List of Medicinal Plants | Their Uses in Different Diseases

Medicinal plants can be used to treat many diseases ranging from fevers to hypertension and diabetes.

These natural herbs are an important source of drugs for alternative medicine systems.

These systems include Ayurveda, homeopathy, Unani, and even allopathy.

They are thought to constitute 80% of the total drugs used by humans.

These natural healing herbs are used to treat many diseases and disorders.

Their specialty is advantages like better compatibility in the body, easy metabolism, low side effects, and lower cost than synthetic drugs.

Further, they are not harmful to the environment after disposal.

They don’t require heavy manufacturing, expensive analysis, or storage facilities.

They retain their potency for a long period if stored well.

Many of them can be used as homemade preparations during an emergency or can be bought as over-the-counter drugs without a physician’s prescription.

These medicinal plants come under different types of plants and are not restricted to one family or type of plants.

So below chart gives an idea of the List of Medicinal Plants and their uses.

List of Medicinal Plants, and their uses

Sl.No.	Name of plant	Scientific source	Uses
1	Aconite	Aconitum ferox –plant root	Succulent leaves. Used as a hydrating agent for smooth skin
2	Aloe vera	Aloe barbadensis	Correct Blood pressure, heartbeat, congestive heart failure, COPD for easy breath
3	Arjuna	Terminalia Arjuna-Tree dry Bark	Anti-spasmodic, anticholinergic antidote for chloral hydrate & opium poisoning
4	Ashwagandha	Withania somnifera-roots & stem bases.	Anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, in fever, as an expectorant (to remove phlegm)
5	Belladonna	Atropa accuminata leaves & flowers	Correct Blood pressure, heartbeat, congestive heart failure, and COPD for easy breath
6	Banafsha	Viola odorata	Carum carvi, dry ripe fruits
7	Black pepper	Piper nigrum-unripe fruits	As stomachic (enhances hunger), carminative (enhances eructation)
8	Caraway	The dried bark of Rhamnus purshiana	Expels gas by eructation
9	Cascar	Cathartic (in constipation), hair growth promoter	As stomachic and laxative
10	Cardamom	Elettaria cardamomum-dry-ripe fruits	Expels gas by eructation (carminative)
11	Castor oil	Ricinus communis-seed’s fixed oil	Treatment of heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia
12	Ceylon Cinnamon	Cinnamomum zeylanicum	Carminative (enhances eructation)
13	Citronella oil	Cymbopogan nardus-volatile oil from leaves	Mosquito repellent
14	Clove	Eugenia caryophyllus-dry flower bud	Dental analgesic, anti-septic, carminative
15	Coriander	Coriandrum sativum-dry fruits	Carminative
16	Corkwood	Duboisia myoporoides-dry leaves	Duboisia myoporoides-dry leves
17	Digitalis	Dried leaves of digitalis purpurea.	Hyoscyamus niger leaves & flower tip
18	Egyptian Henbane	Has essential oils with uses like Expectorant (removes phlegm), and counter-irritant.	Relieve spasms of the urinary tract & gripping effect of purgatives
19	Eucalyptus oil	Eucalyptus citriodara-leaf oil	Zingiber officinale dried rhizome
20	Fennel	Foeniculum vulgare-dry ripe fruit	Expels gas by eructation
21	Garlic	Allium sativum-bulbs	To enhance libido, expel phlegm, for eructation
22	Ginseng	Panax ginseng	Is immunomodulator. See the benefits of ginseng.
23	Ginger	Anti-emetic, anti-inflammatory.	Anti-spasmodic, anticholinergic antidote for chloral hydrate & opium poisoning
24	Glycyrrhiza (Liquorice)	Glycyrrhiza glabra; dried roots and stolons	Expectorant and anti-inflammatory
25	Senna	Cassia angustifolia-dried leaflets	For purgation of bowels.
26	Ipecac	Cephaelis ipecacuanha-dried roots & rhizomes	To induce vomiting (emetic)
27	Isapgol	Plantago ovate-	To relieve constipation (laxative)
28	Jira	Ciminum cyminum-dry ripe fruit Ciminum cyminum-dry ripe fruit	Stimulant, carminative
29	Lemon grass Oil	Opium poppy	Vitamin-A precursor
30	Mentha oil	Mentha piperita-volatile oil from flowers	Expels gas by eructation
31	As an insecticide to kill insects, mosquito repellent	To relieve severe pains and cough, & also as hypnotic	Papaver somniferum-dry latex having Morphine, codeine, etc.
32	Palmarosa oil	Cymbopogan martini-volatile oil from leaves	Insect repellent
33	Papain	Carica papaya (papaya plant-unripe fruit latex.	One of the anti-inflammatory herbs
34	Peruvian bark	Cinchona ledgeriana-dried bark	Anti-malarial drug
35	Pyrethrum	Chrysanthemum cineraria folium flower heads	Sandalwood oil
36	Rheumatism root	Dioscorea composite-dried tubers	For rheumatic arthritis
37	Rauwolfia	Rauwolfia serpentine-Dry roots	Sandalwood oil
38	Sandal wood oil	Santalum album-volatile oil	Decreases frequent urination.
39	Solanum khasianum	Solanum-dried berries	For steroid production
40	Giloy/ Guduchi	Leaves and stems of Tinospora cordifolia	For fever treatment
41	Tulsi	Ocimum sanctum-fresh & dry leaves	Sandalwood oil
42	Turmeric	Curcuma longs-dry rhizomes	Anti-septic, anti-oxidant, condiment
43	Turpentine oil.	Pinus roxburghii-volatile oil	Counter irritant (for pain relief)
44	Vetiver oil	Vetiveria zizanoides-volatile oil from root	Relive prickly heat and itching
45	Vinca	Catharanthus roseus-entre plant	medicinal plants for cancer treatment, anticancer herbs
46	Yew	Taxus baccata	Dry leaves, bark & roots.

References:

Ayurveda