EMERGING TRENDS IN QUALITY CONTROL OF HERBAL MATERIALS

摘要

The therapeutic use of medicinal plants gained considerable momentum in the world during the past few decades. Traditional medicines, which are mostly based on the herbal raw materials growing in their respective regions, were used by over 70 percent of the world population as per WHO. The reason for their popularity was due to non-availability of modern medicines in the rural areas and also due to the unaffordability of modern medicines due to their high cost. Quality control of medicinal plants for use in these Traditional medicines has always been a challenge for the scientists working in this field. In our country, with the awareness growing among the people about the safety of Ayurvedic and Herbal medicines / cosmetics, the quality control testing of both raw herbal ingredients and finished formulations was seriously undertaken both by the academic / research institutions and the herbal drug manufacturers.