Medicinal plants as snake venom antidotes

The conflict between man and snake arises primarily from their overlapping haitats. Neutralization of snake venom toxicity by the application of serum antivenom is a development of the last century. Traditionally people treated snake bite victims by medicinal plants alone or in combination with processed edible items and various rituals. In spite of the success of antivenom treatment, the drug is still not available to a large number of people worldwide who are vulnerable to snake bites. Thus the use of plants as snake venom antidotes will be continued in future. It is also hypothesized that components isolated from plants together with antiserum may yield better results in the neutralization of venom toxins. In this article, we have visited continents to note the severity of snake bites and compiled various plants used as antidotes. These plants warrant establishment of their anti-venom potential leading to a good possibilityof discovering new drugs or templates to design better drugs for various diseases.