PLANT TISSUE CULTURE IN HERBAL MEDICINAL PLANTS– REVIEW

*Dr. Vitthal B. Washimkar (PG Scholar.) and Dr. M. B. Shende(Guide & Asso. Prof.)

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are the most important source of life saving drugs for the majority of the world‟s population. In India, herbal medicine has been the basis of treatment for various diseases and physiological condition in traditional system such as Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. The goal of “Health For All” by WHO can‟t be achieved without herbal medicine. Approximately 90% of the ingredient used in Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy medicine are plant based over in Modern Allopathic medical system has 25% of its formulation from herbal medicine. Due to record of safety and efficacy the demand of herbal medicine is increasing abundantly in society. Because of this there is excess use of common as well as endangered medicinal plants and also the substitute of herbal medicinal plants. Hence, there is need to provide alternate methods to propagate, cultivate and conserve the important medicinal plant and also to maintain the balance of eco-system. To cope up with alarming situation the development in bio-technology has come as a boon. One of them is plant tissue culture technique. In recent years tissue culture has emerged as a promising technique to obtained genetically pure elite population under in-vitro condition rather than have different population. So, attempts should be made to apply the techniques of plant tissue culture in herbal medicinal plants.

Keywords: Endangered, Medicinal Plants, Herbal, Plant Tissue culture.