Abstract
Medicinal plants have gained much interest in the prevention and treatment of common human disease such as cold and fever, hypertension and postpartum. Bioactive compounds from medicinal plants were synthesised using effective extraction methods which have important roles in the pharmaceutical product development. Orthosiphon aristatus (OA), Eurycoma longifolia (EL) and Andrographis paniculata (AP) are among popular medicinal herbs in Southeast Asia. The major compounds for these medicinal plants are polar bioactive compounds (rosmarinic acid, eurycomanone and andrographolide) which have multiple benefits to human health. The bioactive compounds are used as a drug to function against a variety of diseases with the support of scientific evidence. This paper was intended to prepare a complete review about the extraction techniques (e.g. OA, EL and AP) of these medicinal plants based on existing studies and scientific works. Suitable solvents and techniques to obtain their major bioactive compounds and their therapeutic potentials were discussed.