From the introduction: From amongst 40,000 plant species found in India, more than 6000 species are widely used by traditional practitioners of the Unani and Ayurvedic system of medicine. It is unfortunate that despite great interest in alternative modes of treatment is rising in the western countries towards herbal products, India is still lagging behind in exports of herbal medicines. Government of India has set up National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) at New Delhi under the Ministry of health and Family Welfare to monitor and help the development of herbal medicine industry.