KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
VOL. 6, No. I, MARCH, 2010, pp 102-107
103
Herbal medicine, also called botanical medicine or phytomedicine, refers to the use of
any plant's seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark, or flowers for medicinal purposes. Long
practiced outside of conventional medicine, herbalism is becoming more mainstream
as up-to-date analysis and research show their value in the treatment and prevention
of disease. Plants had been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history.
Indigenous cultures (African and Native American) used herbs in their healing rituals,
while others developed traditional medical systems (Ayurveda and Traditional
Chinese Medicine) in which herbal therapies were used systematically. Scientists
found that people in different parts of the globe intended to use the same or similar
plants for the same purposes. Recently, the World Health Organization estimated that
80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some aspect of their primary
healthcare. For most herbs, the specific ingredient that causes a therapeutic effect is
not known. Whole herbs contain many ingredients, and it is likely that they work
together to produce the desired medicinal effect. Herbalists prefer using whole plants
rather than extracting single components from them. Whole plant extracts have many
components. These components work together to produce therapeutic effects and also
to lessen the chances of side effects from any one component. Several herbs are often
used together to enhance effectiveness and synergistic actions and to reduce toxicity
(Hawkins and Ehrlich, 2007).
Traditional medicine is an important source of potentially useful new compounds for
the development of chemotherapeutic agents. The first step towards this goal is the
screening of plants used in popular medicine. Thus antimicrobial research is geared
towards the discovery and development of novel antibacterial and antifungal agents.
Plant drugs are frequently considered to be less toxic and freer from side effects than
the synthetic ones (Momin, 1987).
Along with other dosage forms, herbal drugs are also formulated in the form of
ointment. An ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety
of body surfaces. These include the skin and the mucus membranes of the eye, vagina,
anus, and nose. An ointment may or may not be medicated. Medicated ointments
contain a medicament dissolved, suspended or emulsified in the base. Ointments are
used topically for several purposes, e.g. as protectants, antiseptics, emollients,
antipruritic, keratolytics and astringents. Ointment bases are almost always anhydrous
and generally contain one or more medicaments in suspension or solution or
dispersion. Ointment bases may be hydrocarbon (oligeanous), absorption, water
removable and water soluble type. On the basis of their level of action, they are
classified as: epidermatic, endodermatic and diadermatic (Carter, 1987). An antiseptic
ointment is aimed to destroy or inhibit the growth of bacteria.
In an earlier study, medicinal plants have been reported to be very beneficial in
wound care, promoting the rate of wound healing with minimal pain, discomfort, and
scarring to the patient (Odimegwu et al., 2008). The objective of the study was to
