The herb Tagara (known as Indian Valerian or Valeriana wallichi) is a perennial herb, found in plenty all over India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It is considered an important medicinal herb and is mentioned in all scriptures of Ayurveda. Valerian is one Asian herb which has been studied rather extensively using randomized placebo-controlled trials, mostly outside India [60]. There is a mild subjective improvement in sleep, especially when used for two weeks or more, though objective testing had shown less consistent results. One study has reported an increase in slow-wave sleep after consumption of this herb [61].

Root of Pippalimoola is usually administered with jaggery (Guda Pippalimoola). According to traditional belief, the powder of Pippalimoola boiled with Guda can be used as linctus to cure even chronic sleeplessness. Beneficial effects of this preparation on patients of insomnia are mentioned in a thesis submitted to a health university in Mysore (India) in 2010. The study showed that the administration of Guda Pippalimoola along with practice of yoga and diet regimentation gave the most beneficial effect. Though administration of Guda Pippalimoola with yoga was also beneficial to some extent, diet regimen alone did not show any positive effect. Sleep was not assessed on the basis of polysomnography in this study [62].

Bijapooraka is an important plant of mentioned in Materia Medica of Ayurveda. Though its various parts are widely used to treat many ailments in traditional system of medicine, the powder of Bijapooraka leaves is used with honey to treat insomnia [63]. The leaf of Bijapooraka contains lysigenous cavities with the presence of oil globules, calcium oxalate crystals, paracytic stomata, and incomplete ring of sclerenchyma [64].

Ashwagandha is a shrub cultivated in India and North America whose roots have been used for thousands of years by Ayurvedic practitioners as a folk remedy. Ashwagandha is consumed in various forms. In traditional medicine, its powder is mixed with sugar and ghee for consumption. In experimental animals, systemic application of the defined extract from Ashwagandha led to slightly enhanced acetylcholine esterase activity in the lateral septum and globus pallidus, whereas in the vertical diagonal band acetylcholine esterase activity was reduced [65]. Oral administration of Ashwagandha (100 mg/kg) prevented the rise in lipid peroxidation in stress-induced rabbits and mice [66]. In a clinical study, 18 apparently healthy volunteers received Ashwagandha capsules (aqueous extract, 8:1) daily in two divided doses with increase in daily dosage every 10 days for 30 days (750 mg/day × 10 days, 1000 mg/day × 10 days, 1250 mg/day × 10 days). Six subjects reported improvement in quality of sleep [67]. The most useful action of Ashwagandha is to reduce stress and perhaps indirectly aid in sleep.

Araceae, commonly known as “sweet flag” or “calamus,” is a semiaquatic, perennial, aromatic herb with creeping rhizomes. The plant is found in the northern temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, North America, and Europe [68]. Araceae rhizome and its constituents, particularly alpha- and beta-asarone, possess a wide range of pharmacological activities such as sedative, CNS depressant, behavior-modifying, anticonvulsant, acetylcholinesterase-inhibitory, memory-enhancing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic, cardiovascular, hypolipidemic, immunosuppressive, cytoprotective, antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, insecticidal, adulticidal, diuretic, genotoxic, and mutagenic activities [58, 68]. Roots and rhizomes of Araceae prolong the behaviorally assessed “sleeping time” of mice and rats when used with pentobarbital, hexobarbital, and ethanol [69, 70]. The essential oil and alcoholic and aqueous extracts showed depressant action on normotensive mongrel dogs [71]. The hypnotic potentiating action has been claimed to be mediated through serotonin and catecholamines [72]. Alpha-asarone, one of the active principles of Araceae, potentiated the pentobarbital-induced-sleeping time periods by two- to threefold [73]. Assessment of sleep using electrophysiological signal has shown that alpha-asarone could induce sleep and decrease in body temperature in rats [74].