Shaista Mahfooz, Malik Itrat, Hamid Uddin, Tariq Nadeem Khan
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引用次数: 1
Abstract
Objectives: Indoor air quality has a significant impact on our health and quality of life, as people spends 80-90% of their time indoors. Fumigation of several medicinal herbs has been recommended by Unani scholars to improve air quality, but their efficacy in air purification is still unknown. Hence, this article aims to discuss the applicability of proposed medicinal herbs in the light of current researches.
Methods: A manual literature survey of classical Unani texts was conducted to collect information about the herbs recommended for air purification. In addition, research databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were extensively searched for evidence on the efficacy and mechanism of action of the suggested herbs in air purification.
Results: In classical Unani texts, authors have found descriptions of 26 herbs that have been recommended for improving air quality. In-vitro studies have confirmed the antimicrobial activity of 19 of these herbs. Moreover, the efficacy of Styrax benzoin, Commiphora myrrha and Acorus calamus fumigation on aerial microbes have also been validated by studies.
Conclusions: The findings of the literature review clearly demonstrated that the herbs recommended by Unani scholars for air purification have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, indicating that these herbs could be a potential candidate for air disinfectant. Therefore, authors recommend the further researches on proposed herbs to validate their efficiency against airborne pathogens in the vapour phase.
期刊介绍：
Reviews on Environmental Health (REVEH) is an international peer-reviewed journal that aims to fill the need for publication of review articles on hot topics in the field of environmental health. Reviews on Environmental Health aims to be an inspiring forum for scientists, environmentalists, physicians, engineers, and students who are concerned with aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physiological and psychosociological interactions between man and physical, chemical, biological, and social factors in the environment.
Reviews on Environmental Health is an important niche served by no other journal, that’s being a site where thoughtful reviews can be published on a variety of subjects related to both health and environment. One challenge is to bridge the research on environmental causes of disease with the clinical practice of medicine. Reviews on Environmental Health is a source of integrated information on environment and health subjects that will be of value to the broad scientific community, whether students, junior and senior professionals, or clinicians.
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