Herbal treasures not fully tapped: Expert

CHENNAI: The potential of Indian herbal garden and emphasis on the need for focussed research to unravel the health benefits of herbal principles was the focus of this year’s Dr TR Govindachari Memorial Lecture. Prof SP Thyagarajan, Pro-Chancellor (Research), Sri Ramachandra University, spoke on the plant Phyllanthus amarus, traditionally known as “Kizhanelli”. These plants’ principles were subjected to extensive research and resulted in an indigenous drug for the treatment of chronic jaundice, called Hepatitis-B, he said.“Drug from Phyllanthus amarus is a major breakthrough because this is one plant that has been scientifically evaluated in our country and is accepted the world over. In India, there is a wealth of information available in the traditional ayurveda and siddha branches of medicine. But the problem is we have not bothered to study them scientifically,” he  said. Prof G Thyagarajan, president of the Madras Science Foundation, welcomed and spoke on the research contributions made by Dr TR Govindachari, the father of natural products chemistry research in India.