Arezou Rezaei - Department of Cell and molecular biology, School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran

The Iranians were the first tribes who discovered the properties of medicinal herbs. The history of Persian medicine dates back to three thousand years ago and many centuries before Christ. The school of Zoroaster (Mazdayasna) existed long before the medical schools of Greece. The ۲۵۰۰-year antiquity of Simorgh is more than some medical symbols in the world and Greece. According to Cyril Elgood, the Iranians taught the Greeks the fundamental of Greek medicine to the Greeks. Cyril Elgood and John Bernal cite the unfamiliarity with the Pahlavi or other ancient Iranian languages, and the destruction of ancient Iranian books as the reasons for the neglect of Persian medicine. It seems that the unfamiliarity and alienation with historical sources and scientific-cultural history still exist in the Iranian scientific community. The history of Iranian traditional medicine as well as Iranian endemic herbs have not been properly considered by Iranian researchers. While in modern ethnopharmacology, familiarity withhistorical sources is known as one of the important ways in discovering of natural-based drugs. The safety of all herbal medicines due to their natural origin is a misconception. Biological and chemical contaminants, drug interactions, and misidentification of medicinal herbs are among the dangers associated with using herbs. However, these items, perhaps for economic reasons, are not the main subject of all herbal research. Nevertheless, there are items with impact on the validity and reproducibility of the results of herbal research and studies, such as the correct identification of medicinal herbs, scientific nomenclature, and detailed explanation of experimental methods (such as location and source of plant samples or the processing steps of herbs). These important details are also of forgotten in some publications on herbal medicines, although thereis no extra cost to mentioning them. Paying more attention to the education and research of graduate students and paying attention to the above-mentioned items can have a significant impact on the international validity of herbal research.

medicinal herbs, validity, reproducibility, scientific nomenclature