The present status of Medicinal Plants in Bangladesh

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesian society used family medicinal plants to prevent infection by enhancing immunity. Consumption of medicinal plants as herbal medicine should have scientific consideration so that the benefits can be proven and do not cause harmful side effects. Cultivation of medicinal plants is necessary to meet the needs of the family's medicinal plants independently.Methods: We designed a community-based education to improve literacy about the cultivation and utilization of family medicinal plants to farmer groups at Blunyahrejo, Yogyakarta. The study used a quasi-experimental research design with one group pre-post-test design. The group received an intervention in the form of training on the use and cultivation of medicinal plants. Community literacy was measured before and after participants attended the training. The 1st post-test has been conducted right after the training and the 2nd post-test was carried out after 3 months of intervention. The data were analyzed by a paired t-test.Results: The total number of participants who participated was 28 people. Observations have also been done during and after the training. The study showed that there was an increase in knowledge about the cultivation and utilization of family medicinal plants between the pre-test and 1st post-test, 1st post-test and 2nd post-test, and the pre-test and 2nd post-test (9.96%; 1.98%; 12.04%).Conclusion: The training improved the literacy about the cultivation and utilization of family medicinal plants of the farmer group in Blunyahrejo, Yogyakarta. Although the number of participants was quite small, participants showed a positive response during and after the training. Community leaders often reported the activities of farmer groups that showed enthusiasm for maintaining and continuing the cultivation of medicinal plants after the training.

The Bangladeshi state is promoting the cultivation of medicinal plants and the development of an herbal pharmaceutical industry as a means to a more economically self-sufficient nation. This chapter argues that the meanings of self-care and self-sufficiency need to be understood in the context of neoliberal policies that support the privatization of healthcare and individual responsibility for maintaining health. Based on more than a year of ethnographic fieldwork, I explore what self-sufficiency and self-care mean for a small Bangladeshi nongovernmental organization that is organizing its struggle for equitable healthcare around medicinal plants. This NGO follows neoliberal trends by encouraging villagers to grow medicinal plants to use for self-treatment and for extra income. At the same time, I show how this organization critiques the failure of government health services and provides a model for imagining a new art of government centered around the use of medicinal plants to strengthen communities.

Plant propagation through seeds plays a critical role in agriculture and allied activities by serving as the primary unit. For this matter, seed quality parameters of a notified variety of crops have been published through gazette notification from time to time and compiled. Till to date, Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards (IMSCS) are available for about 150 crops grown in India. However, no such seed standards have been formulated for medicinal and aromatic plants grown by farmers in India and quality of seed made available to the farmers cannot be regulated as envisaged under Seeds Act. Therefore, several attempts have been made to formulate seed standards and seed testing protocols for important medicinal crops cultivated by the farmers of the country. Different studies were conducted in institutes like DMAPR, IIHR, IARI and several other agricultural and horticultural universities from time to time and relevant conclusions were drawn. Those studies/ attempts were made on physical purity, genetic purity, germination capacity, moisture content and seed health status of the seeds of different medicinal species. A number of important and economically acceptable medicinal plants like Isabgol, Asalio, Ashwagandha, Senna, Artemisia, Senna etc. were considered for such study to optimise a minimum seed standard. A protocol was developed for 25 medicinal plants with minimum seed standards which paved the way for trial in the fields. However, field studies have been taken elsewhere including under ICAR-AICRP on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants to standardise seed standards under field condition. With some constraints in the cultivation of medicinal plants and considering the medicinal values of medicinal plants, it is important to take up large scale focussed research studies on different aspects of seeds. An important initiatives was taken by ICAR institutes like DMAPR, Anand; IIHR, Bengaluru and IARI, New Delhi touching vital area of seed research for sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants. In this review a subtle aspect of some seed research has been dealt with which would prove useful for seed quality assurance in medicinal plant sector, notification of a variety under Seeds Act and also the conservation of germplasm in gene/seed bank.

AM fungi are widespread and are found from arctic to tropics in most agricultural and natural ecosystems. They play an important role in plant growth, health and productivity. They increase seedling tolerance to drought, high temperatures, toxic heavy metals, high or low pH and even extreme soil acidity. The cultivation of medicinal and herbal plants has assumed greater importance in recent years due to their tremendous potential in modern and traditional medicine. They are also used as raw materials for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and fragrance industries. Indian system of medicine (ISM) uses 25,000 species belonging to more than 1000 genera. About 25% species are used by the industries. The Barak Valley is the southernmost part of the Assam and consists of three districts namely Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Different tribes staying here are directly using of medicinal plants for the treatments of different ailments. Comparatively very less attention has been given for the conservation of some of these rare and endangered medicinal plants which are extensively used by the tribes of Assam. So, AM fungi can play an effective role in the conservation of some valuable medicinal plants where Glomus sp. was found to be widely used for the increase yield of important medicinal plants. This review summarizes the data from recent studies to elucidate the potential use of AM fungi for promoting growth and disease resistance in medicinal plants found in southern part of Assam, which in turn provide a natural enhancer for the commercial production of traditional drugs from various important plants.

Various literatures recorded approximately 60 medicinal plants in Bangladesh that have antidiabetic properties. Of these medicinal plants, only 14–16 are found in traditional herbal markets and they are being randomly used to treat diabetes. Since diabetes mellitus increases reactive free radicals along with various complications in the body, antidiabetic plants that can potentially neutralize free radicals, may be of central interest to manage the disease. Present study compares functional bioactive components such as total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins contents and antioxidant potential of methanol extracts of antidiabetic medicinal plants that are common in traditional herbal markets. Among the 14 extracts, Syzygium cumini was very rich in total polyphenol content (294 mg gallic acid equivalent, GAE/g) followed by Swertia chirata (183 mg GAE/g) and Ficus racemosa (bark) (154 mg GAE/g). These three extracts also had elevated amount of flavonoids and anthocyanins. S. cumini showed very high DPPH and NO free radical scavenging activities with IC50 of 6.25 and 48.61 μg/mL respectively followed by S. chirata and F. racemosa (bark). S. cumini also showed very high reducing power and total antioxidant capacity followed by S. chirata and F. racemosa (bark). In addition, the study revealed strong correlation between phenolics and reducing power (r = 0.94). Hence, among the 14 extracts, S. cumini, S. chirata and F. racemosa (bark) are potential sources of antioxidant agents. Therefore, these three medicinal plants have diverse beneficial effects on physiological health and they might be the choice of plants to treat diabetes.

Interest in traditional medicine and in particular herbal medicine has increased in both developed and developing countries over the past two decades. Some reported adverse events following the use of certain herbal medicines have been associated with a variety of possible explanations, including the inadvertent use of the wrong plant species, adulteration with undeclared other medicines. The safety and quality of raw medicinal plant materials and finished products depend on factors that may be classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. However, quality control for the cultivation and collection of medicinal plants as the raw materials for herbal medicines may be more demanding than that for food production; possibly for this reason, only China, the European Union, and Japan have recently developed guidelines on good agricultural practices for medicinal plants. Medicinal plants should be harvested during the optimal season or time period to ensure the production of medicinal plant materials and finished herbal products of the best possible quality. The time of harvest depends on the plant part. Detailed information concerning the appropriate timing of harvest is often available in national pharmacopoeias, published standards, official monographs and major reference books. Prior to initiating a collection expedition, the geographical distribution and population density of the target medicinal plant species should be determined. When the collection sites have been identified, local and/or national collection permits should be obtained. Essential information on the target species should be obtained. Results of this article showed new techniques in collection and harvesting and drying of herbal medicines.

Medicinal plants have complex and variable nature. They contains small amount of defined active ingredients so that control of starting materials, storage and there processing is very important. Cultivation, harvesting and primary processing of plant materials, which are used in the manufacturing of health products and herbal medicines, are often insufficiently monitored because the quantity of such preparation is to large extend determined by the quality of the raw materials. Cultivation and harvesting of the same plays a major role. To improve the quality of the medicinal plants monitoring of cultivation, harvesting and processing of the plant material good agriculture practices (GAP) have come in to existence. The main aim in this Good Agriculture Practices is to insure that the plant raw material meets the demand of the consumer and the standard of the highest quality. It describes general principals and provides technical details for the cultivation of medicinal plants. It also describes quality control measures, where applicable. All participants of the production process (from primary producers to traders) are required comply with these guidelines voluntarily and to elaborate practical measures in order to realize them. Key words: medicinal Plants, GAP, quality control.

Cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) today is not only a promising alternative and counterpoint to wild collection, enabling preservation of natural genetic variability and survival of rare, endemic, vulnerable and endangered species, but also represents a powerful economy branch providing the high class quality raw material for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and the food industry. Domestication and cultivation of most of medicinal plants, usually conceived as a minor crops, face with many challenges on small, medium and large scale production, relating both cultivation technologies and market and prices fluctuations. Cultivated MAP material is increasingly preferred by the herbal industry, because it is easier to predict plant yield, quality and drug composition, especially when compared with wild harvested raw materials. In case of cultivated MAP material, the possibility of plant misidentification and adulteration is excluded. The profitability of cultivation of medicinal plants compete with profit achievable for standard field crops for which already exist a specialized machinery and a standard procedure for application of fertilizers and agrochemicals to control weeds, pests and diseases. For successful large scale cultivation of MAP, the high quality raw material should be produced using low input cultivation methods to be competitive at the international market and with plants collected from the wild. The most common issues with which the producers of medicinal plants encountered are the market, abundance and accessibility of wild populations, agro-environmental conditions, labor availability and costs, investments in machinery, post-harvest processing, and profitability of production. Superior genotypes are very important for profitable production of the high quality medicinal plants’ row material. Out of all cultivated medicinal plant species, only a small percentage is clearly genetically defined and represented on the seed market in term of variety. Similarly to the other crops, traditional breeding methods, as well as biotechnological procedures and selection assisted by molecular markers are applied in development of new varieties and cultivars of MAP, aiming at improvement of their desirable characteristics. This refers to increased drug yield and the content of required secondary metabolites. Mapping of genes and specific DNA sequences involved in biosynthesis of particular metabolite classes seems to be a future challenge in MAP breeding programs. Most of actual research is focused on genetic variability among different taxa of medicinal plants using several types of DNA markers, including restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), amplified fragment length polymorphic DNA (AFLP), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), cleavage amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS), simple sequence repeat (SSR), and sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. Although the primary target for trait manipulation in medicinal plants is the content of active compounds, for development as crops, basic agronomic characters related to uniformity, stability, growth and development, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, must also be improved.KeywordsCultivation versus collectionDecision makingBreeding approaches

CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS IN INDIA - A COMMERCIAL APPROACH

Introduction: Medicinal plants have long been an essential part of healthcare in many cultures with a variety of bioactive chemicals that contribute to different pharmacological effects. Crude medicines, which are frequently utilized in their natural state to treat a variety of ailments, can be derived from these plants. The potential of medicinal plants in medication development and discovery has been acknowledged more and more by contemporary scientific research, especially when it comes to disorders for which there are few available treatments. Numerous chemicals originating from plants have been found to possess antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cardioprotective qualities, making them potential candidates for use in pharmaceutical applications. Aims: The aim of this study is to review and analyze the medicinal plants of Bangladesh that show potential benefits for cardiovascular health. It focuses on evaluating the therapeutic properties of these plants, comparing them with existing pharmaceutical treatments, and emphasizing the importance of further research to explore their effectiveness and possible integration into cardiovascular health management. Methodology: A systematic review was conducted to identify medicinal plants in Bangladesh with cardiovascular benefits. We searched databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for studies published between [2006-2019]. The inclusion criteria were studies on plants used in Bangladesh that demonstrate cardiovascular effects, particularly anticoagulant or hypolipidemic properties. Pharmaceutical drugs in the Bangladesh market for similar purposes were also reviewed for comparison. Data were analyzed to highlight the pharmacological effects and potential advantages or drawbacks in comparison to available pharmaceuticals. Conclusion: Twenty-one medicinal plants have been found to have positive effects on cardiovascular health. On the other hand, despite being effective in their intended pharmacological actions, traditional cardiovascular medications including lipid-lowering medicines and anticoagulants are frequently linked to a variety of adverse effects.

The present study describes the bioactivity guided isolation and structural elucidation of novel anticancer compounds from the Bangladeshi medicinal plant Blumera lacera. At the outset nineteen Bangladeshi medicinal plants were selected and collected from different parts of Bangladesh. Plants underwent preliminary cytotoxicity screening based on their traditional medicinal uses, limited previous research on them, and their availability. The selected plants were extracted with methanol and screened for their cytotoxic potential using the MTT assay against two healthy cell lines (mouse fibroblast (NIH3T3), a healthy monkey kidney (VERO)) and four cancer cell lines namely, gastric (AGS), colon (HT-29), two breast (estrogen-dependent: MCF-7 and estrogen non-dependent: MDA-MB-231). Preliminary cytotoxicity assessment led to the identification of seven plants with significant cytotoxic potential, having IC50 < 1.0 mg/mL against a minimum of one cancer cell line. The identified plants were: Avicennia alba, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, Diospyros peregrina, Ecbolium viride, Jasminum sambac, Clitoria terantea, and Saraca asoca. The bioactivity detected correlated with their traditional uses as anticancer agents. Comparing cytotoxicity effects of the selected plants with that of Blumea lacera which was previously screened for cytotoxic potential in our research lab, Blumea lacera was found to be more cytotoxic and thus selected for bioassay-guided isolation of constituents.

Medicinal plants are becoming important as bio-energy crops, the renewal of industrial feed stock, and bio-remedial sectors of the market, and are benefiting from technological advances that were originally developed for the food chain. The cultivation of medicinal plants deserves top priority for sustaining rural communities and supplying healthy products. The major challenge in the cultivation of medicinal plants after their domestication is the lack of synergy between producers, herbalists, and industry. About 25% of modern medicines are based on the phytochemicals obtained from plants used widely in traditional medicines. Several synthetic analogues have been built on phytochemical compounds isolated from medicinal plants. The use of natural products derived from plants has been on the increase, as is evident from the increased popularity and acceptance of plant-derived health care as well as cosmetics/perfumery products, even though the cost is of these natural products is high. This dual role of medicinal plants as a source of income and in healthcare makes the production of medicinal plants ever-demanding. The production and supply of medicinal/nutraceutical/perfumery herbs is becoming a booming agro-business. Recent observations worldwide indicate that developed countries are also including these plants in their healthcare systems. India has natural plant resources in abundance because of the clear climate variations throughout the year. In India the wealth gained from medicinal plants and products is about 50% higher than that for flowering plant species. Medicinal plant-based industries have great potential for the economic development of India. The oldest literature of the Vedic period is the basis of modern pharmaceutical practice, which uses various traditional medicinal plants. Considering the global and national use of and demand for medicinal plants, the cultivation and bio-prospecting of these plants has great future promise.

SUSTAINING THE HARVEST: CHALLENGES IN MAP PRODUCTION AND MARKETS

Medicinal plants serve as important therapeutic agents as well as valuable raw materials for manufacturing numerous traditional and modern medicines. Aloe vera is a top ranked medicinal plant in Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to investigate the costs, returns and profitability of Aloe vera medicinal plant. The data were collected from the selected farmers of Bogura and Natore districts in Bangladesh during 2018. The total sample size is 123. The study applies the profitability analysis, break-even points and margin of safety percentage techniques. Surveyed farms are found at ranged from 0.01 to 0.41 hectares. Average cost of production per hectare is found at Tk. 876468.80, of which Tk. 647156.40 for operational cost and Tk. 229312.40 for fixed costs accounting for 73.84% and 26.16% of the total cost, respectively. The average yield of Aloe vera is stood at 41487.62 kg per hectare which is sold to two different markets: contract markets and local market. The mean price is estimated at Tk. 32.42 per kg in study area. The gross margin and net margin per hectare are found to be Tk. 698068.02 and Tk. 468755.61, respectively. The breakeven analysis showed that in the case of yield and price, the margin of safety percentage of Aloe vera is -53.48. It is also found at 42.01, 67.15 and 34.85 for variable cost, fixed cost and total cost of Aloe vera production. Therefore, the study noted that the Aloe vera medicinal plant production is profitable in the study area. Farmers have a great opportunity to allocate more land to Aloe vera production, which will make them more profit. Break-even analysis of Aloe vera production resists a large drop of yield and price before incurring a loss, which gives the farmers a comfortable margin of safety and a risk bearing ability.&#x0D; Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.7(1): 75-81, April 2020

Diabetes is a metabolic illness defined by hyperglycemia that affects 10% of the world’s population. Diabetic complications such as blindness, kidney failure, and heart failure can develop if left untreated and are made worse by oxidative stress. Oxidative stress contributes to the rise of diabetic complications, particularly type-2 diabetes. In the blood vessels of diabetic individuals, it causes endothelial dysfunction. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Nowadays, it is alarming that the number of diabetic patients is increasing dramatically. There are plenty of anti-diabetic drugs available on the market, but they possess several adverse effects and do not completely cure diabetes. It has now become a financial burden on patients, their families, and society as well. Medicinal plants have gained popularity in developed and developing countries over the last two decades because of their vast natural sources and lack of harmful effects compared to modern allopathic medications. According to the World Health Organization, traditional medicines, which are mostly manufactured from plants, are still used by 80% of the population in developing countries for the management and curing of diseases. This review includes 81 Bangladeshi medicinal plants from 51 different families that can be used to treat diabetes and oxidative stress. Among them, Psidium guajava (L.), Aloe vera, Catharanthus roseus, Allium sativum, Annona squamosa, Cinnamon zeylaniucm, Amaranthus esculentus, Eugenia jambolana, Azadirachta indica, Moringa oleifera, Spondias pinnata, Coccinia grandis (L.), Momordica charantia L., Heretiera fomes, Trigonella foenum-graecum were most potent. The fundamental purpose of our study is to find out and highlight certain medicinal plants in Bangladesh that have anti-diabetic and antioxidant capabilities so that the researchers can develop newer anti-diabetic medications with minimal side effects to treat metabolic dysfunction, diabetic complications, and oxidative stress more effectively.