Plant medicines of Indian origin for wound healing activity: a review

Research on wound healing drugs is a developing area in modern biomedical sciences. Scientists who are trying to develop newer drugs from natural resources are looking toward the Ayurveda, the Indian traditional system of medicine. Several drugs of plant, mineral, and animal origin are described in the Ayurveda for their wound healing properties under the term Vranaropaka. Most of these drugs are derived from plant origin. Some of these plants have been screened scientifically for the evaluation of their wound healing activity in different pharmacological models and patients, but the potential of most remains unexplored. In a few cases, active chemical constituents were identified. Some Ayurvedic medicinal plants, namely, Ficus bengalensis, Cynodon dactylon, Symplocos racemosa, Rubia cordifolia, Pterocarpus santalinus, Ficus racemosa, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Berberis aristata, Curcuma longa, Centella asiatica, Euphorbia nerifolia, and Aloe vera, were found to be effective in experimental models. This paper presents a limited review of plants used in Ayurvedic medicine.