Since the beginning of its existence, human society has been dependent on the elements around it to obtain food and medicine. Through trial and error, people learned about and used plants to make food and medicine, and eventually they were able to get what they needed from the environment. With the development of civilizations and the availability of more resources, human knowledge about medicinal plants has long been gradually transmitted from one generation to the next. In almost every culture, medicinal plants are used as a resource for medical care. Recently, guaranteeing the well-being, quality and feasibility of restorative plants and natural medicines has become a major point of contention in industrialized and emerging countries. Herbal medicines can help usher in a new era of healthcare systems to treat human diseases by standardizing and evaluating the health benefits of active plant-derived compounds.
The exploitation and exploration of natural plant resources can greatly benefit from the understanding of medicinal plants and traditional knowledge. To preserve this knowledge, a comprehensive strategy and teamwork is needed to preserve historical records on medicinal plants and use these resources for human benefit, before they are permanently lost. As a result, the purpose of this review was to examine and explain how medicinal plants have been used throughout history. The authenticity, efficacy, toxicity and sustainability of assessing the quality of medicinal plants have recently faced several important challenges, which are the focus of this review.
Implications for medical education, practice, research and health policy
As traditional medicines and commodities for trade, medicinal plants serve the needs of distant markets for the development of new medicines. In fact, researchers and practitioners must receive training in the application of plant compounds from both modern and traditional medicine to successfully incorporate plants into medical systems. Additionally, empirical arguments should be transformed into evidence-based arguments to increase the credibility of the use of plants in traditional medicine.
Introduction
Major events of coexistence always appear from the golden signs of nature. The basis of treatment of human diseases are natural products made from plants, animals and minerals. Medicinal plants are currently in demand, and their acceptance is gradually increasing. Plants undoubtedly play an important role in the ecosystem by providing essential services. Without plants, people and other living biological entities could not live the way they should. At any rate, herbal especially restorative spices have consistently served as a general sign of environmental well-being.
Without any doubt, regenerative plants have been seen by people since ancient times. It is possible to claim that early humans were aware of the properties of the plants around them and began to exploit them for fuel, clothing, shelter, food and other uses. In countries like China, Greece, Egypt and India, medicinal plants have become one of the oldest sciences. Plants were often used as medicine, disinfectant, and aromatic agent in ancient Persia. In fact, the use of medicinal plants to treat diseases goes back to the beginning of human history. This means that ever since people discovered a way to recover from a disease in their environment, the only option they had was to use plants. More than 50,000 species of plants are used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. However, medicinal herbs are mainly obtained from wildlife populations, and the distribution of medicinal plants is not uniform around the world. In fact, in recent decades, demand for wildlife sources has increased annually in Europe, North America, and Asia.
The term "medicinal plant" refers to a variety of plants with medicinal properties. These plants provide a wealth of compounds that can be used in drug synthesis development (8). A variety of seeds, roots, leaves, fruits, skin, flowers or even the entire plant can be used in medicine. Most of the active compounds of medicinal plants are used as therapeutic agents and have direct or indirect therapeutic effects. The bodies of these plants produce and store certain substances known as active compounds (substances), which have physiological effects on living things.
Humans mainly depend on raw plant materials to meet their medical needs and treat diseases. Due to certain properties such as synergistic actions, medicinal plants are used in treatment. Plant components can interact with each other, and this interaction can either be beneficial to one of them or harmful to them, or it can exert negative effects on both of them. Compounds derived from plants can significantly improve hard-to-treat diseases like cancer. Another characteristic of plant components is their ability to prevent the spread of particular diseases. Toxicity and side effects of traditional and allopathic medicines have also played an important role in the sudden increase in demand among the population, increase in the number of herbal medicine manufacturers and decline in chemical medicine use.
Understanding and applying any science becomes easier by knowing its history. As a result, the historical importance of medicinal herbs in the past, present, and future will continue to be discussed. We have highlighted and discussed the history, current difficulties, developments and perspectives of the use of medicinal plants and their active compounds in this perspective review.
