Phytopharmaceuticals : An Extensive Review

By Mohammad Ruhal ain - 07/09/2009

Login or register to post comments
3544 reads

Author(s): Mohammad Ruhal ain, Sohail Akhter, Sanjar Alam

Average:

Your rating: None Average: 4 (3 votes)

Author(s):

Mohammad Ruhal ain

Sohail Akhter

Sanjar Alam

1.Introduction

Herbal medicines for therapeutic purposes have been explicitly used since the dawn of human civilization to maintain health and to treat diseases. WHO estimates that about three-quarters of the world's population currently uses herbs and other forms of traditional medicines for mitigation and/cure of various ailments. Even as we commence in the new century with its exciting prospects of gene therapy, herbal medicines hold a major forte as a form of therapy for a substantial percentage of world population. On one hand the ethno-social beliefs of people strengthen the practice of alternative medicine while on the other hand a high frequency of adverse drug reactions associated with conventional medicines fuel the growing interest in natural products. Furthermore an emergence of scientific evidences in support of efficacy of plant-derived drugs has added impetus to this endeavour. A close look at the ongoing research and investments into medicinal plants candidly points out that herbal therapeutics will continue to play an important role in human health. They are indicated in both prophylactic and curative treatments throughout the world. Though there is anecdotal evidence supporting the use of herbal medicines, scientific studies in this field are in their infancy.⁽²⁷⁾Crude herbals and the pharmaceutical substances from the herbal origin are widely used in the pharmaceutical formulations. They are not only used as the active ingredients but also as pharmaceutical additives for various purposes such as starch used as glidant, binder and diluent whereas olive oil, sesame oil are used as oily vehicles for parentrals.

In recent time it is reported that they can be used for bioavailability enhancement (eg; piper).

Currently, the major pharmaceutical companies have demonstrated renewed interest in investigating higher plants as sources for new lead structures and also for the development of standardized phototherapeutics agents with proven efficacy, safety and quality.^{(14,15,22,24)} Phototherapeutics are normally marketed as standardized preparations in the form of liquid, solid (powdered extract) or viscous preparations. They are prepared by maceration, percolation or distillation (volatile oils).⁽⁶⁴⁾

Inspite of the widespread usage of herbal pharmaceuticals there is a lack of proper standardization and quality control of the drugs. The problem is often due to the special characters associated with plant origin medicines when compared with well-defined synthetic drugs. These are:

The active constituents of herbal drugs are not well established.
Standardization, stability and quality control testing are relatively time consuming, tedious and highly priced.
Genuine raw materials are not easily found.
Herbal drugs are mixtures of many constituents
The active principle(s) is (are) hardly known
Selective analytical methods may not yet exist
Reference compounds may not be available commercially
Chemical variability of plant material
Natural variation/biodiversity
Influence of harvest, drying, and storage conditions
They have a wide range of therapeutic use and are suitable for chronic treatments.
The occurrence of undesirable side effects seems to be less frequent with herbal medicines, but well-controlled randomized clinical trials have revealed that they also exist.

Influence of processing (different extracts polarity of solvent, mode of extraction of constituents).

1.1. The need for quality control:

Pharmaceutical products used as medicines are usually single chemical entities with specific actions at receptors, enzymes and other cellular sites. These drugs or preparations are marketed after vigorous clinical trials to support rational pharmacotherapy. The most important question regarding any drug to be used is how safe it is for clinical use. Unfortunately this aspect is not addressed or transparent to the consumers who want to use the herbal formulation. The herbal formulations which are sold as over the counter (OTC) have a different protocol regarding preparation, acquiring license and marketing. The active principles of herbal preparations are not often well defined. Regulations regarding safety and efficacy are not known to scientists or consumers.⁽¹⁸⁾Moreover as these are thought to be "natural", many people believe that they are safe. In addition to this, society's growing interest in herbal products and other dietary supplements stems from a disappointment in allopathic medicine which often results in blind acceptance. However, herbal products can be as toxic as or even more toxic than prescription medicine. They can also have unwanted side effects, cause drug interactions and possibly create surgical problems. Another problem is that people tend to rely more on testimonials on the benefits of herbal products than solid, scientific evidence all precautions that are taken with conventional medications should apply to herbal medications. Children, pregnant, and breast-feeding women should not use herbal therapies as the OTC product. Another issue that applies to both conventional and herbal medications is the potential for drug interactions. Most herb-drug interaction concerns include high-dose antioxidants and vitamins usage during chemotherapy, estrogenic properties of supplements, and blood thinning properties of supplements. According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), roughly 15 million adults are at risk of possible adverse interactions between prescription medicines and herbs .⁽⁴⁾Table 1 summarizes the various herbal -drug interactions.

Table 1: Common herbal-drug interactions^{(69, 74, 76, 77)}

Herbal drugs	Interaction	Patients that should avoid use
Antioxidant drugs: Garlic Grape seed extract High-dose Vitamin E High-dose Vitamin C Ginko biloba Selenium Panax Ginseng Green tea Red Clover CoQ¹⁰	May interfere with cancer cell killing effects of certain chemotherapy and radiation therapy	Patients undergoing radiation therapy and on chemotherapy: anthracyclines, alkylating agents, and podophyllum agents
Estrogenic activity : Soy products Flax seed oil Black cohosh Chasteberry Ginko biloba Dong quai Red clover	Estrogenic effect may stimulate estrogen-dependent tumor growth	Breast cancer patients (especially estrogen-receptor positive tumors) Endometrial cancer patients
Blood thinning properties: Garlic Grape seed extract Megadoses of Vitamin E Medgadoses Vitamin C Ginko biloba Selenium Panax Ginseng	Inhibit platelet aggregation and increasing risk of bleeding	Patients undergoing surgery Patients with low platelet count Patients taking anticoagulant therapy (e.g. warfarin, heparin, aspirin, enoxaparin)
Photosensivity properties St. John 's Wort Chrysanthemum Dong quai Shiitake mushroom	Increase skin sensitivity or responsiveness to sunlight	Patients undergoing radiation therapy
St. John's Wort	Increase the metabolism of drugs that result in lower drug levels in the body	Patients on concurrent chemotherapy, antidepressants and drugs that undergo the same metabolic pathway as St. John's Wort
Echinacea	Boost the immune system	Lymphoma patients Patients on concurrent immunosuppressive drugs
Shark cartilage	Inhibit angiogenesis or blood vessel formation	Patients with hypercalemia Patients undergoing surgery Patients with vascular insufficiency (e.g. coronary artery disease) Pregnancy

1.2. Quality control of phytopharmaceuticals

Reproducible efficacy and safety of phytopharmaceuticals is based on reproducible quality. Therefore, if phytopharmaceuticals want to be regarded as rational drugs, they need to be standardized and pharmaceutical quality must be approved. ^(9,10) Also, in pharmacological, toxicological, and clinical studies with herbal drugs, their composition needs to be well documented in order to obtain reproducible results.⁽¹¹⁾ The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized this problem and has published guidelines to ensure the reliability and repeatability of research on herbal medicines.⁽⁷⁸⁾. This concept should be followed not only in research, but also in the production and therapeutic application of phytopharmaceuticals. WHO has clearly delineated the various steps required for authenticating, standardizing and validating the various phytopharmaceuticals.

1.3.WHO Research Guidelines for Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Herbal Medicines ⁽⁷⁸⁾

Compared with synthetic drugs, the criteria and the approach for evaluation for safety and efficacy of herbal drugs are much more complex. Several aspects which do not exist with synthetic drugs influence their quality. Phytopharmaceuticals are always mixtures of many constituents and it is much more difficult to characterize such a complex mixture than a pure compound. Accordingly, isolated compounds and pure natural products are not regarded as “phytopharmaceuticals” but as pure chemicals. ⁽²⁶⁾

In order to harmonize the evaluation of phytopharmaceuticals WHO lays down the following essential guidelines:

“To ensure the reliability and repeatability of research on herbal medicines, the identity and quality of the plant material or preparation must be determined”.

“A description should be provided of the physical and chemical tests done to identify the plant substances and a chromatogram of the active fraction or characterizing compound should be provided. If this is not possible, it should be sufficient to identify a characteristic mixture of substances (fingerprint) of the plant material.”

The use of advanced techniques like DNA fingerprinting as research tools in phytopharmaceuticals will heighten the acceptability of herbal products and might be able to fill the gap in demand and supply of better therapeutics. Furthermore as the herbs are indigenously available the final formulations could prove to be cost effective and hence commercially viable.

1.4. Applications of Phytopharmaceuticals

Herbal origin products have been largely put to use in manufacture of various dosage forms. These have been employed as both active agents for treating chronic diseases like rheumatism, hypertension, diabetes etc. and also as pharmaceutical excipients where these have been used as suspending agent, emulsifying agent, viscosifiers, flavoring agents and as formulation bases. Tables 2 and 3 provide a summary of phytopharmaceuticals used for different indications.

Table 2: Herbals used for therapeutic indications

S. No	Common name	Biological name and family		Part used	Active constituent		Therapeutic Indications
Immunomodulators and Adaptogen
1	Arnica	Arnica montana (Compositae)		Flower	Flavonoids, arnifolinArnidiol, faradiol,helenalin,& epoxy helenalin, arnicin.	Treatment of chronic rheumatism, spinal paralysis, amourosis, hypolipidemic
2	Ginseng	Panax ginseng (Araliaceae)		Root	Ginsenosides, panaxosides, Chikusetsusaponin	Aphrodisiac, Thyroid& adrenal dysfunction, anaemia.
3	Ashwagandha	Withania somnifera (Solanaceae)		Root and stem	Withaferin, somnine, somniferine, , sitoindosides	Sedative, hypnotic, in rheumatism, gout & hypertension.
4	Shatavari	Asparagus racemosus (Liliaceae)		Tuberous root	Shatavarins(i-iv),	Antioxytocic, Aphrodisiac, antidysentric.
5	Garlic	Allium sativum (liliaceae)		Bulb	Allin, volatile oils polysulphides,	Bacteriostatic agent, in atherosclerosis, hypotensive
6	Gulvel	Tinospora cardifolia (Minispermaceae)		Stem, root	Isoquinoline alkaloids, curine, hayatin.	Veneral disease, curare like activity.
7	Echinacea	Echinacea purpurea (Compositae)		Root,	Isobutylamides	Rheumatic disease.
8	Saw palmetto	Serrenoa serulata (palmae)		Fruit	umbelliferone	Diuretic, urinary antiseptic.
9	Serpentary	Aristolochia clematis (Aristolochiaceae)		Root, & rhizome	Aristolochic acid	Bitter tonic
10	Phellodendron	Phellodendron amurensei (Rutaceae)		Bark	Berberine, palmatine, phellodendrin	Bitter tonic, Detoxifier, Febrifuge.
11	Darhald	Berberis aristata (Berberidaceae)		Seed, root bark, fruit	Berberine, palmatine, jatrorrhizine, columbamine	Dysmenorrhagia, hepatic dysfunction
12	Sophora	Sophora flaverscens (Leguminosae)		Root	Metrin & oxymetrin	Bitter,diuretic, antipruritic
13	Sinomenium	Sinomenium acutum (Menispermacae)		Leaves & root	Sinomenin	Anticomplement action
14	Uncaria	Uncaria tomentosa (Rubiaceae)		Bark	Pterotodin	Immunostimulant
15	Tulsi	Ocimum sanctum (Labiatae)		Leaves	Eugenol, methyl eugenol, caryophyllin	Antibacterial, spasmolytic, diaphoretic, air acne.
16	Acanthopanax	Eleutherococcus senticosus(araliaceae)		Leaves, bark	Lignans- D,E- eleuthrocyte,	Hypoglycaemic activity
Rejuvenating drugs
1	Brahmi buti	Bacopa monnieri (scrophulariaceae)		Whole plant	Brahmine, herpistine, saponin			Diuretic, cardiotonic, antiperiodic
2	Shankhpushpi	Convolvulus pleuricaulis (convulvulaceae)		Whole plant	Betaine, evolvine			Epilepsy, nerve tonic
3	Punarnava	Boerhavia diffusa (nyctaginaceae)		Whole plant	Punarnavine, ursolic acid, arachidonic acid			Diuretic anti-inflammatory activity
4	Rose	Rosa damascene (rosaceae)		flower	Volatile oil			Astringent, aperient,
5	Gul babunah	Matricaria chamomilla (compositae)		flower	α-bisabolol, herniarin chamazulene, farnesene			Splenomegaly,
6	Habulzillam	Cyprus esculentus (cyperaceae)		seed	Sesquiterpne, hydrocarbons, epoxide, ketones			Anyiinflamatory, antipyretic, antiemetic
Anti AIDS drugs
1	Castano –spermum		Castanospermum australe (leguminosae)	seed	Castanospermine			Anticancer
2	Glycyrrhiza		Glycyrrhiza glabra (leguminosae)	root	Glycyrrhizin			Demulcent, peptic ulcer
3	Cotton		Gossypium herbacium (malvaceae)	seed	Gossypol			Male contraceptive
4	Triplerygium		Triplerygium wilfordie (celastraceae)	Root	Tripterifordin			Anti leukaemic agent
5	Hypericum		Hypericum species (guttiferae)	Dried flowering & aerial part	Hypericin			Sedative
6	Prunella		Prunella vulgaris (labiatae)	Leave, stem & flower	Sulphated polysaccharide			Antiallergic Anti-inflammatory
Anti cancer drugs
1	Vinca		Catharanthus roseus (apocynaceae)	Whole plant	Vincristine, vinblastine, reserpine			Hypotensive
2	Ipecac		Cephalis acuminate (rubiaceae	Dried root &rhizome	Cephaline, emetine			Expectorant, emetic
3	Campotheca		Camptotheca acuminate (nyssaceae)	Dried stem& root	Camptothecin			Antiherpes, Antiadeno virus activity
4	Podophyllum		Podophyllum peltatum, P. Hexandrum (berberidaceae)	Dried root & rhizome	α&β peltatin, podophyllotoxin			Purgative
5	Yew tree		Taxus brevifolia (Taxaceae)	Bark	Taxol			Rheumatism, Fever Induce Abortion
6	Phyllanthus		Phyllanthus acuminatus (Euphorbiaceae)	Root	Phyllanthostatin,phyllanthiside			Astringent
7	Brazilian arrowroot		Ipomoea batatus (convolvulaceae)	Tubers	4 ipomeanol			Aphrodisiac Astringent
8	Surinjan		colchicum autumnale (liliaceae)	Seed, corm	colchicine, demecolcine			Gout

Hypolipidemic and anti atherosclerotic

Guggul

Commiphora wrightii (Burseraceae)

Oleo gum resin from the injured bark

Guggulosterone (E&Z), guggulosterol, mukulol

Arthritis,

Rheumatism

Salai guggul

Boswelia serrata (Burseraceae)

Oleo resin from trunk portion

β Boswelic acid, serratol, triterpene acid

Rheumatism

Garlic

Allium sativum (liliaceae)

Bulb

Allin, allyl sulphide

Immunomodulator,

hypoglycemic

Hypoglycaemic drug

1	Vijayasar	Pterocarpus marsupium (leguminaceae)	Dried juice of the plant	Kinotannic acid	hepatoprotective
2	Jamun	Syzgium cumini (Myrtacae)	seed	Ellagic acid	hepatoprotective
3	Guargum	Cymopsis tetragonolobus (leguminosae)	seed	Gum (galactomannan)	Bulk laxative
4	Gurmar	Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepidiaceae)	leaves	Gymnamic acid, gymnestrogenin, gymnemagenin, nonacosane	Liver tonic, anti-inflammatory, emetic, diuretic, Dyspepsia
5	Bitter gourd	Momordica charantia (cucurbitaceae)	fruit	Charatin, monordicin	Blood purifier

Anthelminthic

1	Chenopodium	Chenopodium ambrosoides var.antihelminticum (Chenopodiaceae)	Volatile oil from leaves, flowering and fruit part.		Ascaridole	Veterinary practice
2	Male fern	Dryopteris filixmas (polypodaceae)	Whole fern		Filixic acid	Anti viral, febrifuge Anti-inflammatory
3	Artemisia (worm seed)	Artemisia cina, Artemisia maritima (compositae)	F lower		Santonin	Febrifuge Digestive
4	Kapur kachari	Hedychium spicatum (zingiberaceae)	Shoot		Volatile oil, starch	Stomachic, emmenagogue, diarrhoea.
5	Sudab	Ruta graveolens (Rutaceae)	Whole plant		Furanocoumarins, acridone alkaloids	Antispasmodic, antiepileptic
Cardiotonic
1	Digitalis (Fox glove)	Digitalis purpurea (schrophulariaceae)	Dried leaves		Purpurea glycosides A, B, D, E	Atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia
2	Digitalis	Digitalis lanata (Scrophulariaceae)	Dried leaves		Lanatosides A, B, C	Atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia
3	Thevetia	Thevetia nerifolia (Apocynaceae)	Seed		Thevetin	Abortifacient , purgative,emetic.
4	Adonis	Adonis vernalis (Ranunculaceae)	Dried overground portion		Adoniotoxin, K – stropahanthin	Tranquilizer
5	Squill	Urginea indica (Liliaceae)	Dried Bulb		Scillaren A and B	Rodenticides, (in red squill)
6	Strophanthus	Strophanthus kombe (Apocynaceae)	Seed		Strophanthidin	Tincture
7	Strophanthus	Strophanthus gratus	Seed		Ouabain	Anticoagulant
8	Arjuna	Terminalia arjuna (combetraceae)	Bark		Tannin, triterpenoid saponins	Diuretic, astringent
Liver protecting drugs
1	Kalmegh	Andrographis panniculata (Acanthaceae)	Entire arial portion		Andrographoids, Flavonoids	Stomachic, cholagogue
2	Picrorhiza	Picrorhiza kurroa royalae (Schrophulariaceae)	Root and rhizome		Picroside, kutkoside	Bitter tonic
3	Phyllanthus	Phyllanthus amarus, P. Urinaria (Euphorbiaceae)	Entire plant		Phyllnthin, Phyllanthidin, Hypophyllanthin, Niranthin	against hepatitis B virus
4	Silybum	Silybum marianum (Compositae)	Leaf and fruit		Silybin, silandrin, silymonin	Bitter tonic
5	Long piper	Piper longum ( Piperaceae)	Root		Piperine	Febrifuge, stomachic, analgesic
Antileprotic
1	Chaulmoogra oil	Hydnocarpus wightiana (Flacourtiaceae)	Oil from the fresh ripe seeds	Hydnocarpic acid, chalmougric acid, garlic acid		Anti tubercular
2	Kala zeera	Nigela sativa (Ranunculaceae)	Seed	Alkaloid, volatile oil		Diuretic, mercury poisoning
Antileucodermal plant
1	Babchi	Psoralea corylifolia (leguminosae)	Fruit,seed	Flavonoids, fixed oil psoralidin, psoralen,		Stomachic,anthelmenthic,diuretic
2	Ammi majus	Ammi majus (umbelliferae)	Fruit	Psoralen, bergapten, xanthotoxin		Treatment of Vitiligo
Anticoagulant
1	Safedak	Calotropis procera (Asclepidaceae)	Latex, root	Asclepin, bacterioletin.		Purgative, emetic, rheumatism
2	Papaya	Carica papaya (Caricaceae)	Fruit, seed	Pappain, benzyl thiocarbamide, carotenoids		Digestive, Diuretic,
Antidiarrhoel and Antidysentrics
1	Kurchi	Holarrhena antidysentrica (Apocynace)	Bark, root, seed	Conessine, Nor connessin, kurchin		Stomachic,dropsy, febrifuge
2	Ipecac	Cephalis ipecacuanha (rubiaceae)	Root and rhizome	Emetin, cephalin		Emetic
3	Zeera	Cuminum cyminum (Umbelliferae)	Dried ripe fruit	Cumin aldehyde		Carminative
4	Mango	Mangifera indica (Ancardiaceae)	Bark	Poly phenol, cynogenic glycosides		Diaarrhoea
5	Madar	Calotropis gigantean (Asclepidaceae)	Root , flower	Mudarine, asclepine		Diarrhea
6	Amla	Phyllanthus embelica (Euphorbiaceae)	Flower, fruit	Trigloyl glucose and other tannins		Liver tonic, source of vit C
7	Acorus	Acorus calamus (Araceae)	Rhizome	Volatile oil sesquiterpine, asarone		Carminative, sedative,epilepsy
8	Jawashir	Ferula galbaniflua (Umbelliferae)	Fruit	Sesquiterpine,umbelliferone		Carminative,expectorant
9	Isaphgol	Plantago ovata (Plantaginaceae)	Seed, husk	Mucilage		Bulk laxative
10	Bael	Aegle marmelos (Rutaaceae)	Fruit	Marmelosine, tannins		Bulk laxative
11	Pale catechu	Uncaria gambier (Rubiaceae)	Bark, leaf	Catechin, catechu tannic acid		Astringent
12	Rhubarb	Rheum officinalis (polygonaceae)	Rhizome	Rhein, other anthraquinone glycosides		Laxative

Anti asthamatics

1	Ephedra	Ephedra sinica (gentiaceae)	Stem, aerial part	Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine	Hay fever
2	Vasaka	Adhota vasica (acanthaceae)	leaf	Vasicine, vasicinone	Oxytocic, expectorant
3	Asthma weed	Lobelia inflata (lobeliaceae)	Entire plant	Lobeline	Respiratory stimulant,
4	Tukhm-i-gandana	Nigelia indica (Ranunculaceae)	Seed	Volatile oil	Expectorant

Anti hypertensive drugs

1	Rauwolfia	Rauwolfia serpentina (apocynaceae) <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->	Rhizome & root	Ajmaline, ajmalinine, ajmalicine,serpentine, serpentinine reserpine, rescinnamine	Cardiac arrythmia, neuropsychiatric disorder
2	Vinca	Catharanthus roseus (apocynaceae)	Flowering shoot & leaf	Ajmalicine, serpentine, tetrahydroalstonine, vincristine, vinblastine	Hodgkins disease, lymphocytic leukaemia, lung,cervical & breast cancer
3	Porprang	Convolvulus pluricaulis (convulvulaceae)	Whole plant	Sanghpushpine, α-β pinene	Antiulcer, mental stimulation
4	Nutgrass	Cyprus rotundas (cypraceae)	Root & seed	Sesquiterpene, hydrocarbon, epoxides	Anti inflammatory, antipyretic, anti emetic
5	Olive oil	Oleaeuropoea (Oleaceae)	Fruit &leaf	Triglycerides of oleic,palmitic & linoleic acid.	Laxative
6	Visnaga	Ammi visnaga (Umbelliferae)	Khellin, visnagin, khellol-glycoside, samidine.	Fruit	Smooth muscle relaxant, asthma
7	Veratrum	Veratrum viride, v. album (Liliaceae)	Jeveratrum, ceveratrum, protoveratrine.	Rhizome,roots	Arrythmia
Antiglaucomal drugs.
1	Calabar bean	Physostigma venonosum (Loganiaceae)	Seeds	Physostigmine, physovenine	Atropine poisioning
2	Jaborandi	Pilocarpus jaborandi (Rutaceae)	leaves	Pilocarpine, pilosine	Emetic, Febrifuge, Diuretic, Dropsy, Lactagogue,

Table 3: Herbals used as pharmaceutical additives

S.No.	Common Name	Biological Name and Family	Active constituents	Use
1.	Acacia	Acacia arabica (leguminosae)	Arabic acid, arabinose, arabin oxydase	Emulsifying agent, pastille base suspending agent, tablet binder, emulgent, disintegrating agent.
2.	Tragacanth	Astragalus gumifers (leguminosae)	Tragacanthin, bassorin, tragacanthic acid	Suspending agent, emulsifying agent, viscosity enhancing agent, preparation of cream gel.
3.	Guargum	cyamopsis, tetragonolobus (leguminosae)	Guaran, protein, galactomannan.	Thickening agent, binding agent, disintegrating agent and have good emulsifying property also used in food and cosmetic industry.
4.	Algin	Macrocystis pyrifera, laminaria hyperborsea (Phaeophyceae)	Alginic acid	Thickening agent, suspending agents, Binding agent, disintegrating agent
5.	Isapgol	Plantago ovata (Plantagenaceae)	Pantoson, mucilage, aldobionic acid	Tablet disintegrator, sustained release formulation, enteric coating material
6.	Carrgeenin (Irish moss)	Chondrus cryspus (Gigarginaceae)	Kappa-carrageenan, lambda carrageenan	Emulsifying agent, stabilizing agent, gelling agent, viscosity enhancer, cream, lotions.
7.	Agar	Gelidium spp. (Gelidaceae)	Agarose, agaropectin	Emulsifying agent, thickening agent, preparation of gellies
8.	Gum Ghatti	Anogeissus latifolia (Combretaceae)	Polysaccharide, oxidase,	Emulsifying agent, viscosity enhancer
9.	Vanilla pod	Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae)	glucovanillin	Flavouring agent
10.	Wild cherry bark	Prunus serotina (Rosaceae)	Prunasin	Flavouring agent
11	Clove	Eugenia caryophyllus (Myrtaceae)	Eugenol	Flavouring agent
12	Cinnamon	Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Lauraceae)	Cinnamaldehyde	Flavouring agent
13	Coriander	Coriandrum sativum (Umbelliferae)	Coriandrol	Flavouring agent
14	Lemon Peel	Citrus limonis (Rutaceae)	Limonene, Citral, Citronellal	Flavouring agent
15	Lemongrass oil	Cymbopogon flexuousus; C. citrotes (Gramineae)	Citral, Citranellal	Flavouring agent
16	Orange Peel	Citrus chrysocarpa, C. aurantium (Rutaceae)	Volatile Oil, Vitamin C, Hersperidin	Flavouring agent
17	Sandal Wood	Santalum album (Santalaceae)	Santanol, santalol	Flavouring agent
18	Saffron	Crocus Sativus (Iridaceae)	Picrocrocin, Crocin, Safranal, Crocetin	Flavouring agent, Colouring agent.
19	Peppermint, Mentha Oil	Mentha piperita (Labiatae)	Menthol, menthone	Flavouring agent
20	Black Pepper	Piper nigrum (Piperaceae)	Piperine, Piperidine, Starch	Stimulant, Bioavaibility Enhancer
21	Pudina	Mentha spicata (Labiatae)	Menthol,menthone.	Flavouring agent
22	Arachis Oil	Arachis hypogea (Leguminosae)	Glycerides of oleic, linoleic,arachidic acid	Vehicle for Oily Injections,lubricant.
23	Bitter Almond Oil	Prunus amygdalus (Rosaceae)	Amygdalin.	Vehicle for Oily Injections, sedative
24	Sesame Oil	Sesamun indicum (Pedaliaceae)	Glycerides of oleic linoleic,palmitic acid and sesamolin.	Vehicle for Oily Injections, laxative.
25	Corn Oil	Zea-mays (Gramineae)	Glycerides of oleic, linoleic acid, vitamin E.	Vehicle for Oily Injections & for topical Preparation.
26	Cocoa Butter	Theobroma cacao (Sterculiaceae)	Glycerides of stearic, oleic and palmitic acids	Suppository base
27	Kokum butter	Garcinia indica (Guttiferae)	Glycerides of stearic, palmiitic and linolenic acid	Emollient, Suppository base
28	Carnauba wax	Copernicia verifera (Palmae)	Carnaubic and cerotic acid	Suppository base, depilatories and lipstick
29	Henna	Lawsonia inermis (lythraceae)	Lawsone	Hair dye, hair care products like rinses, conditioners
30	Quillaia	Quillaja saponaria (Rosaceae)	Saponin glycosides	Emulsifying agents, as a detergent in the preparation of shampoos.
31	Liquorice	Glycyrrhiza glabra(leguminosae)	Glycyrrhizin, glucose,sucrose, glycyramarin	Flavouring agent in pharmaceutical preparation of ammonium chloride, quinine, alkali iodide.
32	Annatto	Bixa orellana(Bixaceae)	Bixin	Colouring agent in cosmetics.
33	Tolu balsam	Myroxylon balsamum (leguminosae)	Cinnamic acid, benzoic acid, benzoyl benzoate,volatile oil	Flavouring agent, expectorant
34	Gum karaya	Sterculia urens(sterculiaceae)	Acetylated Gum	Emulsifying, thickening, stabilizing agent
35	Locust bean gum	Ceratonia siliqua (leguminosae)	Pentan , d-galacto-d-mannoglycon	Substitute for starch, stabilizing, thickening, binding agent.
36	Turmeric	Curcuma longa (zingiberaceae)	Curcuminoids, volatile oil.	Colouring agent for ointment and cream.
37	Kapur kachari	Hedychium spicatum (zingiberaceae)	Volatile oil, starch	Flavouring agent.
38	Vetiver	Vetiveria zizanioides (Gramineae)	Vetivenol, Vetivones	Refrigerant, flavouring agent, aromatic,
39	Palmarosa oil	Cymbopogon martini (Gramineae)	Geraniol, citronellal,	Flavouring agent in cosmetics
40	Citronella oil	Cymbopogon nardus (Gramineae)	Citronellal, geraniol, limonene	Flavoring agent for liniment and lotion

Conclusions

The present scenario in the pharma sector predicts that phytopharmaceuticals will have a huge global demand and the herbal industries are set to make a great impact both in terms of volume and value. With the increasing use of herbal products, particularly in USA, the future worldwide labeling practice for herbal products should adequately address quality aspects. Today, a vast knowledge concerning therapeutic and additive properties of different plants has accumulated. All phyla plants viz. thallophyta, bryophyta, pteridophyta, and higher plant contain large number of species that produce official and non-official chemicals of pharmaceutical importance. They act as integral part of drug delivery system. Herbals used in drug delivery system either directly as active constituents or indirectly as pharmaceutical additives, such as bio-availability enhancer, binder, lubricant, thickening agent, emulsifying agent, as vehicle for oily injections and as stability enhancers.

Standardization of methods and quality control data on safety and efficacy are required for proper understanding of the use of herbal medicines. The efficacy and safety of any pharmaceutical product is determined by the compounds (desired and undesired) which it contains. The purpose of quality control is to ensure that each dosage unit of the drug product delivers the same amount of active ingredients and is, as far as possible, free of impurities. As herbal medicinal products are complex mixtures which originate from biological sources, great efforts are necessary to guarantee a constant and adequate quality. By carefully selecting the plant material and a standardized manufacturing process the pattern and concentration of constituents of herbal medicinal products should be kept as constant as possible as this is a prerequisite for reproducible therapeutic results.^(27,65)A better co-operation between drug regulatory authorities and research scientists can ensure better future prospects for the herbal industries in times to come. Following the WHO and other regulatory guidelines is just a step forward.

References

Ahmad, I., Mehmood, Z. and Mohammad, F., (1998). Journal of Ethanopharmacology, 62, pp.183-193.
Ali M ,(2004) Text book of Pharmacognosy, 2^nd edition pp 3-4, 71-86, 95-111, 162-164, 353-390.
Amber D, Ackerson. (2003) Better nutrition, Japanese journal of cancer.
Ang-lee, M. K., Moss J, Yuan, C. S, (2001), JAMA (286) pp 208-216.
Archana, R. and Namasivayam, A., (1999). Journal of Ethanopharmacology, 64, pp. 91-93.
Argel, A., Pathak, A. K., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 106 (1), pp 142 – 145
Atal, C.K., Sharma, M.L., Kaul, A. And khajuria, A., (1986), Indian drugs,18(2), pp 133-147.
Avinash, P. S., Venkat, K. R., Pragya, S., Pranab, G., Utpal, S., (2006) Journal of ethnopharmacology, 106 (2), pp 149 -157.
Bauer R, Czygan F-C, Franz G, Ihrig M, Nahrstedt A, Sprecher E. (1993)Dtsch Apoth Ztg.;133:4105–4108.
Bauer R, Czygan F-C, Franz G, Ihrig M, Nahrstedt A, Sprecher E. (1994) Z Phytother, 15:82–91.
Bauer R, Tittel G. (1996)Phytomedicine, 2:193–198.
Benencia, F., Courreges, M. C. and Coulombie, F. C., (2000). Journal of Ethanopharmacology, 69, pp.199-205.
Bkattacharya, A., Kumar, M., Ghosal and Bhattacharya, (2000).Phytomedicine, 7(2), pp. 173-175.
14.Blumenthal M (1999). HerbalGram,45: 68.
15.Brevoort P (1995). Herbal Gram,36:49-59.
Campbell, J. I. A., Mortensen, A., Molgaard, P., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 104(3), pp 379 – 386
Chakraborty, A. and Brantener, A. H., (1999). Journal of Ethanopharmacology, 68, pp. 339-344.
Chalmer. C. T., (2000). Centre for Systemic Review, Children Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Canada.
Charles, W., Fetrow, J. R., Avila, R.,(2003)The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicine.
Chopra, I.C. and Handa, K. L., (1980). Review of Research in Medicinal Plants, ICAR, New Delhi.
Cristiana M., Freire, M., Marcia, O. M., Costa, M., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103 (2) pp161 – 166
De Smet PAGM (1997). Drugs, 54: 801-840.
Dighe, V. V., Sane, R. T., Menon, S., Raje, S. C., (2006) Indian Drugs, 43(6), pp 487 – 492
24.Editorial (1994). Lancet,343: 1513-1515.
Evans WC, Trease and Evans’ Pharmacognosy, 14th edition W.B., Saunders & Co., London pp 415- 416, 474 - 504, 507 - 509.
Gaedcke F. (1991) Dtsch Apoth Ztg. 131:2551–2555.
Gandhaimulay and Ashwin deshpandaya(2006), Expresspharmaonline.com
Gangnar, P., Kumar, M., 2006,Indian Drugs, 43 (1), pp 55 – 58
Ghazanfari, T., Hassan, Z. M.,Khamesipour, A., 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103 (3), pp 333 – 337
Haijto, T., Hostanska, K. and Gabius, H.J., (1989). J. Cancer Res., 49, pp. 4803-4808
Handa S.S, Kapoor V. K, Text book of Pharmacognosy, 1^st edition, pp158 - 167, 283 - 302.
Idose, O., Guthe T., Willeox, R. and Deweck, A. L., (1968).Bulletin of WHO, 38, pp. 159-188.
Ishihara, T., Okura, T., kohno, K., Ikegami, H. and Kurimoto, M., 2000, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 72, pp 104 – 150
Jain, N. K. and Sharma, S. N., A text book of professional Pharmacy 4^th Edn. pp 172 – 173, 185 – 186, 193 – 194
Jose, J. K. and Kuttan, R., (2000). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 72, pp. 135-140.
Kamal, J. P., Boloor, K. K., Adevasagayam, T. P. and Venkatachalam, S. R., (2000). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 71, pp. 425-435.
Katzung B.G Basic and clinical pharmacology, 5th edition1992 Appleton and Langes publishers. pp 1088 - 1102
Khan, K. H., Jain, S. K., (2003) Hamdard medicus Vol. XLVI (3), pp 23-30.
Khatoon, S., Rai, V.,Rawat, A. K. S., Mehrotra, S., 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology 104 (1-2) pp 79 – 86
Kim, S. H., Hyon, S. H., Chong, S. Y., 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology 104, pp 119 – 123
Kokate C.K, Purohit A.P, Gokhale S.B; Pharmacognosy; 13th edition pp 135-166, 169-173, 316, 319-320, 322-326, 368-369, 371-372, 381-382, 385-386, 454-456, 591.
Kumar , S., Suresh, P. K., Vijay Babu, M. R., Arun Kumar, A., Arunakaran, J., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 105 (2), pp 246 – 250
Lee, H. J., Atlyun, N. J., Byung, H. K., Rhee, M. H., Kyorng, H., Jaacho, Euosonno,(2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 103 (2), pp 208 – 216
Lee, H. S., Ahn, H. C., Kwang, S., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 105 (1), pp 380 – 386
Lee, S., Long, C., Fengynalin, Sangurolee, Rongli, (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 108 (1) pp 59 – 67
Mathbe, M. E., Nikolova, R. V., Lall, N., Nyazama, (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 105 (2), pp 286 – 293
Mathur,R., Sharma, A., Dixit, V. P. and Verma, M., (1996) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 50, pp 61 – 68
Mukherjee, K. P., Maiti, K., Mukherjee, K., Houghton, P. J., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 106(1), pp 1 – 28
Pandey G.& Sharma M., (2006), Indian Drugs, 43(11)
Patil D.N etal hepatoprotective action of herbal plants, (july2006). Indian drugs, 43(7)
Patwardhan, B. and Hopper, B., (1992) J. Altern. Complemet Med, 19(12), pp 9-10.
Pengcheng, L., Sauai, L., Wongs, Yangy, Ghi, J., (2006) Journal of Natural Prod, 69(11), pp 1629 -1633
Perumalsamy, R. and Patricraja, D., (1996).Acta Botanica Indica,24, pp. 113-114.
Pharmacopoeia of Britain,(1999) Vol 1. pp 31-32, 505-506, 722, 1043, 1054, 1060, 1233, 1251, 1272-1274, 2003.
Pharmacopoeia of India (1996) Vol 1. pp 19, 356-358.
Pharmacopoeia of United state, The national formulary (1990) pp 1092-93, 1992. pp 22-25
Prakash, J. and Gupta, S.K., (2000). Journal of Ethanopharmacology,72,pp. 29-34.
Puri, A,Saxena, R. P., Sumati, P. Y. G, Dhawan, B. N., Kulshreshtha, D. K., Saxena, K. C., (1992). Planta medica, 58, pp. 528-532.
Radoslaw, P., Zielinski, H., Ciesiolka, D., Gulewicz, K., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 104 (1-2), pp 18 – 23
Rang and Dale (2004) pharmacology 5^th edition pp 278
Runyoro, D. R. B., Ngassapa, O. D., Matee, M. I. N., Joseph, C. C., Moshi, M. J., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 106 (2), pp 158 – 165
Satoskar, R. S., Bhandardkar, S. D., (1983), Pharmacology and pharmacotherepeutics, Part 1, 8^th edn.,
Scartizzini, P., Antognoni, F., Raggi, M. A., Poli, F., Sabbioni, C., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 104 (1-2) pp 113 – 118
64.Schulz V, Hänsel R & Tyler VE (1996). Rational Phytotherapy. A Physicians' Guide to Herbal Medicine. 3rd edn. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Schwabe W., Pharmaceutical drug information journal (2000). 34. pp. 15-23.
Shah, S.H., Siddiqui, M. M. H., Siddiqui, M.Y., (2001). Hamdard Medicus, Vol. XLIV(2), pp.19-21.
Sharma, H. M., Hanna, A. N., Kuffman, E. M. And Newman, H. A. I., (1992) Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour, 43, pp. 1175 – 1182
Siddiqui, M. M. J., Hakim, M. H., and Jafri, S. A. H., (2001) Hamdard Medicus, Vol XLIV (2),
Tripathi, K. D., (2005) Essential of medical pharmacology 5^th edition pp 252, 440, 513, 581, 600, 611.
Velasco – Lezama, R., Tapia – Agistar, R., Roman – Ramos, R., Vega – Avila, E., Perez – guiterrez, Ma. S., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103(1), pp 36 – 42
Vilasenor, I.M., Lamadrid, M. R. A., (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 104, pp 129 – 131
Vincent, S. V., Remington The science and practice of pharmacy 20^th edition vol. 1, pp 409 – 439
Wang, L.C. H., Wang, B., Sum – Yan Ng, Tze – Funlee, (2006) Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103(1), pp 103 – 108
Wargovich MJ, Woods C, Hollis DM, Zander ME. J Nutr. (2001);3034S-3036S.
Wazir, V., Mayura, R. and Kapil, R.S., (1995). Phytochemistry, 38, pp.447-449.
Weiger WA, Smith M, Boon H, Richardson MA, Kaptchuk TJ, Eisenberg DM. (2002) Ann Intern Med.137:889-903.
Werneke U, Earl J, Seydel C, Horn O, Crichton P, Fannon D. (2004) Br J Cancer. 90:408-41
WHO. Research guidelines for evaluating the safety and efficacy of herbal medicines. World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila; (1993).
William, J. R. Jr., Remington The science and practice of pharmacy 20^th edition Vol. 1, pp 1016 - 1050
Zani, F., Cuzzoni, M. T., Daglea, M., Benvenuti, S.,Vampa,G. and Mazza, P. (1993), Planta Medica, 59, pp 502-507.

About Authors:

Mohammad R Ain., Sohail Akhter., Sanjar Alam., Raisuddin Ali

Mohammad Ruhal Ain

Mohammad Ruhal Ain M.Pharm
Lecturer, Dept. of Clinical Pharmacy, Al-Kharj College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Email:main@ksu.edu.sa;ruhulksu@yahoo.com

Sohail Akhter

Sohail Akhter (PhD)
Research Scholar, Dept. of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

Sanjar Alam

Sanjar Alam (PhD)
Research Scholar, Dept. of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

Raisuddin Ali

Raisuddin Ali (PhD)
Research Scholar, Dept. of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

very nice topic

Submitted by madhura kulkarni on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 06:32.

sir this is very intresting topic

Co-relate with prrobale mechanism of action

Submitted by Shiv Majumdar on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 05:51.

My Team :
http://www.pharmainfo.net/blog/team-infinity

My Page :
http://www.pharmainfo.net/majumdarshiv

Dear Mohammad R Ain., Sohail Akhter., Sanjar Alam., Raisuddin Ali ,

Good efforts, really its agood copilation. You should add a column related to probable mecahnism of action. As in many case the activity you mentioned is not co-relating for example in Anti -AIDS drugs, Hypericum- you mentioned as sedative, so its very difficult to co-realte sedative action with AIDS.

Regards
Shiv