Ayurveda Group

As Ayurveda gains more followers and demand for Ayurvedic medicines continues to grow exponentially, along comes the threat of extinction.

The Economic Times reports that the Botanical Survey of India has done an assessment of the state of the nation’s wild medicinal plants used in Ayurvedic medicine. As you can tell by the headline, the prognosis for those species which are harvested from the wild–about 95% of herbs used are not cultivated–is decidedly not good.

The original study highlights five critically endangered species:

* Ulteria salicfolia, extracts from the rhizome of which can protect against ulcers
* Hydnocarpus pentandra, or the Jangli Almond, whose seed oil is used to treat ailments diverse as leprosy, arthritis, and diabetes
* Gymnocladus assamicus, a tree found in northeast India
* Begonia tessaricarpa, known as Rebe, which was thought to be extinct for 115 years before being rediscovered, and is used to treat stomach aches and dehydration
* Agapetes smithiana

To read the Planet Green (Discovery.com) article – click the following link
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/ayurvedas-medicinal-plants-extinction.html




Links to related sites

Herbs
Herbs
Ayurveda