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1.INTRODUCTION
Medicinal plants are the "backbone" of traditional medicines, which means more than 3.3 billion people in the less developed countries utilize medicinal plants on a regular basis (Davidson-hunt 2000). The use of traditional medicine and medicinal plants in most developing countries, as a basis for the maintenance of good health, has been widely observed by UNESCO, 1996.
The indigenous medicinal plants and plant-derived drugs are the potential source of alternative medicine and are extensively used to treat various health ailments (Kavishankar et al., 2011). During the past decade, traditional systems of medicine have become a topic of global importance. Medicinal plants frequently used as raw materials for extraction of active ingredients which used in the synthesis of different drugs (Singh R, 2015). The therapeutic value of Andrographis paniculata (Kalmegh) is very well known. It is an important cold property herb, used in fever and to dispel toxins from the body (Sreevani P, 2013). It is an essential ingredient in many traditional herbal and ayurvedic combinations in China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia etc. Aerial parts are most commonly used; however, the whole plant or roots are mentioned for certain limited purposes in some manuscripts. In traditional methods the plant parts were used as an infusion, decoction, or powder, either alone or with other herbal combinations. In this plant many chemical components of medicinal value are present like - andrographolide, 14-deoxy-11,12 didehydroandrographolide, 14-deoxy-11-oxyandrographolide, neoandrographolide, andrographide, kalmeghin etc. which are of highly medicinal value. (Dhiman et al.,...