The resulting health impact on the basic needs of the population in developing countries is equally important. Demand for herbal medicines has led to significant
changes in traditional patterns of medicinal plant harvesting and, as in the case of
Prunusafricana in Cameroon, has placed some species under threat. Recently, the world Health
Organization estimated that 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some aspect
of their primary health care (Faleyimuet al 2010). In the last twenty years in the United States,
increasing public dissatisfaction with the cost of prescription medications, combined with an
interest in returning to natural organic remedies, has led to an increase in the use of herbal
medicines. In Germany, roughly 600 to 700 plant based medicines are available and are
prescribed by approximately 70% of German Physicians, (Herbal medicine
htt://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles). Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary and
medicinal usage. General usage differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs. Herbs are
“generally recognized as safe” by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), at least at
concentrations commonly found in foods. Medicinal plants continue to provide valuable
therapeutic agents, both in modern medicine and in traditional system (Reaven, 1998).