Ever since ancient times, in search for rescue for their disease, the people looked for drugs in nature. In every period, every successive century from the development of humankind and advanced civilizations has used the healing properties of certain medicinal plants. In present days, almost all pharmacopoeias in the world proscribe plant drugs of real medicinal value. It is amazing how the benefits of one society were passed on to another, which upgraded the old properties, discovered new ones, till present days. Awareness of medicinal plants usage is a result of the many years of struggles against illnesses due to which man learned to pursue drugs in barks, seeds, fruit bodies, and other parts of the plants. Todays science has acknowledged plants & herbs for their active action, and it has been included in modern pharmacotherapy in a range of drugs.
As stated, healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. The connection between man and his search for drugs in nature dates from the far past, of which there is ample evidence from various sources: written documents, preserved monuments, and even original plant medicines.
The oldest written evidence of medicinal plants’ usage for preparation of drugs has been found on a Sumerian clay slab from Nagpur, approximately 5000 years old – it comprised 12 recipes for drug preparation referring to over 250 various plants. In ancient history, the most prominent writer on plant drugs was Dioscorides, “the father of pharmacognosy” he was called. He as a military physician and pharmacognosist of Nero’s Army, studied medicinal plants wherever he travelled with the Roman Army.
The Chinese book on roots and grasses “Pen T’Sao,” written by Emperor Shen Nung circa 2500 BC, treats 365 drugs (dried parts of medicinal plants), many of which are used even nowadays. The Indian holy books Vedas mention treatment with plants, which are abundant in that country. Numerous spice plants used even today originate from India. The Ebers Papyrus, written circa 1550 BC, represents a collection of 800 proscriptions referring to 700 plant species and drugs used for therapy.Even according to data from the Bible and the holy Jewish book the Talmud, during various rituals accompanying a treatment, aromatic plants were utilized.