . This woUld definitely attract foreign
firms towards such indigenous medicinal plants. Some the
plant tissue-culture laboratories in India have published
their research findings in this aspect. However, looking into
the number of medicinal plant species in this country,
coordinated research projects should be launched on this
aspect, which would not only have high industrial
significance but also lead to improvement of medicinal
potency of traditional medicinal herbs by producing their
different chemical races or ' chemodemes'.
A clone A. annua giving a high yield of the important
antimalarial artemisinin, has recently been reported.
Medicinal plants growing in varied geographical regions of
India may exhibit geographic chemotypes. The chemical
races of our indigenous medicinal plants, whether they be
natural origin or produced by plant breeding, can offer
considerable scope for the improvement of therapeutic
value of the drug, either by adjustment of individual
constituents or by increase in overall yield. Such
biotechnological approaches would be beneficial in
providing standardised drugs of Indian pharma in bulk for
commercial availability in the global market.
REFERENCES
Cunningham, A.B., "Medicinal plant trade, conservation and the MPSG"

(Medicinal Plant Specialist Group), Medicinal Plant Conservation,
1996.
Farnsworth, N.R., Soejarto, D.D.& Bingel, A.S., "Medicinal plants in
therapy", Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 1986.
Foster,S., Commercial herb production: Conservation by cultivation,

Herbalgram, 1994.
ITC - UNCTAD GATT, Markets for Selected Medicinal Plants and Their
Derivatives, Geneva, Switzerland; International Trade Center,
1982.
Srivastava, J., Lambert, J.& Vietmeyer, N., Medicinal Plants; A Growing
Role in Development, Washington, D.C, USA; Agricultural and
Natural Resources Department, The World Bank, 1995.
11
Medicinal Plants and
Intellectual Property Rights
The local communities or individuals do not have the

knowledge or the means to safeguard their property in a
system which has its origin in very different cultural values
and attitudes. The communities have a storehouse of
knowledge about their flora and fauna-their habits, their
habitats, their seasonal behaviour and the like-and it is
only logical and in consonance with natural justice that they
are given a greater say as a matter of right in all matters
regarding the study, extraction and commercialisation of
the biodiversity. A policy that does not obstruct the
advancement of knowledge, and provides for valid and
sustainable uses and intellectual property protection with
just benefit sharing is what we need.
While it is true that many indigenous cultures appear
to develop and transmit knowledge from generation to
generation within a system, individuals in local or
indigenous communities can distinguish themselves as
informal creators or inventors, separate from the
community. Furthermore, some indigenous or traditional
societies are reported to recognise various types of
intellectual property rights over knowledge, which may be
held by individuals, families, lineage or communities.
Medicinal Plants and Intellectual Property Rights 259
While recognising the market-based nature of IPRs,

other non-market-based rights could be useful in
developing models for a right to protect traditional
knowledge, innovations and practices. Geographical
indications and trademarks, or sui generis analogies, could
be alternative tools for indigenous and local communities
seeking to gain economic benefits from their traditional
knowledge. To date, debate on IPRs and biodiversity has
focussed on patents and plant breeders' rights. The
potential value of geographical indications and trademarks
needs to be examined too. They protect and reward
traditions while allowing evolution. They emphasise the
relationships between human cultures and their local land
and environment. They are not freely transferable from one
owner to another. They can be maintained as long as the
collective tradition is maintained.
It is generally difficult to attribute an objective economic
value to the knowledge of local and indigenous
communities, and associated resources for a number of
reasons. One could be the absence of a market for genetic
resources, and the complexit'"j of inputs into creation, new
crop varieties. It will be more pragmatic to focus on the
costs of conservation to indigenous and local communities
as a guide to designing economic incentives that will help
them gain adequate rewards. Different interest groups such
as industry intellectual property experts and indigenous
and local peoples' organisations need to cooperate in order
to define mechanisms for more effective sharing benefits
with the providers of traditional knowledge and genetic
sources.
Models of benefit sharing are beginning to emerge in
India. There is the case of a medicine that is based on the
active ingredient in a plant. Trichopus zeylanicus, found in
the tropical forests of south-western India and collected by
the Kani tribal people. Scientists at the Tropical Botanic
Garden and Research (TBGR!) in Kerala learned of the
tonic, which is claimed to bolster the immune system and

provide additional energy, while on a jungle expedition
with the Kani in 1987. A few years later, they, returned to
collect the samples of the plant, known locally as
arogyapacha, and began laboratory studies of its potency.
These scientists then isolated and tested the ingredient
and incorporated it into a compound, which they
christened "Jeevani"-giver of life. The tonic is now being
manufactured by a major Ayurvedic drug company in
Kerala. In November 1995, an agreement was struck for the
institute and the tribal community to share a license fee and
2% of net profits. The process marks perhaps the first time
that cash benefits have gone directly to the source of the
know ledge of traditional medicines and the original
innovators.
Many times, wrong patents are given in the area of
medicinal plants: the recent case of Jamun/Karela linked
patent on diabetes is a point. First, it must be understood
that patent offices do make mistakes in checking the
novelty of an invention because these usually look at their
own databases. So the chances of issuing wrong patents are
quite finite especially when an application based on the
indigenous knowledge is being examined in a foreign
country. The knowledge which may be in public domain
in one country may be a new knowledge in another
country. Therefore, it is expected tnat foreign patent offices
would make mistakes in granting patents for the inventions
based on the traditional knowledge in India and such
numbers are to increase with time. The question whether
all such patents be opposed or not should be addressed on
the following three basis:
a) Would the Indian trade, both domestic and foreign, be
affected by not opposing the patent?
b) What would be the time and cost involved in opposing
a patent? The time and cost would depend on how
quickly all the necessary information could be

collected, collated and presented?
c) Have necessary ground and factual information been
established to oppose the patents successfully?
The following two paragraphs from the letter by Robert
Saifer, Director, US Patent Office is revealing, since it shows
the difficulties that such patent offices face as well as a way'
out.
"Patent examiners are particularly careful in searching
patent literature when considering the patentability of
claimed subject matter, and do the best job they can seeing
available resources for searching the appropriate non-
patent literature sources as well. Patent literature, however,
is usually wholly contained in several distinctive databases
and can be more easily searched and retrieved then can
non-patent literature prior art that may be buried
somewhere in the many and diverse sources of non-patent
literature. The examiner who issued US Patent 5,401,504
was not aware, nor was he able to ascertain at the time he
decided to grant the patent, that there existed non-patent
literature which taught the use of turmeric in wound
healing in India.
We should, however, address the need of creating more
easily accessible non-patent literature databases that deal
with traditional knowl~dge. Perhaps an office amongst the
developing countries should suggest this as a project for the
SCIT. Working Group on Standards and Documentation,
working in close cooperation with the International Patent
Classification (IPC) Committee of Experts. With the help of
the developing countries, traditional knowledge can be
documented, captured electronically, and placed in the
appropriate classification within the I PC'so that it can be
more easily searched and retrieved. This would help
prevent the patenting of turmeric, as well as karela, jamun,
brinjal and other traditionally used remedies."
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND ACTIONS
India is behind the rest of the world in patents both

quantitatively and qualitatively, even when comparison is
made with our neighbour China. The continued illiteracy
and confusion about patents is a serious matter. Our pool
of knowledge that is protected by patents, even in areas
where we have a competitive advantage is rather poor.
Take the area of herbal products, where so much emotion
has been raised. Have we protected our innovations by
strong patenting? No. But our neighbour China is doing
it. The number of herbal patents were 1889, out of which
China had a share of 889, and the Indian share was next to
nothing. Incorporating strong systems of generation of IPR,
documentation valuation, protection and its gainful use
will need a massive thrust. A weak physical infrastructure,
inadequate documentation, poor public awareness and
delay in framing and implementing Government policies
will hurt India. We need to act on this speedily. Some of
the key actions are summarised below:-
Government Would Need to

Modernise the patent offices by
modernising the premises, information processing
and assessing systems and office management,
creatk-ig conditions which will attract talented,
qualified, trained and motivated personnel to work
in these office.
Empowering the employees in the patent offices
and raising their level and stature; and
Ensuring early and timely grant of IPR.
Introduce attractive fiscal incentives and mechanism to
enhance and encourage patenting of inventions
overseas.
Launch a massive programme on creating digital data
,
- Create/amend IPR laws to protect national interests

while meeting the international obligations.
Judiciary and Legal System Would Need to:

devise and provide mechanisms for quick and effective
disposal of legal cases.
Provide for registration of Patent Attorneys and form
a Council for maintaining high professional standards.
Industry Would Need to:

enhance skills to understand, analyse and manage IPR
as a means for corporate strategy
scout and seek alliances with sources of IPR for market
positioning
transact and treat IPR as any other tangible property
spearhead formation of a National Assosication of
inventors to foster inventiveness and to provide a
forum for inventors to meet together.
S&T System Would Need to:

stimulate and encourage creativity and inventiveness
of their employees.
promote awareness of IPR and the importance for its
protection.
develop skills to understand, interpret and use the
techno-legal business information contained in
patents.
facilitate access to international IPR and information
databases
capture and assess the intellectual property generated
at an early stage
recognise and reward inve/itiveness
develop skills to manage and exploit IPR
Educational Systems Would Need to:

devise appropriate curricula on IPR and introduce
these as formal courses at school, graduate and post
graduate levels.
develop qualified manpower to draft and interpret
patents and other IPRs
provide referesher training to practising IPR
professionals
carry out research on IPR to further its knowledge and
use.
POLICY AND INSTITIJTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
Policy Issues
While addressing the policy issues, there is need to
highlight various factors like constraints, importance,
traditional knowledge and indigenous uses, marketing and
trade, patent & I PR, quality control! standards etc.
Constraints
Medicinal Plants sector is facing following constraints:-
i) Depletion of the resource-base, which is the foundation
of entire sector.
ii) Decline of folk traditional medicines, a source of
primary health care for an estimated 800 million people
in the country.
iii) Impoverishment of rural people, who are stewards of
the resource base and the holders of traditional
ecological and medical knowledge, through
inequitable marketing channels.
iv) Medicinal plant trade is inefficient, imperfect, informal
and opportunistic.
v) Crude drugs supply situation is shaky, unsustainable,
exploitative and adulteration taking place.
vi) Deficient toxicology studies and standard preparations

to improve the quality, efficacy and effectiveness of the
traditional drugs.
vii) Unsustainable wild-harvesting.
viii) Lack of coordination amongst various stakeholders
such as Govt. of India (Ministry of Agriculture,
Environment & Forests, ISM&H, Science & Technology
etc.) State Governments, Private traditional medicine
sector, research institutes, NGOs, International
,
Networks etc.
Importance of Medicinal Plants

In terms of policy, medicinal plants have generally been
lumped into the broad category of Minor Forest Produce
(MFP). Even the relatively progressive 1988 Forest Policy
Resolution continues to use this terminology.-However, as
the markets and sizes of the user communities suggest, a
more accurate designation for these products they I...we
been termed as Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).
Nonetheless, NTFPs, including medicinal plants, have
rarely been considered as warranting the ennrmous amount
of consideration and research gh--t!n to timber policies.
However, some provision for regulation was made as early
as 1927 under the Indian Forest Act.
Most medicinal plants are covered under sub:::section 2
(4) (b), and are not subject to regulations unless extracted
from the forests. However, some items such as bark and
wood-oil from certain trees were covered under sub-section
2 (4) (a); c;md subsequent state amendments to the act have
added several medicinal species to this sub-section, as
shown in table, the following subject to signficant
regulation regardless of origin.
Medicinal plants included by State Amendments in
section 2 (4) (a) of 1927 Indian Forest Act
State Species
Gujrat Rauwolfia serpentina, Kadaya gum
Maharashtra Rosha grass including oil, Rauwolfia
serpentiana
Karnataka Sandalwood oil, rosha grass and oil,
Phyllanthus emblica, Terminalia chebula,
Terminalia belerica, Capparis mooni
Tamil Nadu Sandalwood
Kerala Gum, fibres and roots of sandalwood and
rosewood
Orissa Gums, roots of Patal garuda, sandalwood,
tamarind
Uttar Pradesh Gum, Chiraunji
Considering the importance of medicinal plants they

should be taken out from NTFPs and given due importance
for their development. A policy dialogue has already been
initiated regarding medicinal plant conservation and
statements of support for such a policy are forthcoming
from many of the stakeholders in the sector, including the
private companies which depend upon a continuous source
of raw material supply. More recently governmental,
nongovernmental and private sectors have started the
process of developing and enacting a national policy on
medicinal plant. Some of the salient points are:-
i) Documentation relating to properties, natural
distribution, ecological tolerances and uses of valuable
medicinal plants.
ii) Identification of forest areas rich in medicinal plants
and formulation of their management plan.
iii) At present 90% collection of medicinal plants is from
the wild. The plant part is collected without paying
attention to the state of maturity dried haphazardly
and stored for long periods under unsuitable
conditions. The unsustainable collection is rapidly
depleting the resource base and, therefore, many

species are under threat. The policy for sustainable
development of medicinal plants resource may aim:-
a. In-situ conservation of medicinal plants in
protected areas, herbal gardens, sacred groves,
preservation plots and forest areas rich in
medicinal plants.
b. Ex-situ conservation through cultivation, Joint
Forest Management, gene banks etc.
c. Developing medicinal plant conservation areas
(MPCAs) inside as well as outside protected areas.
d. Research and development efforts for developing
agrotechniques, extension & dissemination of
information on cultivation of super genotypes.
e. Establishing linkages between farmers and
pharmaceutical industries for promotion of organic
and contract farming.
f. Formalising and organising marketing by
providing information and possible interventions
at various level.s.
g. As prices paid to the gatherers tend to be very low,
they often 'mine' the natural resources, as their
main objective is to generate an income.
Formalisation of market may resolve the problems
of exploitation and impoverishment of gatherers.
Traditional Knowledge & Indigenous Uses

Policy implications relating to the traditional knowledge
base of tribals peoples on medicinal plants and health care
are complex due to the fact that they are coloured by
debates on biodiversity conservation imperatives,
knowledge systems for drug discovery, intellectual
property rights/patents and equitable sharing of benefits
derived from tribal knowledge. Although India is
committed to the Convention of Biological Diversity,

question of equity are yet to be fully addressed. The
proposed UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples; as well as the activities of the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) and the General Agreement on Trade
and Tariffs (GATT) all impinge on national policy
development in this area. It will therefore be sometime
before policy is formulated and practical applications
developed. The latter are likely to devote attention to
encouraging collaboration between all concerned parties in
order to foster respect for the contribution of traditional
knowledge, as well as to ensuring that regulations take
local laws and customs into account in the utilisation of
biodiversity.
Although they may constitute the largest part of health
care provision among India's population, especially among
the poor, tribal and folk practices are still not recognised"
by Gal policies. However, the policies do recognise the
value of the classical traditional systems. Furthermore,
tribal practices have begun to assume greater importance
in recent years due to the current debate on intellectual
property rights and the potential implications of
bioprospecting.
There is however a danger, as articulated by several
NGOs, that new possibilities for the exploitation of the
poor, will be created by the Trade Related Intellectual
Property (TRIPS) stipulation attached to GATT. India is a
signatory to GAIT and has agreed to comply with the
stipulation in principle, although a good deal of internal
debate continues with regard to who should obtain
universally valid patents as well as the benefits which
should accrue to the communities providing the input
knowledge.
The current policy have neglected the folk traditional
sector which should be included in legislation and policy
development especially in relation to health care centres

and folk practitioners.
Policies regulating safety and efficacy need to be
evolved based on recognition of the uniqueness of tribal
and folk medicines, and this should be linked to
intellectural property rights which is sure that community
benefit from the use made of their technology.
Marketing and Trade

In the medicinal plant industry, the various actions needed
include: setting up of a national level authority, responsive
marketing cooperatives, organisation of formal market,
dissemination of market information, creation of
international market opportunity etc.
Patents and Intellectual Property Rights
Indian's present system, based on the Patent Act of 1970,
especially defines process patents. However, the
implications of developing product patents could involve
higher investments in research and development by the
traditional industry, given the likely returns through patent
protection. There is little relevant policy which affects the
marketing channels. The regulations on licensing and
registration for certain products appear to be easily
bypassed and are generally not enforced. Beyond these
policies, little has been done to address the domestic
market. The focus of most regulatory and related policy has
been on export.
Measure for achieving an equitable marketing system
and a thriving of new drugs for primary health care; as well
as improvements in quality and production standards for
existing drugs. Furthermore, it might have a relaxing effect
on the secretive and defensive nature of the trade.
The major dilemma confronting India is how to apply
patent law to formulations and products, which have been
developed over 1000 years. In essence, no one can claim

"innovations" of the medicines of ISM&H. And, it is also
argued that upgrading a simple production technology to
a more sophisticated one or adding or subtracting a single
ingredient does constitute an innovation. The government
is facing pressure to go for patents since foreign companies
have already access to patents on Neem., Turmeric, Brinjal,
Jamun seed etc.
India's wealth of traditional knowledge will be
damaged by such patents if the government does not act
quickly to protect the knowledge. Therefore we have to
standardise our pharmacopoeia modify our laws and take
patents of important plants medicine and paramedicine.
Quality Control/Standards
Quality control and standards constitute an area where
policy making is still 'work in progress'. Pharmacop~ia are
now available for the major species. Nevertheless, a
universally recognised set of quality control standard have
still not been developed for the preparation of ISM drugs,
which pose serious challenges as they often contain a
number of constituent plants, unlike the single principle
allopathic medicines. Some of the unique aspects of
traditional medicinal preparation that would need to be
considered include specific means of identifying and
collecting constituent plants, including seasons for
collections and appropriate age of plants; ecological origins;
cleanliness in processing and adherence to documented
procedures in the ancient texts of relevance.
It is important to ensure that the plants used as
medicines by the people are not toxic in any way. This is
therefore, one area in which modem technology can be of
great service. In addition, standard preparations need to be
developed to make quality efficacy and effectiveness of the
traditional drugs.
Strategies of Ten Major Indian Plants For Various Ailments In The

World Market
As a policy issue there is a need to draw the proper strategy

to increase our export of value added plant based products
as was done in the matter of Gingseng or Gingko biloba (by
China and Korea). There is lot of literature available on
every aspect of su<!h plants in the world market. Right from
the improved variety ofl\hese plants, cultivation
techniques, assured availability of the quality plants
material, its chemistry, pharmacology.. toxicology to their
clinical efficacy indicating various ailments are available
supported with data about the use of these drugs. Products
using medicinal plants are available over the counter in
every nook and corner of the world market. That is why
these drugs are fetching remunerative returns to China and
Korea.
In order to increase export of plant based products a
similar strategy is required to be followed in respect of the
following Indian plants;
1. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
for Geriatrics problem.
2. Bala (Sida Cordfolia)
for neurological disorders.
3. Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri)
for memory disorders.
4. Geloy-Gaduchi (Tinospora cordifolia)
As immuno-modular
5. Chiraita (Swertia Chirata)
for liver disorder
6. Kutki (Picrorrhiza kurroa)
for liver disorder
7. Gudmar (Gymnema sylvestre)
for Diabetes
8. Ashoka (Saraca asoca)

Uterine Tonic
9. Satavari (Asparagus racemosus)
Anti-Ulcer, Aprodisiacs
10. Amala (Amalaki) (Emblica officinalis)
For Rasayana, Geriatics
11. Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna)
For Cardiac disorders
12. Gugglu (Commiphora wightii)
For cholesterol related disorders, Arthritis
There is a need to conduct extensive R&D on thes~ plants
not only to improve their varieties, enhance availability but
also to establish their efficacy in various clinical conditions
mentioned above. While undertaking this research there
has to be active interface with the industry so that the
research leads to patents being obtained and new drugs
being marketed for public benefit and for exports.
Institutional Issues
In order to have a focussed approach for developing the
whole sector of medicinal plants both in terms of
conservation, cultivation, sustainable use and legal
protection, an institutional mechanism need to be evolved.
For addressing the institutional mechanisms relating to the
medicinal plants, the activities of various organisations/
agencies and also the existing institutional me~hanism need
to be brought out. The Task Force recommends following
action plans for various stakeholders:
Ministry of Environment and Forest
i) Inventorisation and economic mapping of medicinal
plants areas.
'n Establishment of 200 Medicinal Plant Conservation
Medicinal Plants and Intellectual Property Right'! 273
Areas (MPCA) covering all ecosystems, forest types

and sub-types in the country, (inside protected areas
viz national park, wild life sanctuary, biosphere
reserves, preservation plots etc.) for in-situ
conservation of important species.
iii) All endangered or rare or threatened species should be
grown in well established gardens managed by
Agriculture, Horticulture, Forest Departments,
Botanical Survey of India etc.
iv) Forest Department should identify forest areas rich in
medicinal plant (MPDA), their management plan
should be formulated for intensive management and
sustainable harvesting of herbal drugs from 200 places.
v) Forest Department should effectively regulate
extraction and transport of medicinal plant from wild.
The department should maintain a list of petty traders,
private agents, wholesale dealers and final consumer
vi) Forest Department should establish 200 "Vanaspati
Van" in open forest areas (each having an area of about
5000 hectare) for commercial supply of crude drugs to
pharmacies and for exports. The "Vanaspati Van"
should be managed by a registered society headed by
Divisional Forest Officer under JFM system.
vii) Organsing training and awareness camps on various
aspects of medicinal plants.
Ministry of Agriculture & leAR

i) Development of agro-technological packages under
different ecological conditions and information on
intercropping, rotation cropping and use of bio-
fertilisers, organic farming etc.
ii) Large scale availability of high quality planting
material by developing a protocol for bulk production
of super genotypes and seedlings through a network

of nursery of medicinal plants.
iii) Human Resource Development of farmers by
organising training and awareness programme on
various aspects of medicinal plants sector development
including seminars and conferences.
Department of ISM&H (GOI)

i) Nodal agency for integrated development of medicinal
plants.
ii) Establishment of National Medicinal Plant Board for
coordinating various activities.
iii) Developing pharmacopoeial standards.
iv) Quality control and efficacy for medicinal plant and
their products.
v) Legal, policy and other supports for overall
development of the sector.
Department of Family Welfare (GOI)
i) Promoting use of medicinal plant product in RCH
programme
ii) The scheme of establishing "Vanaspati Van" should
continue and atleast one "vanaspati van" in each state
shouJd be estabJished dur:ing 9th plan period.
iii) The scheme of improving awakening and availability
of medicinal plants planting material should continue.
Atleast 50 NGOs technically qualified may be
identified for making available extension material such
as literature, planting material etc.
Department of Biotechnology
i) Ex-situ conservation through establishment of
genebanks
ii) R&D relating to biotechnological efforts involving

Invitro culture, biotransformation, bioprospecting and
bioengineering
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
i) Chemical studies on medicinal plant constituents and
quantitative assessment of major constituents,
ii) Pharmacological and lexicological studies
iii) Pilot plant scale processing of plant extracts
iv) Standardisation of extracts
v) Formulation studies on extracts into dosage form,
vi) Development of new drugs
Department of Science & Technology

i) Establishment of a cell for motivating the scientists and
technologists to patent products and processes of their
research findings.
ii) S&T interventions to help the rural people to process
medicinal plant at local level for their economic
development.
Pharmacies & Medicinal Industries

i) Supporting and conducting high quality biomedical
research for developing new drugs.
ii) Encouraging contract farming of medicinal plants, iii)
Reducing secretive and exploitative trade
NON Governmental Organisation (NGO)

i) Create awakening amongst the people about
importance of medicinal plant.
ii) Ensure supply of planting material and technology to
motivate people for sustainable cultivation, harvesting,
~~, processing and marketing.
iii) Preparation of posters and other information on

medicinal plants,
iv) Establishing linkages between growers and
Pharmacies,
v) Organising marketing of medicinal plants.
REFERENCES
Mshigenio, K.E., "Foreword", In Proceedings of the International Conference

on Traditional Medicinal Plants, Arusha, Tanzania, 18-23 February
1990.
upav (Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants), International
Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, UPOV,
Geneva, Switzerland, 1991.
12
Medicinal Plant Information Databases
Concomitant with the growing interest world-wide in the

conservation, cultivation and use of medicinal, aromatic
and other related groups of plants. Until early 1970s,
printed publications were the almost exclusive means
available for recording and disseminating scientific
information. Developments in information technology
during the =1.980s and 1990s have led to an increasing
proportion of this pool of information now being held in
electronic form in databases which can either be searched
online from remote sites or consulted offline at the reader's
own desk.
Whereas the bulk. of the information held in databases
is still copied from or entered simultaneously with its
appearance in printed publications, we are now beginning
to see documents which are published exclusively in elec-
tronic form. Recent developments in tele-communications
and information technology and the rapidly growing
popularity of Internet as the medium of communication of
the 1990s suggest that a significant proportion of
information dissemination will occur through this medium
within the next few years. Internet resources containing
information on medicinal plants which cannot be found
elsewhere have already started to appear.
INFORMATION SOURCES ON MEDICINAL PLANTS
Primary Publications
These are documents reporting current work or reviewing
and analysing recent advances in knowledge. Documents
in this category L'lclude journals reporting the results of
original research, conference proceedings, annual and other
reports published by various organisations, books, theses
and patents. By far the most important among these are the
primary journals. A recent survey involving extensive
scanning of primary publications has shown that
approximately a quarter of the total volume of literature
currently being generated on medicinal and related groups
of plants appears in less than ten periodicals.
Approximately 50% of the total volume is contained in
some 50 titles. However, the remaining 50% of this
literature is scattered across some 2,500 periodicals in a
wide range of disciplines. .
Whereas the bulk of these documents constituting
primary sources of information are still published in
printed form, an increasing number of books, periodicals
and reports are now also being made available in electronic
form. Early developments in this area are typified by the
weekly updated ADONIS CD-ROM launched a few years
ago, which now delivers PDF and TIFF images of articles
appearing in over 800 biomedical journals published by 80
European and North American publishers.
More recently, ADONIS has been complemented by
ExtraMED, the WHO-sponsored CD-ROM publication
containing the text and illustrations of papers from over 290
medical journals published in developing countries (India,
Pakistan, China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Korea,
Singapore, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia among others). As
might be expected, ExtraMED provides better coverage of
literature in areas such as traditional medicine, tropical
medicine, AIDS and waterborne diseases than ADONIS.
Medicinal Plant Information Databases 279
Over the past year or so, some primary publications have

also become available on the Internet.
Secondary and Tertiary Publications

Documents in this category are compiled from information
previously published in primary source documents or that
which is already common knowledge. They provide
information in a summarised, 'digested', or otherwise
'processed' form rather than acting as vehicles for reporting
new knowledge. They include various printed and
electronic products derived from major bibliographic
databases, abstracting and indexing periodicals, current
awareness services, annotated bibliographies on specific
topics, annual reviews and other books and periodicals
which are dedicated to reviewing progress in specific areas,
dictionaries, encyclopaedias, compendia, pharmacopoeias,
directories, manuals and other reference works.
Compared with primary publications, a much greater
proportion of secondary publications are available in
electronic form. Many printed documents in this category
are derived from data held in databases in electronic form.
Electronic Databases
TheSE may be classified into (a) secondary information
databases (e.g. bibliographic databases) which give
summaries of individual papers contained in primary
publications and point the user to the original publication
for further information; and (b) tertiary information
databases (e.g. electronic compendia, encyclopaedias and
other reference works) which give detailed information on
specific topics and which mayor may not indicate the
source literature from which they are compiled.
The main differences between secondary and tertiary
information databases are given in Table 1.
Table 1. A comparison of main features of secondary and tertiary

information databases.
Secondary information database Tertiary Information database
contents of each paper from assembled by the compiler using
primary publications are information gathered selectively
summarised by the from a number of relevant sources
abstractor / indexer
only contains previously may contain information from
published in{ormation unpublished sources
usually contains only views may contain compiler's own
expressed by the author of comments, observations etc.
the original paper
each 'record' consists of full each 'record' consists of
bibliographic details and an encyclopaedic type of information
abstract of a single paper or on a specific topic or a sub-file
document containing a set of data contributing
the compendium
usually (but w.ith a few often contain illustrations, line
notable exceptions, e.g. patent diagrams, photographs, structural
abstract databases) provides formulae etc. in addition to texl
information in textual form only
in-depth indexing using subject indexing usually (but
descriptors for organisms not necessarily) restricted to
and concepts covered in the a limited number of keywords
paper and subject classification
to facilitate retrieval of
information
updated at regular and frequent updated at infrequent intervals
intervals by adding new records mainly by revising existing records
rather than by altering existing to include new information.
records
Secondary Information Databases

Information on medicinal and other related groups of
plants (which include herbs, spices and condiments;
essential oil plants; plants containing compounds
exhibiting insecticidal, molluscicidal, piscicidal, antifungal,
antibacterial, antiviral or other biocidal activities; and
poisonous plants) can be found in bibliographic databases
dedicated exclusively to these groups of plants as well as

in botanical, biological, agricultural, chemical, medical,
veterinary or multidisciplinary databases with much wider
subject coverage. The most important among these are
listed below. Some of the secondary information databases
published by organisations which also produce other types
of publications are included in the section on tertiary
information databases.
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA)
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA) published
by the National Institute of Science Communication
(NISCOM, formerly known as the Publications and
Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research), New Delhi, is a bimonthly printed journal in its
19th volume year. It prOVides good coverage of global
literatUre on medicinal and aromatic plants. Over 55,000
abstracts have been published in the first 18 volumes of
MAPA covering the period 1979-1996. The data from 1988
onwards (about 30,000 records) are also held in electronic
form in the MAPA database and distributed on CD-ROM
and other electronic media. Source literature currently
scanned for compiling the database includes some 600
periodicals (of which about 200 are Indian) originating from
60 countries and published in 30 different languages.
Conference proceedings, books and patents are also
covered. Coverage of Indian and South-East Asian
literature is particularly good and some records in this
database are unique and cannot be found in other
databases.
CAB Abstracts
Among multidisciplinary bibliographic databases, CAB
Abstracts provides the best all round coverage of world
literature on medicinal and related groups of plants. Source
literature scanned includes books, reports, conference
proceedings and over 12,000 serials published from all over

the world in a wide range of languages and covering
virtually every discipline involved in the study of
medicinal and related plants (botany, agronomy,
biotechnology, phytochemistry, economics, medicine and
veterinary science). Current rate of input of new material
is over 150,000 records per year.
The database contains over 3 million bibliographic
records prepared since 1972, of which approximately 60,000
are concerned with studies on medicinal and related groups
of plants. The printed abstract journal, Review of Aromatic
and Medicinal Plants, which is in its third volume year,
provides excellent coverage of this literature. Earlier
literature, dating back from 1931, which is not included in
the electronic database, can be found in long-established
CABI printed journals including Horticultural Abstracts and
Forest Products Abstracts. These are among some 45 printed
abstract journals published by CABI in the different
disciplines covered in the database.
The database is made available to users through online
and CD-ROM vendors such as DIALOG, DIMDI, ESA IRS,
CAN-OLE, Silver Platter, etc.
AGRIS
The AGRIS (International Information System for

Agricultural Sciences and Technology) database is
managed by the Library and Documentation Systems
Division of FAa, Rome. The database is compiled from
information provided by 158 national and 28 regional and
international input centres around the world and contains
nearly 3 million bibliographic records prepared since 1975.
Subject areas covered include all aspects of agriculture,
fisheries, human nutrition and management of natural
resources and environment.
In addition to scientific literature, the database contains
material which cannot easily be found in other databases,
compiled from less widely known publications of local or

regional relevance. The database can be searched using
keywords in several languages with the aid of a
multilingual vocabulary. Current rate of input of new
records is over 150,000 per year. The database is made
available to users through online vendors and CD-ROM
suppliers such as Dialog, DIMDI, ESA-IRS, Faxon,
Microinfo and Silver Platter.
AGRICOLA
Bibliographic database compiled and maintained by the US

National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, Maryland. The
database contains over 3 million records of post-1970
publications covering all aspects of agriculture and
provides particularly extensive coverage of US literature
not covered by other agricultural databases (e.g. reports
from agricultural experiment stations containing material
- not published elsewhere). It is made available to users
. through online and CD-ROM vendors DIALOG, DIMDI,
FAXON, Microinfo, Silver Platter and others.
PASCAL
Compiled by the Institut de l'Information Scientifique et

Technique (INIST) of the French Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, PASCAL is one of the world's
largest multidisciplinary bibliographic information
databases covering literature published in all areas science
and technology, including biology and medicine. This
French/English bilingual database contains over 12 million
records relating to papers published in over 25,000 serials,
56,000 reports, 60,000 conference proceedings and 100,000
theses covering the period from 1973 to date. Current rate
of growth is over 500,000 records per year. It provides better
coverage of French literature than any other database.
Search aids include a lexicon containing over 80,000
descriptors and the lexicon is available in 3 languages, viz.

French, English and Spanish.
A sister database called FRANCIS, also compiled by
INIST, covers literature in social sciences' (including
ethnology) and economics.
PASCAL can be accessed online, or offline on CD-ROM,
using the services of online and CD-ROM vendors such as
QUESTEL/ORBIT, ESA-IRS and DIALOG/DATA STAR.
BIOSIS Previews
Probably the world's largest bibliographic information

database on biological subjects including medicine,
compiled by BIOSIS of Philadelphia, USA. The database
contains over 12 million citations and the current rate of
addition of new records is 540,000 per year. As with other
databases, the source literature includes journals, books,
monographs and conference proceedings. In addition to
online access, the database is published for offline
consultation on CD-ROMs and in printed form in Biological
Abstracts and other abstract journals. Subscriptions to these
are available through online vendors and CD-ROM
distributors.
CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS
For phytochemical information on medicina1 plants and

patent-related literature, Chemical Abstracts is an
indispensable resource. The Chemical Abstracts database
compiled by CAS (a division of the American Chemical
Society) in Columbus, Ohio, contains some 13 million
abstracts of literature and patents in all areas of chemistry
and chemical engineering covering the period from 1970 to
date. Over 700,000 new records are added per year. The
accompanying CA Registry database contains information
on over 16 million chemical substances. The database can
be searched online or on CD-ROM. Literature published
prior to 1970 can be found in the printed journal Che.!nical

Abstracts. Search aids include a very detailed list-~
.indexing terms used.
Online access is provided through the STN
International online network. Subscriptions are also
available through national offices in many countries. e.g.
Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK; VCH
Verlagsgesellschaft mbH in Germany, Centre National de
l'Information Chimique in France, Japan Association for
International Chemical Information in Japan, etc.•
MEDLINE
A limited amount of information relating to medicinal
plants (from mainstream medical literature) can be found
in this most widely known database of medicine compiled
by the National Library of Medicine, USA.
The database is available to users through a large
number of online and CD-ROM vendors including: Blaise
Link, CD-PLUS, Data-Star, Dialog, DIMDI, EURO-CD
Diffusion, FAXON, Infopro Technologies, Learned
Information LTD, MIC KIBIC, Optech Ltd., Questel/Orbit,
STN, Telesampo etc.
Although direct online searches are still fee-based, free
search facilities are now provided by a number of
organisations through their web sites on the Internet. The
CD-ROM is also becoming widely available in public
libraries around the world.
EMBASE
Literature published in some 3,600 biomedical journals is
covered in this bibliographic database of medicine
produced by Elsevier, Amsterdam. It contains some 6.5
million records covering the period from 1974 to date.
Products derived from the database include CD-ROMs and
the printed journal Excerpta Medica. Like MEDLINE,
286 Advmces in Medicinal Plants
coverage of literature on medicinal pl!Ults is restricted to

that appearing in mainstream biomedical journals. The
database also accessible through various online and CD-
ROM vendors including CD Plus, Data--Star, Dialog,
DIMDL Faxon, Infopro Technologies, Microinfo; Silver
Platter and-STN.
TERTIARY INFORMATION DATABASES
Unlike the secondary i.nhmnation databases listed above,

tertiary electronic publications containing information on
medicinal and related groups of plants vary widely in their
design, structure and contents. A number of them,
produced for different purposes by various organisations,
are listed below in alphabetical order. While some of them
can be accessed online, others are only available only on
CD-ROM or other offline electronic media.
AHEAD CD-ROM
The Asian Health, Environmental and Allied Databases
(AHEAD) CD-ROM series consists of 3 disks containing
various databases contributed by the participating
organisations based in India, Thailand, Philippines,
Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh. The project is
sponsored by the International Development Research
Centre of Canada and co-ordinated by the National
Institute
, of Science Communication (NISCOM), New Delhi.
Disk 1 entitled "Environment Asia" contains full-text
and bibliographic databases related to water management,
recycling of waste water, hygiene education and
community participation. Disk 2, named "Wealth Asia",
contains the entire Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
bibliographic database mentioned above and a full-text
database of Indian plant, animal and mineral resources,
based on the well known "Wealth of India" encyclopaedic
book series. Disk 3 is called "Health Asia" and contains a
bibliographic database on tropical (mosquito-transmitted)

diseases and occupational safety and health, a full-text
database on water-borne (diarrhoeal) diseases, and a
natural toxins database providing text and pictorial
information on poisonous plants and animals.
APINMAP
The Asian Pacific Information Network on Medicinal and

Aromatic Plants (APINMAP) is a UNESCO-sponsored
voluntary network of organisations in 14 Asian and Pacific
region countries (Australia, People's Republic of China,
India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Nepal,
Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam) with a Secretariat based in
the Philippines. Its objective is to promote exchange of
information relating to medicinal and aromatic plants
between its member organisations. Databases and other
resources held by each organisation are shared with others.
APINMAP resources include an Integrated APINMAP
database containing bibliographic and factual information
on medicinal plants, lists of research projects, institutions
and personneL Other databases shared include the AHEAD
CD-ROM series mentioned above, the Health Research and
Development Information Network (HEROIN) database
from the Philippines and the FLOTURK database (see
below) from Turkey.
BACIS
Boelens Aroma Chemical Information Service (BACIS)

offers a set of five databases (which can be installed on a
desktop PC) mainly aimed at users in the perfumery and
flavouring industries. These contain information on volatile
compounds in foods, analytical chemical data compiled
from published literature on essential oils and other natural
compounds, and trade-related data.
BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE PHYI'OCHEMICALS AND THEIR ACI'lVITIES; and

PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF GRAS HERBS AND OTHER
ECONOMIC PLANTS '
A set of two databases compiled by Dr James Duke of ARS/

USDA. The first of these contains information on some 3000
biologically active (medicinal, antimicrobial, pesticidal and
allelopathic) phytochemicals, their reported activities and
inhibitory concentrations or doses. The second database
lists the chemical constituents of approximately 1000 plant
species. These include most of the GRAS (generally
recognised as safe) plants, many medicinally important
foods (GRAF, generally recognised as foods) and about 500
strictly medicinal (GRAP,. generally recognised as
poisonous or medicinal) plants. Quantitative information is
included where available. A rather complicated set of codes
is used to indicate plant parts and reference sources.
These databases are published in book form with
accompanying diskettes, by CRC Press, Inc. Information
contained in these databases can be searched online on the
Phytochemical Database (which also has input from other
interconnected databases) on the Internet at the following
URL:
Brazilian Medicinal Plants Database

This is a database being developed by the Medicinal Plants
Laboratory of the Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de
Queiroz", Sao Paulo University, and CIAGRI, the
computing centre of the U¢versity. It currently contains the
common name in Portuguese, Lain name and synonyms,
family, biological activity, and therapeutic uses of over a
thousand species.
China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Databases

The Institute of Information of the China Academy of
Traditional Chinese Medicine has put together several
bibliographic and factual information databases. The
largest among these is the Traditional Chinese Medica

Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (TCMLARS)
which contains about 200,000 bibliographic records 0
literature on traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herba.
medicine, integrated traditional Chinese medicine ana
Western medicine, published in over 500 Chinese and
foreign biomedical journals since 1984. TCMLARS consistE
of its three constituent databases,the largest among these
being the Traditional Chinese Medical Literature (TCM)
database. The other two are the Acupuncture Literature
Analysis and Retrieval System (ACULARS), and the
Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) database which contains
chemical, pharmacological and horticultural information
on medicinal plants. TCMLARS has both English and
Chinese versions.
Other databases which are exclusively in Chinese
language include a Traditional Chinese Medical Research
Achievement database, a TCM News Database, a
Traditional Chinese Patent Drug and Health Products
database(which contains about 2000 entries relating to the
production and marketing of traditional Chinese patent
drugs and health products), an Aids Information database
and an Overseas TCM Academic Organisations and
Scholars database.
All the above databases can be searched at the institute.
A fee-based search service is provided.
Chinese University of Hong Kong Databases

The Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre
(CMMRC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong has
compiled a database of TCM which contains botanical,
chemical, pharmacological and clinical information
selected from Chinese medical treatises and translated into
English. This database is updated by abstracting papers
form over 180 medical and other scientific journals in
Chinese.
CMMRC is also developing a database on the safety of

Chinese foods and medicines. The first product is
CHIMERA, a bibliographic database on reported cases of
adverse reactions to Chinese foods and medicines. Colour
images of the suspected materials are also included in this
database.
Dictionary of Natural Products

DNP on CD-ROM published by Chapman and Hall
contains chemical, physical, bibliographic and structural
data on over 113,000 natural products, organised into over
36,000 entries. Pharmacologically active compounds, food
ingredients and many compounds of biochemical
significance are well covered. Categories of natural
products covered include amino acids, peptides and
proteins, antibiotics, nucleosides, alkaloids, terpenoids,
flavonoids, lignans, lichen acids, polyacetylenes, tannins
and coumarins. In addition to text-based searches using
keywords, it offers the possibility of searching by drawing
structures or parts of structures of the compounds
concerned.
Directory of Specialists in Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants

This is _a database containing names, addresses,
professional expertise and interests, and contact details of
specialists in this field, compiled by Professor Lyle Craker,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It is available in
printed form.
Langer's DROGENANALYSE published by Deutscher
Apotheker Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, is a plant
identification aid database on floppy disk. It contains
names, synonyms and illustrations of medicinal and
poisonous plants (2,400 entries in total).
ETHMED is a database currently being compiled at the
Yakko Kaiseki Centre (Analytical Research Centre for
Ethnomedicines) of the Institute for Wakan-Yaku

(Traditional Sino Japanese Medicines) affiliated to the
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Toyama University,
Japan. Data on morphology, anatomy, active principles,
biological activity and uses of medicinal plants are being
recorded. The project is linked to the cataloguing and
indexing of the crude drug samples held at the Museum of
Materia Medica of the Institute, which is the largest
museum of its kind in the world. The museum holds over
20,000 crude drug samples, more than 75,000 herbarium
specimens, and other pharmaceutical preparations
covering virtually every system of traditional and folk
medicine practised around the world.
Flavour and Fragrance Materials is a chemical entry
database published by Allured Publishing Corporation.
The database contains 2,500 records with CAS registry
numbers, structure, molecular formulae and physical
constants for flavour and fragrance materials. -
Florin Medicinal Plants

Florin Medicinal Plants database is compiled by Professor
Boris Golovkin of the Moscow Botanic Gardens. It is one
of the several taxonomic and economic botany databases
published by Florin, Inc. of Moscow.
Florin Medicinal Plants now contains information on
over 5,000 taxa of vascular plants from more than 200
families and is expected to grow to twice its current size in
the near future. Taxonomic data, plant parts used, bioactive
substances they contain and their therapeutic activity or
toxicity are among the interactively searchable fields.
Classified lists of diseases and drugs are also included.
Floturk
Floturk (FLOra of TURKey) is a database compiled and
maintained by the Anadolu University Medicinal Plant and
Drug Research Centre (TBAM). It contains botanical,
phytochemical, chemotaxonomic and pharmacological

activity-related data as well as information on production
and commercial potential of Turkish flora.
Green Medicine is a Chinese Herbal Medicine database
containing information on 390 biomedical syndromes, 257
basic formulas, 490 individual herbs and 600 variations.
Hopkins Technology CD-ROMs

The series of multimedia CD-ROMs published by Hopkins
Technology of Hopkins, Minnesota, include (1) the
HERBALIST and (2) the Traditional Chinese Medicine and
Pharmacology databases.
The Herbalist by David Hoffman is an encyclopaedia of
western herbal medicine and gives botanical information
on the plants used as well as medical and pharmacological
information relating to their use. The Materia Medica
consists of data sheets on some 170 plant species illustrated
with colour pictures and containing the following
information: Latin and common names, method of
collection, parts used, constituents, pharmacological
activity, preparations and dosage.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine & Pharmacology CD-
ROM describes the basic philosophical elements, and
diagnostic and therapeutic principles of TCM. The Materia
Medica gives information on the -:.Ise of 322 medicinal herbs
with colour illustrations. Commonly used formulas are
given with their functions and applications.
ILDIS Wolrd Database of Legumes

This database being compiled by the International Legume
Database & Information Service (ILDIS) is a major source
of information on leguminous plants, many of which have
medicinal uses. Many institutions around the world
participate in this project managed by Dr Frank Bisby of the
Biology Department, University of Southampton. The
Medicinal Plant Infonnation Databases 293
database consists of an exhaustive checklist of species of the

Fabaceae with names and synonyms, geographic
distribution, life-form and conservation data, known
economic uses and key literature citations. Combining
taxonomic data from this database with phytochemical data
from the Chapman & Hall Dictionary of Organic Compounds
has led to the publication of the book Phytochemical
Dictionary of the Leguminosae. Further expansion of this
database by including root nodulation data and
interlinking it with ethnobotanical and molecular biological
datasets has been planned.
Subscriptions for online searches are available through
BIDS at Bath University, UK. The online version is called
LegumeLine.
INMEDPLAN
INMEDPLAN (Indian Medicinal Plants National Network
of distributed databases) is an initiative of a network of
several Indian organisations with expertise on different
aspects of medicinal plants to build a multidisciplinary
(botanical, horticultural, pharmacological and other)
information pool by sharing their resources. The network
secretariat is at FRLHT, Bangalore.
Major Aromatic Plants of India (MAPI)
MAPI (Major Aromatic Plants of India) is a database
compiled by the Central Institute of Medicinal and
Aromatic Plants, Lucknow. It contains very detailed
botanical, agronomic, phytochemical and bibliographic
information on 45 major aromatic plants of India. The
database has a very elaborate structure with a total of 86
unique data entry fields for each record.
Medicinal Plants of Malta
An electronic inventory of 300 medicinal and aromatic
plants of Malta, compiled by the University of Malta,

containing text and images.
Medicinal Plants of Papua New Guinea developed by
the Wau Ecology Institute Herbarium, this database
contains botanical, phytochemical and
ethnopharmacological information on plants native to
PNG.
MEDFLOR (MEDicinal FLORa) is an ethnobiological
database being developed in collaboration with the
Organization of American States. It aims to compile
botanical information and ethnomedical uses of plants from
literature scanned locally at data entry sites located in Costa
Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary and India.
DEREP (DEREPlication) is a recently initiated database
exdusively containiJ)g data on the physical constants of
natural products.
Online search subscriptions to NAPRALERT are
available through STN International and other online
vendors. A CD-ROM version of NAPRALERJ' has been
annour.ced for 1997 by Chapman and Hall. Access to
MEDFLOR and DEREP is restricted to collaborating
organisations.
NATIS
NATTS is the Natural Products database developed by the
Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow. It contains
factual information on medicinal plants. Detailed data on
botanical characters, collection site details, pharmacological
screening results, chemical structures of active constituents,
uses in folk medicine and in established traditional
medicine, information from traditional health systems'
literature and from modern scientific literature are recorded
in the six sub-files constituting the database.
Medicinal Plant Infoanation Databases 295
Plantes Medicinales
This multimedia CD-ROM database developed a. an
educational tool by Professor Michel Paris of the
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy,
Chatenay-Malabry, France is sponsored by the French
Ministry of Education and published by Algo Vision, Paris.
It contains botanical and phytotherapeutic information on
some 175 species and is well illustrated with over 500 high
quality colour photographs. Descriptions of pathological
conditions are at:companied by monographs on the main
species used in the treatment and additional lists of other
relevant plants. The French version is expected to become
available by June 1997. An English version is also being
planned.
Poisonous Plants in Britain and Ireland
This is a CD-ROM database developed jointly by the
Poisons Unit of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital Trust, London
and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is an interactive
database designed for identifying common poisonous
plants using easily recognisable morphological features
such as size, shape and colour of different plant parts for
characterising the species concerned. The database contains
textual and pictorial information on over 200 plant groups
covering approximately 2,000 species and cultivars.
Two versions have been published, a medical version
for the benefit of medical professionals dealing with
suspected plant poisoning cases, especially in hospital.
Accidents & Emergency Departments for identifying plants
ingested accidentally by children, and a more popular
version aimed at the general public.
Plants Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA)
Plants Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) is a
foundation with an international charter and consists of a
network of participating organisations based in Indonesia,

Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam and the Netherlands. The network has a
secretariat is at Bogor, Indonesia, and a publishing office at
Wageningen, Netherlands.
The main objective of PROSEA is to collect and
disseminate information on the plant resources of South-
East Asia ,for education, extension, research and industry.
Its main activities therefore involve developing electronic
databases and publishing books, CD-ROMs, bibliographies
etc. •
The PROSEA database already contains a wealth of
information on some 6,000 useful plants of South-East Asia.
A series of scholarly handbooks, CD-ROMs and
bibliographies on several commodity groups, and other
products derived from the database have already been
published. Future publications will include volumes on
spices and condiments, medicinal and poisonous plants"
essential oil plants, stimulants, and plants producing
exudates among others.
Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
(SEPASAL)
The Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid
Lands SEPASAL (Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and
Semi-Arid Lands) database developed by the Centre for
Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a major
source of information on the flora of arid and semi-arid
regions and a valuable resource for people involved in
biodiversity conservation, germplasm collection and
storage, and environmental management.
It contains information gathered from various sources
on some 6,000 useful dryland species. The data include
detailed botanical descriptions, geographic distribution,
conservation status, soil and climatic preferences, and uses
........... Plant Information Databases 297
of different plant parts (following an international standard

classification). The range of information and the amount of
data vary between species.
REFERENCES
Bhat, K. K. 5., "Literature published during the past two decades on

medicinal, aromatic and other related groups of plants", Acta
Horticulturae, 1995.
Farnsworth, N. R. & Soejarto, D.O., "Global importance of medicinal
plants", In: Akerele, 0, Heywood, v. & Synge, H. (eds)
Bibliography
Abdul Kareem, Inventory of Plants used in Indian Systems of Medicine,

FRLHT Research Report, Bangalore, India, 1995.
Anita Chatterjee(ed.)., Academic Dictionary of Medicinal Plant, Delhi, Isha
Books, 2005, vi, 264 p.
Arvigo, R. & Balick, M. Rainforest Remedies; One Huttdred Healing Herbs
of Belize. Twin Lakes, USA; Lotus Press. 1994.
Bodeker, G., K.K.S. Bhat, J. Burley & P. Vantomme, (eds.) Medicinal plants
for forest conservation and health care. Rome, FAO (Non-wood Forest
Produru. 11). 1997.
Chadha K.L. (ed.)., Advances in Horticulture: Volume 11: Medicinal &
Aromatic Plants, Reprint, New Delhi, Malhotra Publishing House,
. 2006, XXXX, 935 p.
Farnsworth, N. R. & Soejarto, D.D., "Global importance of medicinal
plants", In: Akerele, 0, Heywood, V. & Synge, H. (eds)
Fuller, D. Medicine from the Wild. Washington, DC; Traffic USA. 1991.
Groombridge, B. & M.D. Jenkins.World atlas ojbiodiversity. Earth's living
resources in the 21stcentury. Berkeley, USA, University of California
Press. 2002.
Kulkarni P.H. and Shahida Ansari., The Ayurvedic Plants, Delhi, Satguru
Publications, 2004, xvi, 334 p.
Lewington, A. Medicinal Plant and Plant Extracts: A Review of Their
Importation into Europe. Cambridge, UK; Traffic International.
1993.
Penso, G. WHO inventory of medicinal plants used in different countries.
Geneva, Switzerland, WHO. 1980.
Quansah, N. "Biocultural diversity and integrated health care in
Madagascar". Nature and Resources 30! 18-22. 1994.
Bibliography 299
Rama Swamy N., Biotechnological Applications for Improvement of Solanum

Schultes, R.E. & Raffauf R.F. The Healing Forest: Medicinal and Toxic Plants
of the Northwest Amazonia. Portland, Oregon, USA; Dioscorides
Press. 1990.
Sherriff J., Catalogues of Indian Synonymes Medicinal Plants Inorganic
Substances Propos, 675 p.
Sittenfeld, A. & Gamez, R. "Biodiversity prospecting" by lNBio. In:
Biodiversity Prospecting. Washington, DC; World Resources
Institute. pp. 69-97. 1993.
Swami Brahmananda (ed.)., Common Medicinal Plants of India: A Complete
Guide to Home Remedies, Delhi, Dominant, 2000, 327 p.
Tcheknavorian-Asenbauer, A. & Wijesekera, R.O.B., Industrial Utilization
of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, UNIOO 10.505, 1982.
United Nations Industrial development Organization, Design Options Jor
a Polyvalent Pilot Plant Unit for the Distillation and Extraction of
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, IPCT.143(spec), 1991.
Uniyal, R.c., M.R. Uniyal & P. Jain.Cultivation of medicinal plants in India.
A reference book New Delhi, India, TRAFFIC India & WWF India.
2000.
WijesE'kera, R.O.B. "Is there an industrial future for phytopharmaceutical
drugs? An outline of UNIOO programmes in the sector", Journal
Wijesekera, R.O.B., Renaissance of the Phytopharmaca, Vienna, Austria;
Index
Aerial flowers 20 General Agreement on Trade

Amphicarpic plants 20 and Tariffs (GATT) 268
Ancient Indian system 183 German medicinal plant 116
Antagonism 4 Good Harvesting Practices
Anti-arrhythmic effects 80 (GHP) 131
Good Manufacturing Practices
Biogenetic resources 74 (GMP) 224
Bioprospecting 68 Gujarat State Forest Develop
ment Corporation
Codified traditional medicine (GSFDC) 193
179
Coimbatore orthopaedic High-Density Lipoprotein
treatment 179 (HDL) 83
Common Property Resources
(CPRs) 192 Indian biological diversity 183
Convention on Biological Indian forest act 265
Diversity (CBD) 114 Indian health system 175
Indian herbal industry 178
Effective Peak Ground Accel- Indigenous knowledge sys-
eration (EPGA) 34 tems 181
Effective Refractory Period Intellectual property rights
(ERP) 82 258
Intergovernmental negotia-
Fair Trade Federation (FTF) tions 69
131 International Labour Organisa-
Forest conservation act 185 tion (!LO) 268
Forest Stewardship Council International Patent Classifica-
(FSC) 131 tion (IPC) 261
Index 301
International pharmaceutical Profuse pollen production 22

trade 120
Reinforced Concrete (RC) 31
Low-Density Lipoprotein Reservoir-Induced Seismicity
(LDL) 83 (RIS) 33
Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) Seed dispersal 19

26 Sinus Node Recovery TlD\e
Main Central Thrust (MCT) 26 (SNRT) 82
Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) 26 Static health care systems 122
Medicinal Plant Conserva,tion Subterranean cleistogamous
Areas (MPCA) 272 flowers 21
Medicinal plant species culti-
vation 125 Total Quality Management
Minor Forest Produce (MFP) (TQM) 224
265 Trade Related Intellectual
Modernfancrrlngtechniques Property (TRIPS) 268
187 Traditional medicine 1
Modern pharmacological Tribal Co-operative Societies
parameters 182 (TCS) 192
Trilinolein 81
Ndigenous knowledge systems Tropical Botanic Garden and
181 Research (TBGRI) 259
Nitric Oxide (NO) 84
NON Governmental Organisa- United Nations Industrial
tion (NGO) 275 Development Organisa-
Non TImber Forest Products tion (UNIDO) 218
{NTFPs)265
Non-GovernmentaIOrganisa- Ventricular Fibrillation (VF) 79
tions (NGOs) 189 .Ventricular Tachycardia (VT)
Non-TlD\ber Forest Products 79
(NTFPs) 184 Veterinary health care 175
Nutraceuticals 10
Wtld medicinal plants 185
Peak Ground Acceleration World Health Organisation
(PGA)34 (WHO) 8

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Primitive humans experimentally sampled many kinds of

Traditional medicine is the synthesis of therapeutic

of pharmaceutical prescriptions in the United States

Table 1: Plant derived ethnotherapeutics and traditional modern medicine.

MODERN MEDICINE FROM HIGHER PLANTS

Medicinal plants play a vital role for the development of

vinblastine and vincristine which are derived from higher

neutralisation by lupeol acetate isolated from the root

Antagonism of both viper and cobra venom and antiserum

The mechanism of action of the plant derived

Market Potential of Phytomedicine

in indigenous systems ()f Indian medicines are reported in

T. ':Jle 3. Market size of phytomedicine and their sale in US Dollar.

Table 4. Percentage of herbal drugs imported by various countries for

R()le of WHO in Phytomedicine

In 1991 WHO developed guidelines for the assessment of

Documentation of safety based on experience and

New Sources of Tribal Medicine

cancer, asthma, diabetes, jaundice, scabies, eczema,

Herbal medicine is still the mainstay of about 75-80% of

India is sitting on a gold mine of well-recorded and

minerals, organic matter, etc. Herbal drugs constitute only

This is a term of recent origin and comprises nutritionally

market size in Europe and Japanese sales worth $ 1.5

Herbal Medicine Market

800 medicinal plants and exports large amounts of herbal

India is the largest grower of Psyllium. (Plantago ovata)

of medicinal plants exported and imported in India,

Botanical name Sanskrit name

Nardostachys jatamansi Jatamansi

Role of WHO in Herbal Medicine

inclusion of proven traditional remedies in national drug

Table 7. Medicinal plants being exported from India

Botanical name Part of the plant

Picrorhiza kurroo<' Root

Herbal Medicine Standardisation

this mode should be dispensed as prescription drugs or

Flowering involves transformation of a foliar into a floral

Table 8. Medicinal plants being imported in India

The immense variety and enormous beauty of flowers

Nevertheless, the invariable differentiation of flowers

course of development, suggesting that these flowers are

Aerial flowers of the plant are potentially open-

genotype. Underground fruits and seeds improve chances

(sepals and petals) is 3: 2 (60: 40%). Resource expenditure

selectitm pressure has not worked against above ground

differentiating therefrom to similar, presumably

of a herbaceous plant. At this critical juncture in plant's

The Chamoli earthquake of 29 March 1999 is yet another

this event. Maximum damages occurred in the district of

Geologic and Tectonic Setting

The Himalayan mountain range, an outcome of the

great Himalayan earthquakes are believed to originate.

Historic and Current Seismicity

Intensity of Coseismic Processes

Intensity showed rather abrupt changes from one 1-JCation

decreased and the water turned muddy, in one spring

TraditiCVlal stone dwellings

constructions, those with masonry walls in slate wafers