Ethnomedicinal Wisdom: An Approach for Antiviral Drug Development

Nature has its own way of protecting mankind from the atrocities of illness and diseases by producing natural products of diverse structures and bioactivities, not only necessary for good health but also to combat diverse life-style and infectious diseases including microbial infections caused by virus, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other parasites. The problems of emerging and emerging diseases with drug resistance, latency, and reactivation along with the shorter life span of most synthetic agents or drugs have directed scientists to look into the treasure chests of nature to find out and explore the natural metabolites of plants for the management of diverse diseases including viral diseases. This chapter explains the treasure of “Ethnomedicine” and its journey through time, which reveals the importance of this branch of “natural science” in the current scenario, its potential as “alternative or complementary” medicine, especially against viral diseases with a detailed account of identified antivirals, their isolation and identification as “natural antiviral” to make the readers realize the need to accept “ethnomedicine” as appropriate alternatives to “synthetic chemistry.”