Abstract: Traditional or herbal medicine has a tremendous impact in the developed as well as developing countries because of their wide biological activities, higher safety margin and lesser costs than the synthetic drugs. Since herbal medicines are prepared from materials of plant origin they are prone to contamination, deterioration and variation in composition. Indian traditional medicine is based on various systems, including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) from antiquity. Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) under the supervision of Government of India, with a vision to providing quality control and standardization of drugs and generation awareness about these systems with upgrading educational standards at national and international level. In India, numbers of herbal manufacturing units are involved in benefits of human healthcare. They are commercializing their products following through the standard operating procedure, GMPs norms and quality related safety profile. The herbal manufacturing facilities in India need to be nurtured in a big way for promotion and development of phytoceuticals.

 
Introduction: Traditional medicine (TM) is widely and increasingly used for a wide spectrum of diseases by people in both developed and developing countries. Protection and preservation of traditional medicine knowledge is essential to ensure access to traditional forms of health care and respect for those who hold traditional medicine knowledge. Between 70% and 95% of developing countries citizens, especially those in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, uses traditional and folk medicine, for the management of health. Similarly, the developed country populations (70% and 90%) are also using traditional medicines under the titles "complementary", "alternative", or "nonconventional". It is estimated that at least 25% of modern medicines are derived, either directly or indirectly, from medicinal plants, primarily through the application of modern technology to traditional knowledge. WHO estimates, the global market for herbal medicines currently stands at over ~US$60 billion annually and by the year 2050 it would be ~US$5 trillian1-4 . Indian traditional medicine is based on various systems, including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU). India is one of the major raw material-producing nations of South Asia and posses about 8% of the estimated bio diversity of the world with approximately 8000 medicinal plants species from flowering plants available in the nature. Many species are used in Traditional Systems of Medicine as Ayurveda 7000 species, Siddha 600 species, Unani 700 species, Homeopathy 450 species and Modern medicine 30 species. Indian Materia Medica includes 2000 natural products of therapeutic importance of which 400 are of mineral and animal origin and rest are of vegetable origin. There are approximately 1250 Indian medicinal plants, which are used in formulating therapeutic preparation according to Ayurveda and other traditional system of medicine5,6.