India is climatically diverse country that exhibits all the types of climates which

make it a repository of a large number of vegetation types. It is one of the mega

climatically diverse countries in the world. The central part of the country is

predominantly tropical with the costal habitats along the marine line, while the

northern part of the country is mainly temperate Himalayan region with varying

types of habitats starting from subtropical to extremely cold desert types, and in

between are the temperate subalpine to alpine types of ecosystems. Presence of the

Himalayas in the north and oceans in the south greatly influences the occurrence of a

variety of plants species in the different natural habitats of the country. India is

perhaps one of the rare countries in the world where all types of vegetation types are

found. The European countries and the countries near polar regions are dominated

with the temperate vegetation types, while the countries near Mediterranean region

are of tropical in nature, while India exhibits both the tropical as well as temperate

types of vegetation thus making it a biodiversity-enriched destination in terms of the

occurrence of plants species. It is estimated that about 50,000 plants are found in the

country out of which about 18,000 are flowering plants. Many of these plants are

directly utilized as a basic source of food in form of cereals, pulses, vegetables,

fruits, and oil-yielding plants while indirectly fodder plants as a source of food to the

animals to meet out our demand of dairy, poultry, and such other products required

in the daily life. A segment of these plants possess the medicinal properties conven-

tionally utilized as remedy to cure many ailments since time immemorial and termed

as medicinal plants. Number of such plants is approx. 6000 in the country out of

which about 2500 are in use in various Indian systems of medicines. The role of

some plants as an effective means of healthcare in the society is well accepted and

described in detail by the various Ayurveda scholars like Charak and Sushruta.

About 90% preparations of the Ayurvedic drugs are herbal-based. The various

morphological parts of the plants yield the basic raw material called as crude

drugs derived from the morphological parts of the species which may be in form

of root drugs, bark drugs, hard wood drugs, leaf drugs, flower drugs, fruit/seeds

drugs, whole plant drugs, exude drugs, and the like. These crude drugs as raw or in

semi-processed form constitute a drug formulation of the Ayurvedic medicine. Many

Ayurvedic classic formulations are either a single-herb preparation or a combination

of many herbs; sometimes the number may be more than 30 herbs as in

Chyavanprash. Poly-herbal combinations are proven far effective than single-herb

formulations. In poly-herbal formulations the constituents are combined in such a

way that the formula is balanced and reproducible. One or two of the plants in these

combinations will be active, and the others will play a supporting role. The

supporting herbs will each have different actions, acting as catalysts to help proper

absorption and transportation and to reduce or eliminate toxicity. If an ideal combi-

nation is delivered, the results can be excellent, the outcome of which requires

experience and thorough knowledge.

534

D. R. Nag and A. Nag