CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Medicinal Plant
Medicinal plants are various plants which can have medicinal properties. Plants in most developing countries, as a basis for promoting and maintenance of good health, has been widely recognized (UNESCO, 1996).
Historically, plants have provided a source of inspiration for novel drug compounds, as plant derived medicines have made large contributions to human health and well being (Igbinosa et al., 2009). Different plant parts have also been used for various forms of diseases and infections. Traditional medicine is the oldest method of curing diseases and infections and various plants have been used in different parts of the world to treat human diseases and infections (Nweze et al., 2004; Vineela and Elizabeth, 2005; Ekpo and Etim, 2009).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2002), traditional medicine using plant extracts continues to provide health coverage for over 80% of the world’s population, especially in the developing world and, in African countries; this rate is much higher. In recent years, however, medicinal plants have represented a primary health source for the pharmaceutical industry (Ajose, 2007). No less than 400 compounds derived from plants are currently used in the preparation of drugs, such as vincristine and vinblastine used in the treatment of cancer (Ajose, 2007).
Recently, some higher plant products have attracted the attention of microbiologists to search for some phytochemicals for their exploitation as antimicrobials, such plant products would be biodegradable and safe to human health (Kumar et al., 2008; Sugar et al., 2008; Krishnamurthy et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2010).
Furthermore, the increasing awareness on the use of medicinal plants in industrialized countries has been traced to the development of several drugs and chemotherapeutics from the traditionally used herbs (UNESCO, 1998). Nigerians still depend largely on crude herbal remedies or traditional medicine. They also use wild plants for cosmetics and perfumery. Some of these herbal remedies have been observed to be effective in certain skin diseases (Ajose, 2007). Medicinal plants are known to owe their curative potentials to certain biological active substances, which exist in parts of the plants.
Terms of Use: This is an academic paper. Students should NOT copy our materials word to word, as we DO NOT encourage Plagiarism. Only use as a guide in developing your original research work. Thanks.
Disclaimer: All undertaking works, records, and reports posted on this website, eprojectguide.com are the property/copyright of their individual proprietors. They are for research reference/direction purposes and the works are publicly supported. Do not present another person’s work as your own to maintain a strategic distance from counterfeiting its results. Use it as a guide and not duplicate the work in exactly the same words (verbatim). eprojectguide.com is a vault of exploration works simply like academia.edu, researchgate.net, scribd.com, docsity.com, course hero, and numerous different stages where clients transfer works. The paid membership on eprojectguide.com is a method by which the site is kept up to help Open Education. In the event that you see your work posted here, and you need it to be eliminated/credited, it would be ideal if you call us on +2348064699975 or send us a mail along with the web address linked to the work, to eprojectguide@gmail.com. We will answer to and honor each solicitation. Kindly note notification it might take up to 24 – 48 hours to handle your solicitation.