New Delhi, Aug 31,2010: In order to promote the acceptance of Indian herbal drugs and quality parameters for the crude raw material to ensure their quality, safety and efficacy, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has initiated a program for the medicinal plants widely used in India. Taking that further, ICMR now has also launched a dedicated website for its Medicinal Plant Unit (MPU).

The website focuses on the detailed information on the research projects including the major and ad hoc projects, list of publications (reviews of Indian medicinal plants, forthcoming books, perspectives), information about various task forces, members and centre for advance research. It is expected to serve as a one-point source of information for those members of the industry who are interested to promote the herbal drugs.

As an outcome of the ongoing program carried out, ICMR has brought out 8 volumes (and ninth under print) on quality standards of Indian medicinal plants. It contains quality standards for 274 medicinal plants commonly used in India. The focus of the program is to consolidate the work done in various institutions/laboratories in India on Indian medicinal plants, and present the multidisciplinary information in the form of review monographs. As part of this program, Medicinal Plants Unit of the ICMR has brought out nine volumes (and the tenth is under print) in a series of publications entitled, Reviews on Indian Medicinal Plants, consolidating multidisciplinary scientific published research work on about 2206 medicinal plants species.

The publication includes about 40814 citations on various aspects that serve as inventory/directory of the Indian medicinal plants which have undergone investigation, and which could be further followed up, for in depth research. The monographs may be useful to scientific bodies, regulatory authorities, policy makers, herbal industry and other institutes/organizations involved in the development, assessment and registration of such products.

One of the stumbling blocks in the popularity and wider acceptance of herbal drugs had been the inadequacy or lack of standards. This is primarily attributed to the raw material, which is not of desired quality, as required for reliable biological, pharmacological, chemical and clinical evaluation, besides their use in health care. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure proper safety and adequate standards, along with accurate information available to those who wish to conduct research, and commercialize the product outcome in this area of life sciences.