Anti-hypertensive medicinal plants and their mode of action

•Very few traditionally used plants have been validated scientifically through stringent animal studies and clinical trials.•Different mode of actions has been suggested for traditionally used anti-hypertensive plants.•Systematic validation studies are needed to translate the traditional medications as alternative anti-hypertensive drugs.•Traditional drugs fail to achieve the desired scale due to lack of scientific data on safety, efficacy and mode of action.•Attempt has been made to integrate the clinical studies and mode of action for better understanding of stakeholders.

This review discusses the medicinal plants used in traditional medicine for the treatment of hypertension and their reported mode of action and efficacy. High blood pressure is considered a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and strokes. Owing to its high prevalence and association with increased morbidity and mortality, it is a major worldwide health problem. According to the data of Global Health Observatory (GHO), in 2014 about 22% of adults aged 18 and above were reported with elevated blood pressure. Between 2010 and 2014 the mean systolic blood pressure of the world’s population has stayed constant at 124 mmHg. Historically, a number of plants and their formulations have been in use for the treatment of hypertension. Awareness of plant based medications and therapeutics are continuously increasing worldwide, hence the acceptance and demand. However, very few of these have been validated scientifically through stringent in vivo animal studies and clinical trials. Most of the available scientific data confirming the antihypertensive potential of traditionally used plants lacks systematic studies on their mode of action, efficacy, stability, toxicity and safety. In-depth scientific validation studies are required to authenticate the traditional medications as alternative and complementary drugs for the treatment of hypertension.