CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The use of the leaves, stem and bark of the plants for medicinal purposes is an age long practice. Also in the modern times, and among civilized people, the medicinal use of herbs and shrubs in the treatment of so many diseases both physiological and otherwise is an important breakthrough in pharmocognacy. Mistle toe is a flowering plant which lives on and obtains its nutrition from other plants by parasitizing on its host.
Mistle toegrows as a partial parasite on a variety of trees, such as apples, oranges, breadfruits across Northern Europe, Asia and Africa. Mistle toe falls under the category of Medicinal plants. Mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas which has proved to contain phytochemicals and other constituents.[1]
The Mistle toe white berries are potentially poisonous and toxic ad should be avoided. It has been discovered that it is capable of treating cancer, lowering of blood pressure, internal bleeding, convulsion s and so on. Despite the wide use of Mistle toe plant of medicine, the use of mistle toe cannot be routinely recommended. In that case, it should be used under the supervision of a licensed health care professional because it has its indications and side effects.
The efficiency of this plant in the treatment of various diseases necessitated the present work in order to identify the natural product present in the leaf of the plant.
