Herbal drugs have been used since the olden days. By the term “herbal” itself, it is from the plant origin and believed to be medicines for the treatment of a range of diseases. As a matter of fact, medicinal plants have played a major role in the well-being of the world population. However, there is a decline in the widespread application of phytotherapy, observed at the end of the first part of twentieth century. Plants still make an important contribution to healthcare in spite of the great advances in modern medicine in recent decades. Medicinal plants do grow in every corner of the world, but they’re most prominent in tropical countries. Moreover, interest in drugs derived from higher plants has increased extensively over the past decades,
…show more content…
Inherent toxicity of herbs can cause potential harm, as well as from adulteration, contamination, plant misidentification, and interactions with other herbal products or pharmaceutical drugs. Next, the use of phytotherapy according to the efficacy and safety criteria is not sufficient to guarantee the quality of both the herbal medicine and its use as the patient need products with high quality standards to make safe use of the phytotherapeutic products. Therefore, a set of regulations shared at the global level is important to promise high quality standards for medicinal plants. Likewise, the governmental framework should create the basic parameters to assure the quality and safety are in place in the use of …show more content…
Promoting the safety, efficacy and quality of traditional medicines is one of the major objectives. The quality of herbal medicines directly conveys their safety and efficacy. Thus, the first key step is to control the quality of medicinal plants and herbal materials.
This is a very complex and difficult task because it is well known that there are many contaminants and residues present that may cause harm to the consumers of herbal medicines, e.g. naturally occurring radionuclides, toxic metals or bacteria. Apart from that, emission from factories or the residues of certain pesticides can pollute the environment and subsequently medicinal plants. Recent research has also demonstrated that herbs may absorb heavy metals during growth (2). As a result, the health and well-being of people is subjected to potential global danger. However, we can assess the quality of the medicinal plants, herbal materials, and finished herbal products to ensure that herbal medicines with harmful contaminants and residues do not reach the public. Moreover, Guidelines on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants and Quality control methods for medicinal plant materials
Inherent toxicity of herbs can cause potential harm, as well as from adulteration, contamination, plant misidentification, and interactions with other herbal products or pharmaceutical drugs. Next, the use of phytotherapy according to the efficacy and safety criteria is not sufficient to guarantee the quality of both the herbal medicine and its use as the patient need products with high quality standards to make safe use of the phytotherapeutic products. Therefore, a set of regulations shared at the global level is important to promise high quality standards for medicinal plants. Likewise, the governmental framework should create the basic parameters to assure the quality and safety are in place in the use of …show more content…
Promoting the safety, efficacy and quality of traditional medicines is one of the major objectives. The quality of herbal medicines directly conveys their safety and efficacy. Thus, the first key step is to control the quality of medicinal plants and herbal materials.
This is a very complex and difficult task because it is well known that there are many contaminants and residues present that may cause harm to the consumers of herbal medicines, e.g. naturally occurring radionuclides, toxic metals or bacteria. Apart from that, emission from factories or the residues of certain pesticides can pollute the environment and subsequently medicinal plants. Recent research has also demonstrated that herbs may absorb heavy metals during growth (2). As a result, the health and well-being of people is subjected to potential global danger. However, we can assess the quality of the medicinal plants, herbal materials, and finished herbal products to ensure that herbal medicines with harmful contaminants and residues do not reach the public. Moreover, Guidelines on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants and Quality control methods for medicinal plant materials