European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
AP Sirsat, PS Kokate, RP Shirsat

Abstract
Plants are being used by Indian traditional healers for the treatment of various ailments including chronic disorders and diseases like cancer since historical age. Cancer is emerged as global threat during early 21^st century and with the minimum or no side effects, plant derived herbal medicine is supposed to be the best for its treatment. Further, plant derived drugs are gaining increasing focus and playing vital role in routine healthcare systems and international trade. Medicinal plants with antioxidant and anticancer properties are still in use by various tribal communities and administered by traditional herbal healers and Vaidoos. However, as the knowledge of traditional medicine is transferred from one generation to another generation orally, there is an unseen threat of its further long term existence. Secondly, due to rapid rate of deforestation, there are chances of extinction of some medicinally important plants. Thus, there is urgent need of documentation of these plants so that they can be conserved and used for the human healthcare. The present review is focused on the documentation of research on medicinal plants with antioxidant and anticancer properties from Indian subcontinent and further substantial advancement in obtaining drug molecules from these plants.