**5. Discussion**

The safety of medicinal plants has been enmeshed in scientific controversies. While the promoters of "natural is safe" paradigm persisted, different authors had previously justified why natural does not really mean safe in the context of phytotherapy. Most contributions in this regard presented evidence-based toxicity bordering on inherent toxicity of plant constituents [64–66] and herbal**–**drug interactions [23, 60]. However, the present paper premised this safety concerns on a definition of natural as a process influenced by the immediate habitat of the plant. The impact of the environment and processing procedures are indeed critical players of nature that determine the safety of medicinal plants. However, the general consensus by all authors is that some popular medicinal plant materials contain harmful substances, which may be classified into phytotoxins, phytosteroids, and bioaccumulated toxicants.
