Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Potential of Heritage Herbs

Since antiquity, the medicinal herbs have been a vital source to heal a broad range of human ailments. In the past decades, the upturn of interest in natural drugs has originated due to the beliefs that the natural source of medicine is provisionally healthier than the synthetic products owing to its lesser side effects and availability at affordable prices. As per the WHO, about 4 billion people (75–85%) around the globe depend on folk medicines to cure various ailments. The benefit of medicinal herbs in human healthcare is definitely indisputable as even now numerous curative folk herbs are being utilized globally. It is of uttermost necessity to assess the wealthy legacy of traditional system of medicines. As the ethnomedicinal plants holds remarkable importance, they are widely used by the numerous heritages for their traditional curing properties. The study of ethnomedicinal plants enlightens the cultural practice, ecological knowledge, and the potential for the modern medicinal research. In this regard some ethnomedicinal plants such as Withania somnifera, Ocimum sanctum, Cinnamomum cassia, Crataeva nurvala, Tinospora cordifolia, Uraria picta, and Solanum xanthocarpum are investigated in this study to highlight their iatric importance in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical disciplines.