Some Less Known Medicinal Plants of Haryana

Abstract

Plants of medicinal importance have been the life saviours of the human race before the discovery of modern medicines. The use of plants as a source of medicine has been recorded from a 60000-year old grave. With the establishment of AYUSH, the Indian government is working to elevate herbal medicine to mainstream medicine. The Indian government is currently working hard to increase the use of plants as medicines. Plants are an easily available resource for natives and the poor for treating various diseases. Therefore, the aim of the present review is to understand the knowledge of medicinal plants as a future source of herbal drugs, to find various plants useful as medicinal plants in Haryana, and to create a catalogue of all medicinal plants present in Haryana as found by various researchers. About 700 plants were described in the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita during the 1st millennium BC. Haryana is a state in northern India, neighbouring Delhi. The study was conducted to enlist the various plants of medicinal importance in Haryana. Various studies have been conducted in Haryana to enlighten the various medicinal plants found in Haryana, but these studies only cover medicinal plants in 10 out of 22 districts of Haryana, which is less than one-fourth. There is huge potential for finding numerous local medicinal species in Haryana which may treat numerous underlying diseases. Various medicinal plants have been enlisted which are found by local communities as having immense benefits as medicines that are being used by local communities numerous times. This knowledge is found through continuous hit and trial by generations of communities and has got immense knowledge about various medicinal plants, but this knowledge is getting lost due to incomparability in cataloguing the knowledge present in these communities, such as the Sapera community.