DISTRIBUTION AND ANCIENT-RECENT MEDICINAL USES OF TRICHOSANTHES SPECIES

India, with its great biodiversity about 15% out of the 20,000 medicinal plants of the world , has a tremendous potential and advantage in the emerging field of herbal medicines . Medicinal plants are the main sources of chemical substances with potential therapeutic effects. A lot of compounds were characterized from plants which are now using in the treatment of many diseases. The use of medicinal plants for the treatment of many diseases is associated with folk medicine from different parts of the world. Naturally occurring compounds from plants, fungi and microbes are still used in pharmaceutical preparations in pure or extracted forms about three hundred species are used by 7800 medicinal drug manufacturing units in India which consume about 2000 tons of herbs annually. There are estimated to be more than 717,319 registered practitioners of ayurveda, siddha, unani and homeopathy in India and in recent years, the growing demand for herbal products has led to the extinction of many important herbs because the drugs have no or very less side effect. In many useful plants species one is Trichosanthes species is a little-exploited species with immense medicinal potential. Considering its importance, more research is necessitated to explore the potential of this species.