Bryophytes Source of Herbal Remedies and Antibiotic Production

The Bryophyta are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non vascular land plants embryophytes the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in size and prefer moist habitats although they can survive in drier environments. The bryophytes consist of about 20,000 plant species. Bryophytes produce enclosed reproductive structures gametangia and sporangia , but they do not produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce sexually by spores and asexually by fragmentation or the production of gemmae. Though bryophytes were considered a paraphyletic group in recent years, almost all of the most recent phylogenetic evidence supports the monophyly of this group, as originally classified by Wilhelm Schimper in 1879. Bryophytes are popular remedy among the tribal people of different parts of the world. Tribal people use these plants to cure various ailments in their daily lives. Bryophytes are used to cure hepatic disorders, skin diseases, cardiovascular diseases, used as antipyretic, antimicrobial, wound healing and many more other ailments by different tribal communities of Africa, America, Europe, Poland, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, China, Nepal and different parts of South, North and Eastern India. Apart from ethno medicinal uses some bryophytes possesses antitumor activities against different cancer cell lines and this property of bryophytes needs to be more focused in the future. Bryophytes display a plethora of medicinal properties and may be used to treat hepatic disorders, skin diseases, cardiovascular diseases, fever and wound. The phytochemicals isolated from them can be used to produce a range of novel pharmacologically active compounds. Dr. Prabha Bisht Dhondiyal "Bryophytes: Source of Herbal Remedies and Antibiotic Production" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-6 | Issue-6 , October 2022, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd51838.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/biological-science/botany/51838/bryophytes-source-of-herbal-remedies-and-antibiotic-production/dr-prabha-bisht-dhondiyal