Metabolomics of medicinal plants-a versatile tool for standardization of herbal products and quality evaluation of Ayurvedic formulations

Abstract

Secondary metabolites from plants provide lead molecules for drug development. Metabolomics is a modern omic-technique for comprehensive analysis of phytochemicals. Advances in mass spectrometry (MS) based platforms like GC-MS and LC-MS, helped in separation and identification of several metabolites. Such analysis can be a valuable tool for identifying potential biomolecules from medicinal plants. Despite the potential use, metabolomics data of Indian medicinal plants and spices are extremely limited. Similarly, metabolomic studies on Ayurvedic formulations, e.g. Triphala/ Trikatu, are lacking. Our review emphasizes the importance of metabolomics of Indian medicinal plants, crucial for quality evaluation and scientific validation of herbal products.