Publication

Abstract : In many countries just like India, traditional medicines provide the only affordable treatment available to indigenous community. In developing countries, up to 80% of the population depends on traditional medicines to help meet their healthcare needs (WHO Fact Sheet: 2002). The indigenous communities have always generated, refined and passed the knowledge from generation to generation. Such “traditional knowledge” is an important part of their cultural identity. India is one of the richest countries in the world as regards genetic resource of medicinal and aromatic plants. It constitutes 11% of total known world flora though its total land mass occupies only 2.0% of the globe. India has 15 agro-climatic zones, 47,000 different plant species. Medicinal plants, as a group, comprise approximately 15,000 species and account for about 32% of all the higher flowering plant species of India. Out of these the Indian systems of medicine have identified 1,500 medicinal plants, of which 500 species are generally used in the preparation of drugs.Traditional knowledge has played a vital role in the daily lives of the vast majority of people. Traditional knowledge is essential to the food security and health of millions of people in the developing country like India and state like Orissa. Now- a day the knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants has been the source of many modern medicines. During the last few decades, the demand of ethno medicine has increased significantly. The popularity of herbal drugs, herbal cosmetics and nutraceuticals has increased in India and in the world as well