Medicinal plants and industry

Beyond their direct use in traditional medicine, medicinal plants are used on an industrial scale to produce total extracts and tinctures, purified extracts and chemical products. The importance of the appropriate solvents to prepare extracts and their correct use in pharmaceutical formulations are emphasized. Generally, purified extracts, because they contain a total mixture of the active principles, are more active than the single components of the mixture. The cultivation of medicinal plants in their original habitat represents the most suitable means to comply with the increasing demand for medicinal plants and to avoid the depletion of natural sources.