Indian Plants in Medicine-Green Economics

From ancient to modern history, many traditional plant based medicines are playing an important role in health care. Phytochemicals are natural bioactive compounds found in vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants, aromatic plants, leaves, flowers and roots which act as a defense system to combat against diseases. The phytochemicals from medicinal aromatic plants (MAP) cover a diverse range of chemical entities such as polyphenols, flavonoids, steroidal saponins and vitamins. A number of bioactive compounds generally obtained from terrestrial plants such as isoflavones, diosgenin, resveratrol, quercetin, catechin, sulforaphane, tocotrienols and carotenoids are proven to reduce the risk of many diseases perhaps due to their antioxidative, antihypercholesteroemic, antiangiogenic, anti-ischemic, inhibition of platelet aggregation and anti inflammatory activities. The multi-faceted role of the phytochemicals is mediated by its structure-function relationship and can be considered as leads for perfumery, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmaceuticals and agrochemical industries in future.