Abstract

ROLE OF MEDICINAL PLANTS IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SYSTEM IN BIHAR – A REVIEW

Navdeep Ranjan*, Sushil Kumar Singh and Chandrawati Kumari

Abstract

In present era the demand of medicinal plants has grown rapidly because of accelerated local, national and international interest. Traditional medicine system always played an imperative role in global healthcare system. Traditional medicine can be explained as the diverse health practices related to the beliefs, spiritual remedies, ancient indigenous experience, and manual practice that used to maintain health as well as to cure, diagnose and treat disease. Bihar lies in the river plains of the basin of the river Ganga. It is endowed with fertile alluvial soil with abundant water resources. This makes the rich and diverse cultivation of medicinal plant. The present review enumerates a detailed account of medicinal utility of different medicinal plants for the treatment of various human ailments. Medicinal plant have been reported to exhibit antiinflammatory, analgesic, antitumor, antihelmintic, hepatoprotective, antidiarrhoeal, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, oestrogenic, antinociceptive, antimalarial, antioxidant properties and has been traditionally used for diarrhoea, stomatic, sinus fistula, skin diseas, jaundice, digestive, emetic, expectorant, sedative, blood purifier, an antidote for snake poisoning and many other diseases. Medicinal herbs contain various phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, sterol, saponins, triterpinoids, tannins, resins, anthocyanins, proteolytic enzymes, cardenolide, cardiac glycosides etc which are responsible for different pharmacological activities.

Keywords: Alkaloids, flavonoids, sterol, saponins, triterpinoids,