Plants have been used as a source of medicine through out the years of timeThe use of plants in treatment of various human ailments has been noted in many of the ancient Indian literatureThere are about 45,000 plant species in India and several thousands have been used as medicine because of the purported medicinal properties.

The most commonly studied and the most successful of these plants used in association of diabetes and their problems are the Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Aloe vera, Cajanus cajan, Coccinia indica, Caesalpinia bonducella, Ficus bengalenesis, Gymnema sylvestre, Momordica charantia, Ocimum sanctum, Pterocarpus marsupium, Swertia chirayita, Syzigium cumini, Tinospora cordifolia and Trigonella foenum graecumA varying degree of hypoglycemia and anti-hyperglycemic activity were shown in a variety of degrees in all of the plants.