International market scenario of traditional Indian herbal drugs - India declining...

In the present article, an endeavor has been made to present an overview of the comparison of Indian traditional herbal medicine in the international market. This article intends to contribute to this knowledge by giving a survey of published data regarding the microbial contamination of herbal plants, by dealing with methodological aspects and by considering the influence of different commonly used pharmaceutical preparation techniques on the microbiological status of the products. It also highlights heavy metal poisoning of these herbal products and the need for India to follow the Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) guidelines. As herbal medicinal products are complex mixtures, which originate from biological sources, great efforts are necessary to guarantee a constant and adequate quality. By carefully selecting the plant material and a standardized manufacturing process, the pattern and concentration of constituents should be kept as constant as possible, as this is a prerequisite for reproducible therapeutic results. China has successfully overcome such difficulties by modernizing its traditional medicine profession with government-sponsored GAPs. The cultivation practices offer Standard Operating Procedures for use of fertilizers, irrigation systems and disease management allied with insects and pest prevention and cure. GAPs also establish standards for noxious and harmful contaminants like heavy metals, pesticide residues and microbes in plants.