Evaluation of Indian traditional medicine

India has an ancient heritage of traditional medicine. The materia medica of India provides a great deal of information on the folklore practices and traditional aspects of therapeutically important natural products. Indian traditional medicine is based on various systems including Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani. The evaluation of these drugs is primarily based on phytochemical, pharmacological, and allied approaches including various instrumental techniques such as chromatography, microscopy, and others. These traditional systems of Indian medicine are each unique but there is a common thread in their fundamental principles and practices. With the emerging worldwide interest in adopting and studying traditional systems and exploiting their potential based on different health care systems, the evaluation of the rich heritage of traditional medicine is essential. The government and the private sector are exploring all of the possibilities for the perfect evaluation of these systems in order to effectively adopt the therapeutic approaches available in original systems of medicine as well as to help in generating data to pus these products on the national health program.