Ethnic Plants as Therapeutic Agents for Human Diseases

Drug discovery and development is the necessity as global rise in disease prevalence among humans is a continuous challenge due to climate change. Drug discovery is the process that gives effective lead compounds for diverse targets such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, AIDS, cardiac diseases, and pain. The early steps of drug innovation entail identifying natural compounds. These compounds can be obtained through chemical synthesis or by isolating them from plants. Plants and their active ingredients act as sources for various new drugs. Identification of the accurate candidate plants for plant-based new drug discovery involves random screening of plants or evidence-based screening. Evidence-based screening includes application of either Ayurvedic knowledge, traditional documented use, ethnomedicine, or extensive literature search. Analysis of the components of the ancient formulations and their characteristics may provide an in-depth idea of the appropriate candidate plants. Ethnomedicine has been one of the important sources of lead identification in modern drug discovery. Ethnomedicine refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices that indigenous people and different cultures used to maintain health. This approach would lead to saving of time and cost. This chapter focuses on ethnic plants with therapeutic potential against different human diseases hoping to shed new light on discovery of novel therapeutic drugs from known plant natural sources. Ethnomedicinal resources will remain as key providers to development of effective drugs to curb global health challenges.