Abstract

A REVIEW ON RECENT ADVANCES IN HERBAL DRUG INDUSTRY IN INDIAN SCENARIO

M. Sri Ramachandra, S. Ramanji Naik* and Dornala Chaitanya Dixit

ABSTRACT

Herbal medicines are regarded as the oldest and most extensively used medicinal system. The demand for herbal products both in the form of medicines and dietary supplements are gaining rapid momentum throughout the world. This fast expansion of the global market for herbal products have raised serious concerns among health authorities, pharmaceutical industries and consumers regarding the safety and quality of medicinal plant materials and finished herbal formulations. Like any other chemical pharmaceutical product, quality, safety and efficacy are utmost important for herbal products as well. However, lack of evidence-based practice, consistentquality approach and scanty research on traditional treatment methods are few of the challenges which the herbal drug market is continuously facing. Herbal products used as dietary supplements or nutraceuticals are also facing the problems of adverse events due to lack of regulation, weak quality control systems and loose distribution channels. India, the secondlargest exporter of medicinal plants, is a major hub for different traditional herbal medicinal products worth USD 3 billion domestic market and is also constantlyfacing the challenges associated with the quality and safety. With more than 8000 manufacturing units of which majority being small or medium size firms, Indian herbal industry is grappling with the issues of standardization of raw materials and finished formulations, evidence-based practices for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) medicine.

Keywords: Herbal drugs, Standardization, Stability testing, Herbal drug, Chromatographic techniques, Efficiency.