NANOTECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO HERBAL DRUGS USED IN CANCER THERAPY

In the last few years there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicine and these drugs are obtaining popularity both in developing and developed countries because of their natural origin and lesser side effects. Many traditional medicines in use and they are derived from medicinal plants, minerals and some organic matter. The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed 21,000 plants, which are useful for medicinal purposes around the world. Among these 2500 species are in India, out of which 150 species are used commercially on a fairly large scale. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is called as botanical garden of the world .This review focuses on herbal drug preparations of nanoformulation used in the treatment of different chronic diseases conditions in the world. This paper will discuss the benefits with use of herbal nanoformulation as Anti-cancerous activity. The application of nanotechnology is enhancement for the bioavailability and nanomization of herbal drugs like-nanocurcumin from Curcuma longa, nanovincristine from Vinca rosea, Podophylotoxin from Podophylum hexendrum, Taxol from Taxus plant etc. The nanocarriers have been made of safe materials, including synthetic biodegradable polymers, lipids and polysaccharides. Nanomedicines can be developed either as drug delivery systems or biologically active drug products. It is indicated that nanotechnology is one of the fastest developing of nanoformulation, the most potential and far-reaching high and new technology in current world. Nanoformulations is to increases the particles size and increase the surface area due to increases the bioavailability and reduces the side effect of herbal drugs and are useful for the treatment, diagnosis, monitoring and control of biological systems and have recently been referred to as nanomedicine