Phytochemical and pharmacological evaluation of Aerial parts of Aerva lanata Linn Juss Ex Schult

Abstract

Ayurveda originated in India long back in the preand#8208;vedic period. The Rigveda and Atharvaveda (5000 BC), the earliest Indian documents have references on health and diseases. During the Vedic period the Susruta samhita and the charaka samhita were influential works on traditional medicine. The fundamental and applied principles of Ayurveda scienceand#8223;and#8223;, got organized and enunciated around 1500 BC. Ayurveda traces its origins to the Vedas,Atharvaveda in particular, is connected to Hindu religion. Ayurvedic system of medicine was based on nature and its product. The Indian subcontinent is enriched by a variety of flora-both aromatic and medicinal plants. This is due to the wide diversity of climatic conditions in India ranging from desert to swamplands. Numerous types of herbs have been well recognized and catalogued by botanists from the high ranges of the Himalayan tract up to the sea-shore of Kanyakumari. This extensive flora has been greatly utilized as a source of many drugs in the Indian traditional system of medicine. Over the following centuries, Ayurvedic practitioners developed a number of medicinal preparations and surgical procedures for the treatment of various ailments and diseases. Ayurvedic medicinal preparations consist mainly of plant materials in the form of powders, semiand#8208;solid preparations, decoctions, elixirs and distillates. Many of them also contain inorganic chemical substances, minerals and animal products. Alcoholic extracts and alcoholic solutions of the ingredients, tinctures and elixirs are also frequently used in ayurvedic medicine. Besides this, natural medicines have become the part of our daily diet like turmeric, cardamom, garlic, onion, ginger, tulsi, cloves, etc. Fruit, vegetable, pulses, wheat and rice grains which we consume daily provide us with essential nutrients like vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and different minerals required for smooth functioning of our body, the idea here is that prevention is better than cure and to the much extent this is true.