Medicinal Plants Used for Diabetes

The world ‘Environment’ has originated from French word “environ”. It means surroundings. It includes each and everything outside the plant, which influences directly or indirectly the life of the plant. According to the WHO, over 80% of the world’s population relies on traditional forms of medicine, largely plant based, to meet primary health care needs. Plants are one of the most important sources of medicine. The application of plants as medicines dates back to the prehistoric period. In India, the references to the curative properties of some herbs in the Rig-Veda seem to be the earliest records of the use of plants in medicine. The medicinal plants are extensively utilized throughout the world in two distinct areas of health management; the traditional system of medicine and the modern system of medicine. The traditional system of medicine mainly functions through two distinct streams: [1] local or folk or tribal streams and, [2,3,17] Codified and organized Indian systems of medicine like Ayurveda Siddha and Unanni etc. Over the centuries, the use of medicinal herbs has become an important part of daily life despite the progress in modern medical and pharmaceutical research. Approximately 3000 plant species are known to have medicinal properties in India [9-16]. The Rig-Veda (3700 B.C.), mentions the use of medicinal plants. Our traditional systems of medicine, viz., Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy etc. use herbs for treatment. It is estimated that 40% of the world population depends directly on plant-based medicine for their health care. In India, medicinal plants offer low cost and safe health care solutions. This chapter focuses on Indian Herbal drugs and plants used in the treatment of diabetes, especially in India [57]. A list of medicinal plants with proven antidiabetic and related beneficial effects and of herbal drugs used in the treatment of diabetes is compiled [5,6,7,8,18-20].