Safety Related Quality Issues – Evidence Based Approach for Evaluation of Botanicals in ISM

Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) including Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy has been practiced in India for centuries. The ancient text of Ayurveda reports more than 2000 plant species for their therapeutic potentials for the people of India and neighboring countries. This system is widely respected for its uniqueness and global acceptance. Ethno-medicinal uses of plants are one of the most successful areas to find new therapeutic agents in pharmaceutical industries. Development of this traditional system of medicines with the perspectives on safety, efficacy and quality will not only help to preserve this traditional heritage, but also help to rationalize the use of natural products in health care. Scientific validation of all the parameters is a very vital step towards safer herbal medicines so as to strengthen their use in the health care system.

Natural products are the best source of chemical diversity for finding new entities and leads. Recent combinatorial chemistry techniques have been used very successfully in the scientific corroboration of bioactive molecules and constituents obtained from the traditional herbal/medicinal plants. The application of new techniques for the validation and documentation of medicinal plants such as DNA bar coding, proteomics, metabolomics, etc are being taken into account in the current scenario for safety and quality related issues. Several aspects surrounding the confluence of strategies for the promotion of Indian natural products are being examined. This can be achieved through the scientific exploitation of the established facts from our ancient systems through proper validation of the claims based on pharmacological and phytochemical assessments.