“ Drugs are like nectar, administered by the ignorant, they however, become weapons, thunderbolt or poison” (Su.Su 3-51) By the medieval period, practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (Ayurveda) had developed a number of medicinal preparations for the treatment of various ailments. It enabled us to find out by ourselves the medicinal and hygienic effect of numerous plants, fruits and vegetables in common use in order to regulate our own diet according to the needs of our condition.
As we are all aware, medicinal plants have a special place in Indian tradition at all times. Hanuman’s leap from the battle field to the Himalayas to fetch the ‘Mritasanjeevani’ is no more than the dramatic assertion of a tradition which had echoed in ‘Vedas’ which gives a list of references to plants that were used for therapeutic purposes. The traditional reverence for medicinal plants also echoes throughout....
