Plants are a source of large amount of drugs comprising to different groups such as antispasmodics, emetics, anti-cancer, antimicrobials etc. A large number of the plants are claimed to possess the antibiotic properties in the traditional system and are also used extensively by the tribal people worldwide. It is now believed that nature has given the cure of
every disease in one way or another. Plants have been known to relieve various diseases in
Ayurveda. Therefore, the researchers today are emphasizing on evaluation and
characterization of various plants and plant constituents against a number of diseases based
on their traditional claims of the plants given in Ayurveda. Extraction of the bioactive plant
constituents has always been a challenging task for the researchers. In this present review, an
attempt has been made to give an overview of certain extractants and extraction processes
with their advantages and disadvantages.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, phytochemicals, extraction, solvent, screening.