India is the largest producer of medicinal plants and is rightly called the “Botanical Garden of the World”. The medicinal plants have very important place in the health and vitality of human beings as well as animals. As per the WHO estimates, about three quarters of the world’s population currently use herbs and other traditional medicines to cure various diseases, including liver disorders.Although experimental studies have been conducted on a number of these plants and their formulations, however, only some plants have clearly shown the hepatogenic / hepatoprotective effects against liver diseases. Hence, several phytomedicines (medicinal plants or herbal drugs) are now used for the prevention and treatment of various liver disorders. Excessive drug therapy, environmental pollutants, hepatic cancer and alcoholic intoxicants are the main causes of liver disorders. In spite of consistent human effort and drug discovery, modern drug has very little to offer. A phytotherapeutic approach to modern drug development can provide many invaluable drugs from traditional medicinal plants. Search for pure phytochemicals as drugs is time consuming and expensive. Numerous plants and polyherbal formulations are used for the treatment of liver diseases.
