more parts of these plants. The plant
metabolites, according to their composition are grouped as alkaloids, glycosides,
corticosteroids, and essential oils and so
on. Medicinal plants are a living and
irreparable resource, exhaustible if
overused and sustainable if used with care
and wisdom. The importance of medicinal
plants has been overlooked in the past,
however, at present medicinal plants are
looked not only as a source of affordable
health care but also as a source of income Around 70,000 plant species, from lichens
to flowering trees have been used for
medicinal purposes. Many species are used
in herbal medicines and is used in
unrefined or semi-processed form, often as
mixtures, which may also contain nonbotanical
ingredient. A few species are the
sources of defined compounds used in the
pharmaceutical industry. There is
international trade in medicinal plants used
in herbal medicine and in the manufacture
of pharmaceuticals. There is also a
growing interest in obtaining samples of
plant material and traditional knowledge
about the uses of plants and also to explore
commercial medicinal products. The scale
of international trade in medicinal plants is
difficult to assess, because of the paucity
of reliable statistics and trade secrecy.
Molecular markers have particularly been
suggested to be useful for confirmation of
genetic fidelity in micro propagated tree
species, where lifespan is quite long and
performance of micro propagated plants
could only be ascertained after their long
juvenile stage in field conditions. In India
also, studies have been conducted and
research projects funded for research
where lack of polymorphism shown
through the use of molecular markers has
been used to infer genetic fidelity. Recent
advances in molecular genetics techniques
and tools over the past decade have
provided considerable impetus to research
in this direction. Techniques using
molecular markers based on DNA
polymorphism are coming up at a rapid
rate. However, molecular marker study of
these medicinal plants was carried out by
previous researchers with sporadic reports.
and molecular marker studies in these
medicinal plants, revealed a large gap, in
view of the above the present investigation
was undertaken on some of the medicinal
plants such