Bioactive compounds and medical significance of some endangered medicinal plants from the Western Ghats region of India: Sources and applications

India, known as the herbal garden of the world, has a rich knowledge in plant-based medications. Ayurveda (Sanskrit, meaning “life knowledge”) is a traditional system of medicine that deals with the treatment of various ailments using plant-based products. The inability of this system to compete with contemporary systems is attributed to the reason that many plant-based formulations lack scientific evaluation or proper clinical trials. However, most of the bioactive components isolated, characterized, and identified from these medicinal plants have shown promising pharmaceutical properties when evaluated under in vitro conditions and with animal models. In this chapter, rare and endangered medicinal plants such as Aegle marmelos, Aristolochia indica, Baliosprmum montanum, Coscinium fenestratum, Decalepis hamiltonii, Eugenia singampattiana, Holostemma ada-kodien, Pterocarpus santalinus, Rauvolfia serpentina, Trichopus zeylanicus, and Oroxylum indicum are discussed in light of their history, distribution, phytochemical constituents, and medicinal significance with the aim to attract researchers to work on active phytochemical constituents to validate and develop plant-based drugs.