Importance Of Medicinal Plants In Pakistan

1.1. Medicinal plants

Medicinal plant have been identified and used throughout the human history. Plants have the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions, and to defend against attack from predator such as insects, fungi and herbivorous mammals. At least 12,000 such compounds have been isolated so far; a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. (1) ( Tapsell et al.2006) Chemical compounds in plants mediate their effects on the human body through processes identical to those already well understood for the chemical compounds in conventional drugs; thus herbal medicines do not differ greatly from conventional drugs in terms of how they work. This enables

(7) Altitude of Pakistan ranges from 0 to 8611m, has a diversity of climatic zones and a unique biodiversity, Out of about 258,650 species of higher plants reported from the world; more than 10% are used to cure ailing communities. Beside many known drugs (e.g. tubocurine, reserpine, aspirin and morphine etc ) are discovered based on traditional knowledge. Majority of the people in Pakistan rely on medicinal plants to find treatment for their minor, even in some cases major diseases. Some wild plants are now being commonly used e.g. Ephedrine, Artemisia, Hippophae beside some that have been domesticated e.g. Garlic, Ginger and Cumin etc. There is a local market system (Pansara) specifically dealing with medicinal plants business in Pakistan and several plants are

Significances of Medicinal Plants to Human Being Many of the modern medicines are produced indirectly from medicinal plants, for example aspirin.. Plants are directly used as medicines by a majority of cultures around the world, for example Chinese medicine and Indian medicine. .Many food crops have medicinal effects, for example garlic. Medicinal plants are resources of new drugs. Studying medicinal plants helps to understand plant toxicity and protect human and animals from natural poisons. Cultivation and preservation of medicinal plants protect biological diversity, for example metabolic Engineering of plants. (9)(Shinwari 2010).

1.1.6. Ethno