Medicinal plants play a golden role not only as traditional medicine but also as trade commodities, meeting the demand of distant markets for the development of new drugs. In fact, to realize the effective integration of plants into a medical system, researchers and practitioners should be trained in both modern and traditional medicine in the use of plant compounds. In addition, to build credibility for the use of plants in conventional medicine, the empirical arguments should be converted into evidence-based arguments. Human societies have been in close contact with their environments since the beginning of their formation and used the ingredients of the environment to obtain food and medicine. Awareness and application of plants to prepare food and medicine have been realized through trial and error, and gradually human became able to meet his needs from his surroundings. Information about medicinal plants has long been transmitted gradually and from generation to generation, a human knowledge has gradually become complete with the formation of civilizations and the provision of more facilities. Medicinal plants are used as a medical resource in almost all cultures. Ensuring the safety, quality and effectiveness of medicinal plants and herbal drugs very recently became a key issue in industrialized and developing countries. By standardizing and evaluating the health of active plant-derived compounds, herbal drugs can help the emergence of a new era of the healthcare system to treat human diseases in the future. Awareness of traditional knowledge and medicinal plants can play a key role in the exploitation and discovery of natural plant resources. In order to maintain this knowledge, comprehensive approach and collaboration are needed to maintain historical records on medicinal plants and use these resources in favour of human beings, before they are destroyed forever. Therefore, this review was conducted to investigate and describe the process of using medicinal plants throughout history. This review focuses on the recent various important challenges in quality evaluation of medicinal plants in the authenticity, efficacy, toxicity and consistency. Please cite this paper as:

Free radicals are constructed by natural physiological activities in the human cells as well as in the environment. They may be produced as a result of diet, smoking, exercise, inflammation, exposure to sunlight, air pollutants, stress, alcohol and drugs. Imbalanced redox status may lead to cellular oxidative stress, which can damage the cells of the body, resulting in an incidence of various diseases. If the endogenous antioxidants do not stop the production of reactive metabolites, they will be needed to bring about a balance in redox status. Natural antioxidants, for example plants, play an important part in this context. This paper seeks to report the available evidence about oxidative stress and the application of plants as antioxidant agents to fight free radicals in the human body. For this purpose, to better understand oxidative stress, the principles of free radical production, the role of free radicals in diseases, antioxidant defense mechanisms, and the role of herbs and diet in oxidative stress are discussed.

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Due to the increasing risk of chemical contaminations in the application of synthetic fungicides, the use of plant essential oils and extracts has recently been increased. In the present review, the antimicrobial potential of the most active plant-food essential oils in liquid and vapor phases has been reviewed. The volatile isothiocyanates, aldehydes, and phenols, including allyl isothiocyanate, carvacrol, thymol, and eugenol, are considered to be the predominant components of essential oils, possessing significant antimicrobial activities. These components alone or in mixture can be effective. Overall, the antimicrobial activity of aroma compounds depends on the plant species, concentration, and method of application. This review provides useful information about the inhibitory application of the most common plant-foods’ essential oils in liquid and vapor phases against the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Essential oils (EOs) are promising natural antimicrobial alternatives in food processing facilities. Although the food industry primarily uses spices and herbs to impart flavor, aroma, and pungency to foods, potent EOs represent interesting sources of natural products for food preservation.