Harnessing Thar Biodiversity for Medicinal Uses

The Thar Desert is the world's seventh largest desert and is most inhospitable eeo-region in the Indo-Pacific region. It is spread over in the four states of India, and in Pakistan and covering an area of about 2,38,700 km₂. There are as many as 157 species of plants with medicinal value. Medicinal value and usefulness of several species is yet to be studied and established. The diversity of the medicinal flora typical of desert ecosystem has immensc future prospects. The prominent families to which the majority of the medicinal plants of the arid zone belong are: Fabaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Malvaceae, Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Convolvulaceae., Lamiaceae (Labiateae). The present study is aimed at indexing of all medicinal flora occurring in the Western Rajasthan of Indian desert and their uses for the benefit of the researchers to undertake studies on the prospects and potential of commercial exploitation.