Herbal plants in India

.Presented by: NEHA SINGH Class: X’A’

Medicinal plants, herbs, spices and herbal remedies are known to Ayurveda in India since long times. The value of medicinal plants, herbs and spices as herbal remedies is being lost due to lack of awareness, and deforestation. The result is many valuable medicinal herbs are becoming rare and precious information is lost. Less pollution we make, more ecological balance we maintain, will add to happiness of humankind. Preserve the knowledge of medicinal plants, herbs, spices and herbal remedies, which humankind has received from the past generations, for posterity.

History of herbal remedies is very old. Since old times before modern medicine, people became ill and suffered from various ailments. In absent of modern medicinal remedies people relied on herbal remedies derived from herbs and spices. There are many medicinal herbs and spices, which find place in day-to-day uses, many of these, are used as herbal remedies. Many cooked foods contain spices.

!!About Herbal Medicine!!

Some minor ailments like common cold, cough, etc. may be cured by herbal remedies with use of medicinal properties of

spices. Herbal remedies can be taken in many forms. Infusions are steeping herbs or spices, with parts like leaves and flowers with boiling water for some time. Filtered or unfiltered use this

water extracts of spices as herbal remedies. Decoction is boiling roots, bark and hard parts of herbs and spices with

water for along time. Infusion and decoction both are known as herbal teas. Some times essential oil of herbs and spices are also used as herbal remedies. Action of herbal remedies may vary from human to human and care should be observed in using it. Always inform your healthcare professional while

taking any of the herbal remedies or consuming large quantity of medicinal herbs or spices as medicinal product.

Aloe Vera plant What is Aloe Vera?

Aloe Vera is a species of Aloe, native to northern Africa. It is a stem less or very short-stemmed succulent plant growing to 80-100 cm tall, spreading by offsets and root sprouts. The leaves are lancelet, thick and fleshy, green to grey-green, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced on a spike up to 90 cm tall, each flower pendulous, with a yellow tubular corolla 2 to 3 cm long.Aloe Vera has long been a popular houseplant. Often called the 'miracle plant' or the 'natural healer', Aloe Vera is a plant of many surprises. It flourishes in warm and dry climates, and to many people it looks like a cactus with fleshy thorny leaves. In fact it is a member of the Lily family, staying moist where other plants wither and die by closing its pores to prevent moisture loss.

There are around 400 species of Aloe, but it is the Aloe Barbadensis Miller (Aloe Vera or "true aloe") plant which has been of most use to mankind because of the medicinal properties it displays.

The Aloe leaf structure is made up of four layers: Rind - the outer protective layer;

Sap - a layer of bitter fluid which helps protect the plant from animals;

Mucilage Gel - the inner part of the leaf that is filleted out to make Aloe Vera gel.

Aloe Vera (inner gel) contains the 8 essential Amino Acids that the human body needs but cannot manufacture.

Uses and Home Remedies using Aloe Vera

Aloe gel has been used for topical treatment for minor wounds and burns and skin irritations for centuries. Aloe Vera used to be known as the "burn plant'. It is no longer necessary to keep an Aloe Vera plant handy for when you catch your hand on the oven door, these days Aloe Vera Gel comes in handy tubes.

One of the home remedies for asthma was to boil some Aloe Vera leaves in a pan of water and breathe in the vapor.

Others have reported benefits of Aloe Vera in treating Eczema and Psoriasis, and a product called Aloe Propolis Crème is favored by many for these conditions.

For pharmaceutical use as a laxative, the aloe juice is taken from the tubules just beneath the outer skin of the leaves. It's a bitter yellow and dried to become aloe granules that are dark brown in color.

• It has been determined that it can also help with treating minor vaginal irritations.

• Aloe Vera is best used when used fresh from the plant. It doesn't store well but can be bought as a preserved product. Aloe Vera can be used topically as well as taken internally. It has been used for mouth sores, what we call stomach sores, or cold sores.

• Aloe Vera has been especially helpful of patients with severe and various skin diseases. It acts as a rejuvenating action. It acts as a moisturizer and hydrates the skin. After being absorbed into the skin, it stimulates the fibroblasts cells and causes them to regenerate themselves faster. It's the cells that that produce the collagen and elastin so the skin will get smoother and look younger.

• Because Aloe Vera is natural, it works gently within the intestinal tract to help break down food residues that have become impacted and help clean out the bowel. When the bowel is cleaned out, it greatly reduces bloating, discomfort, and helps ease stress, which only leads to more attacks of irritable bowel syndrome.

How to Grow Aloe Vera Plants at Home?

1. Established Aloe Vera plants are available at almost any garden supplies shop or plant nursery.

2. Aloe plants are not very frost tolerant. If they are grown outdoors in warmer climates they should be planted in full sunlight, or partial shade. Apply a balanced liquid feed during the growing season.

3. For growing Aloe Vera indoors its best to place it near a window that gets a lot of sun. During summer you can move the pot(s) outside.

4. Watering should be kept to a minimum during the winter months but during summer the plant will require a lot of water.

5. If planting from scratch or re-potting your Aloe plant the potting soil should be moderately fertile and fast draining with a couple of inches of gravel in the bottom of the pot.

Papaya plantPapaya, Paw Paw, Papaw, Tree Melon (botanical name Carica Papaya), it has oblong shape, normally greenish yellow, yellow or orange color. It is a large tree plant fruit usually reaching 2.5kg. It has bitter sweet taste and comes from tropical places with higher humidity, native to Mexico, countries of Central America, Thailand, Africa and Asia and growing well in Australia.

Papaya Health BenefitsPaw Paw how we call it here in Australia is these days plentiful all year round in most of the countries. The parts that are used medicinally are fruit, seeds, stems and leaves. I did look around and found out you can buy paw paw in all forms, in a form of fermented papaya, herbal teas even tablets and of course plenty of the fresh fruit, which can be eaten as it is or in a form of juice. So you ask what are these awesome healing properties of paw paw? Well where do I start? Papaya fruit is and excellent source of dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, C and E. It also contains small amount of calcium, iron, riboflavin, thiamine and niacin. It is also very rich in antioxidant nutrients flavonoids and carotenes, very high in vitamin C plus A, and low in calories and sodium.

Pawpaw tree. Paw paw is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids. The latest research shows that amino acids are responsible for all what is happening in our organism, basically for what is happening in every chemical reaction as well as our mental and physical health. As we age we produce less of the digestive enzymes in our stomach and pancreas, which leads to ineffective digestion of proteins. Due to this we end up with excess amount of undigested protein, which leads to overgrowth of the bad bacteria in our gastrointestinal system and not enough of amino acids to perform all important chemical reactions. We can say that good quality protein is absolutely essential for our healthy being. This is where the papaya enzymes can be very beneficial.

The papain enzymes are produced in the skinny peel of paw paw. The combination of these enzymes repels insect during the ripening, without this protection paw paw fruit would not survive. Eating paw paw after a meal makes for better digestion, prevents bloating and chronic indigestion. It can also lower the inflammation in the body, alleviates the pain and edema caused by sport injuries. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties papaya can relieve the severity of Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Because of its high antioxidant content, papaya can prevent cholesterol oxidation and can be use in a preventative treatments against atherosclerosis, strokes, heart attacks and diabetic heart disease.

In a everyday health papaya works magic on strengthening the immune system preventing the recurrent colds and flu. After treatment with antibiotics eating paw paw or drinking its juice replenishes the good intestinal bacteria, which was destroyed by the antibiotic treatment. The latest good news from eating paw paw comes down once again to papain the enzyme which I talked about, it was found to destroy intestinal parasites. Papain is protolithic enzyme, which means that it digests inert (non-living) proteins. Intestinal parasites are largely protein, the papain attacks it and causes parasite to die. Also, home applications of leaf and bark papaya extract is used to deal with mouth gums and toothaches which is being effectively practiced in many cultures around the world.

Healing Properties of Papaya• Increases quality of proteins in whole organism.• Revitalize the human body and maintain energy and vitality.• Encourages the renewal of muscle tissue.• Supports cardiovascular system.• Boosts up the immune system.• Helps with the digestive system, by breaking down the proteins and

supporting production of digestive enzymes.• Papaya can be use also externally as a treatment for skin wounds that

don’t heal quickly, for this you can use papaya peel or ointments made out of papaya.

• Prevents the cataract formation.• Due to high vitamin A, it lowers the risk of emphysema in smokers and

passive smokers.• Alleviates inflammation.• Helps with the nausea and constipation.• Can benefit people suffering colon cancer and other forms of cancers and

aliments of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems.

Thank you