Abstract

The synthesis of medicinal antihypertensive drugs is an expensive endeavor for a developing country. Besides, anti-hypertensive synthetic medicines are not environmentally friendly and have a range of side effects which are usually irreversible. Thus, there is an urgent need to seek alternative, complimentary medicine of herbal nature, which is far cheaper, environmentally safe, commercially available and produces little or no side effects. To this effect, the literature has been surveyed to extract a list of plants used as antihypertensive agents. Various solvent types of plant extracts have been used and will continue to be used. Each synthetic drug or herbal extract has its own mechanism of action on human cells.

Keywords: Synthesis; Medicinal antihypertensive; Complimentary medicine