Traditional medicine in health care.

The state of research on plants used in traditional medicine and its development in Egypt is indicated by the number of scientific institutions devoted to this problem: Universities, the National Research Centre, the Desert Institute and the Horticulture Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. Moreover, the use of certain medicinal plants has been "industrialised', e.g., Ammi visnaga, Cymbopogon proximus, Nigella sativa and Aloe vera. Other plants are under investigation: Urginea maritima, Phytolacca americana and Euphorbia sp. (known for its claimed antitumour properties), Glycyrrhiza glabra, Cynara scolymus and Solanum laciniatum.