ABSTRACT
The term herb originated from the Latin word herba, and an old French word, herbe, which has been used for the non-woody plants as well as for plant parts that come from the shrubs and trees. In current time, the term herb has been applied to every part of the plants, i.e. root, stem, bark, leaf, flower, fruit and seed, as well as applied to the non-woody plants. The use of herbs for medicinal proposes has been documented for over 4000 years, such as in Unani manuscripts, Egyptian papyrus, Indian Vaids, and Chinese writings as well as in European and Mediterranean cultures. Herbs (medicinal plants) have certain specific chemical compounds known as phytochemicals, which are secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, terpenes, nitrogen-containing compounds, and phenolic compounds. Due to the presence of these phytochemicals, plant and plant extract formulations have been used to treat disease. Development of herbal medicines involves the amalgamation of many remedial systems and practices, after which a certain cure of a particular disease is formulated that is passed from one generation to the next with the valuable guidelines for the selection, preparation, and application of the herbal formulation. Moreover, the uses of herbal medicine has increased tremendously in recent years due to fewer side effects than experienced with traditional medications. Therefore, plants are considered as one of the main sources of biologically active compounds and contributed a lot to the discovery of new drugs. The popularity of herbal medicine for the control and cure of health is included in a World Health Organization (WHO) report, which showed that 60% of the world’s population depends on herbal medicine. Beside this, 80% of the population in developing countries depends on herbal medicine. Extensive bioactive compound research has been done on herbal plants in an effort to find cures and treatments of specific diseases.
