Sabiha Ferdowsy Koly
Department of Pharmacy, Southeast University, Tejgaon-1215, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Md. Shah Amran
Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Public Health, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), Bashudhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh.
In this post, we present a brief overview of our recently published book chapter titled “Spectroscopic Methods for Analysing Herbal Medicine and their Roles in Healthcare”
Herbal medicine is the primary therapy for millions of people worldwide, making it a cornerstone of conventional healthcare systems. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 80% of people worldwide receive their primary medical care using traditional methods, many of which are plant-derived. As a key element of integrative medicine, herbal therapy, which blends traditional wisdom with modern scientific techniques, is gaining popularity in developed countries. In many poor countries, a significant portion of the population relies on traditional healers to treat their medical conditions, and they do so by using medicinal plants. Herbal therapies have frequently retained their popularity for historical and cultural reasons, even if modern medicine may coexist with such ancient practices. All around the world, natural products have been crucial in the treatment and prevention of human illnesses.
Herbal medications are inherently complex due to a number of bioactive ingredients that frequently combine to provide therapeutic effects. Plant species, geographic origin, harvesting conditions, processing methods, and storage all contribute to this complexity and have an impact on the chemical makeup and therapeutic efficacy of the finished product. Unlike synthetic pharmaceuticals, which are usually single-molecule entities with well-defined features, herbal treatments are complex systems that are challenging to evaluate and standardise.
Adulteration and contamination make the quality control of herbal drugs more challenging. Users have serious health concerns due to reported instances of intentional adulteration with synthetic drugs, contamination with heavy metals, pesticides, or bacteria, and substitution with the incorrect plant species. Thorough analysis methods are required to ensure the safety, effectiveness, and genuineness of herbal items.
