Adulteration and Substitution in Indian Medicinal Plants: A Review Article

Abstract

Introduction: Ayurveda is a system of traditional alternative medicine in India. In 20th and 21st century, due to side effects of synthetic drugs, there is an increasing interest  in Ayurveda proprietary medicines. At present, the adulteration and Substitution of the herbal drugs is the burning problem in herbal industry. The deforestation and  extinction of many species and incorrect identification of many plants has resulted  in adulteration and substitution of raw drugs. The future depended upon reliable  methodologies for correct identification, standardization and quality assurance of  Ayurvedic drugs. This article throws light on the concepts of substitution given by  our preceptors and analyzes these with the present-day prevailing trend of adulteration and substitution, thereby aiming at systematic strategy to correctly identify the drugs. Method: Classical and modern literature along with various Research articles were  gone through to collect minute details. Result: There are different types of Adulterants viz. substandard, inferior, artificial or  exhausted drugs. There are many reasons of Adulteration viz. confusion in Vernacular Names, lack of knowledge about authenticsource, similarity in morphology, lack of authentic plant, similarity in color, careless collections, etc. There are various types of Substitution viz. using totally different drug, substitution of the species belonging to same family, using different parts of the plant, due to same in action. Analysis and Discussion: With the help of this thorough review, it is clear that with  few basic identification points, one can easily differentiate between adulterated and  original drug. Hence, the dealers and handlers of drugs should be made aware of these  through training programmes.