Role of Medicinal Plants and Herbs in Veterinary Medicine

Introduction

Medicinal plants have been used as a source of healing in local communities all over the world for thousands of years. Nonetheless, for around 85 % of the world's population, it is still significant as a primary healthcare technique, and as a drug discovery resource, with 80% of all synthetic medicines derived from them (Bauer & Brönstrup, 2014; Singh & Navneet, 2016, 2017a).It is unsurprising that people have utilised the same plant remedies for the animals in their care for as long as humans have been linked with animals. Thus, for most of history, the evolution of veterinary botanical medicine, the earliest kind of veterinary medicine, has paralleled the progress of human medicine. Indeed, herbal medicine has experienced a lot of conceptual transformations throughout history, but its tone has remained substantially unaltered from antiquity to the present. Herbal medicine is holistic, empiricist, and vitalist in attitude, and some herbalists believe that it should stay such even while contemporary medicine attempts to embrace the use of herbs as "drugs" in search of the "active ingredient." This "scientism," which may verge on reductionism, is essentially a new philosophy in the context of herbal medicine (Pešić, 2015).

Evidence shows that Ayurveda, which originated in India, was possibly the first medicinal system. The use of medicinal herbs in the treatment of people and animals is mentioned in the Rig Veda, the earliest source of human knowledge, written between 4500 and 1600 BCE. The "Nakul Samhita," published about the same time, was possibly the first book on the use of herbs in the healing of animals. Animal husbandry chapters such as "Management and Feeding" may be found in ancient texts such as the Skandh Puran, Devi Puran, Harit, and others. Palkapya (1000 BC) and Shalihotra (2350 BC) were well-known veterinarians who specialised in elephant and horse care (Unknown, 2004). King Asoka (274-236 BC) commissioned individuals to cultivate herbs for use in the care of ill and elderly animals (Wynn & Fougère, 2006). Ricinius, pepper, lily, and valerian are among the medicines described in early Ayuvedic literature of the CharakaSamhita (200 BC-AD 200). Vasant Lad characterises the foundation of Ayurveda ("life science") in a way that mirrors the Tao of Chinese medicine and the humours of Greek medicine:

Figure 1.

Administering liquid medicine with a bamboo bottle is an aspect of the old Chinese-Japanese art of horse healing.

In 3700 BC, a Chinese monarch called Shen Nong composed one of the earliest known and longest surviving Materia Medica. Shen Nong (the Divine Farmer) is regarded as the legendary founder of Chinese herbal medicine. Hundreds of plants are said to have been tasted by him, identifying those that may be used as cures, and characterising their qualities. As a result of his work, several plants are now commonly utilised in treatment, and information has been passed down through oral tradition for generations. His herbal Materia Medica book included herbal Materia Medica for both humans and animals. It's worth noting that it talked about the antifever effects of Artemesia annua (Chinese wormwood), which has recently been proved to be particularly efficient against malaria (Yang, 1997).

When compared to the Egyptians, the ancient Greek and Roman societies advanced veterinary science in comparable but slightly distinct paths. The "Hippiatrika" is one of the first writings we come across that mentions Roman practitioners and their study of horses (Walker, 1991). Around 500 BC, the name "Hippiatros" was used in Greece to designate to horse physicians (Swabe, 1999). The horse was important in Greek and Roman civilization because members of society relied on it for military and commercial purposes. Earlier (between 383 BC and 322 BC), Aristotle, known as the "Father of Veterinary Medicine," was a powerful figure in Greek culture. Aristotle's publications covered a wide range of topics, including physiology, comparative anatomy, and disease.In works such as HistoriaAnimalium, De Partibus Animalium, De Generatione Animalium, and Problematicum, he contrasted animal and human anatomy, physiology, and illness (Zerobin, 1998). Hippocrates had a significant impact on both veterinary and herbal medicine (460-377 BC). He developed the humoral theory and authored Corpus Hippocraticum, in which he described over 200 plants.