Guru Nanak Dev University

About Author:
Sandeep Kaur
M.Sc. Microbiology (Hons.) in 2012
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,
Punjab- 143001.
sandy.flowers305@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:
Medicinal plants are part and parcel of human society to combat diseases from the dawn of civilization. India is sitting on a gold mine of well-recorded and traditionally well practiced knowledge of herbal medicine. India officially recognizes over 3000 plants for their medicinal value and Terminalia plant (Baheda) is one of them. Terminalia species (Family: combretaceace) including Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia arjuna and Terminalia chebula are widely used medicinal plants throughout India and popular in various Indigenous system of medicine like Ayurveda, Sidda and Unani. Terminalia chebula, is called ‘King of Medicine’ in Tibet, because of its extraordinary power of healing. Terminalia plant has been demonstated to possess multiple pharmacological and medicinal activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer & tumor and wound healing activity. In the Indian Sytem of Medicine, whole plant including stem bark, fruit, root bark and seeds are used as astringent, cooling, aphrodisiac, cardiotonic, tonic in fractures, ulcers, spermatorrhoea, leucorrhoea, cough, excessive perspiration and skin disorders. Phytoconstituents such as glucoside, tannins, gallic acid, ellagic acid, ethylgalate, gallylglucose and chebulanic acid are mainly believed to be responsible for its wide therapeutic actions. The present review is therefore, an effort to give a detailed survey of the literature on pharmacognosy, phytochemistry and pharamacological activities of the plant1.