Traditional folk medicine and drug discovery: Prospects and outcome

Abstract

Ethnomedicinal plants and herbal formulations are the most common ingredients for the development of a potential herbal medicine (HM). Therapies leading to the remedy of various ailments using herbal medicine have been in practice from the prehistoric ages. In India, approximately 65-70% of the rural population depends on herbal medicine in the form of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and other indigenous ethnic systems. Globally, the margin of herbal medicine utilization is quite fascinating due to the side effects of using their synthetic counterparts for an extended period. Over time, the necessity of using HM became integral, and the drug development progressed accordingly. In 2016, the value of global HM market was USD 71.19 billion which was USD 63.05 billion in 2014. Witnessing that fact at global HM market, the level is expected to grow significantly in the future. This chapter aims to consolidate the discovered herbal origin drug leads and their possible role in the betterment of the herbal medicine system.