This timely and original handbook paves the way to success in plant-based drug development, systematically addressing the issues facing a pharmaceutical scientist who wants to turn a plant compound into a safe and effective drug. Plant pharmacologists from around the world demonstrate the potentials and pitfalls involved, with many of the studies and experiments reported here published for the first time. The result is a valuable source of information unavailable elsewhere.
The objectives of the book is to highlight the relevance of traditional medicine and way towards ethnopharmacology, to share research achievements and innovations in herbal science, to evaluate and review opportunities for advancing herbal drug research in the region, to provide a platform to map an agenda for the development of phytomedicine, to address issues concerning conservation of medicinal plants. The book has been compiled with 30 articles based on the original research work by eminent academicians and scientists of the country on different areas of phytomedicine. Recent trends and techniques involved from the search, documentation, processing, sustainable utilization and conservation of medicinal plants are the highlights of this book. It will provide a unique opportunity to boost up the knowledge in various aspects of medicinal plant research.
This book highlights the latest international research on different aspects of medicinal plants and fungi. Studies over the last decade have demonstrated that bioactive compounds isolated from medicinal fungi have promising antitumor, cardiovascular, immunomodulatory, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, and hepatoprotective properties. In the light of these studies, the book includes chapters (mostly review articles) by eminent researchers from twelve countries across the globe working in different disciplines of medicinal plants and fungi. It discusses topics such as the prevention of major neurodegenerative and neurotoxic mechanisms by Centella asiatica; the medicinal properties and therapeutic applications of several mushrooms species found in different parts of the world; and fungal endophytes as a source of bioactive metabolites including anticancer and cardioprotective agents. There are also chapters on strategies for identifying bioactive secondary metabolites of fungal origin; the use of genomic information to explore the biotechnological potential of medicinal mushrooms; and solid state fermentation of agro-industrial and forestry residues for the production of medicinal mushrooms. It is a valuable resource for the researchers, professionals and students working in the area of medicinal plants and fungi.
The global popularity of herbal supplements and the promise they hold in treating various disease states has caused an unprecedented interest in understanding the molecular basis of the biological activity of traditional remedies. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects focuses on presenting current scientific evidence of biomolecular ef
This important book for scientists and nonscientists alike calls attention to a most urgent global problem: the rapidly accelerating loss of plant and animal species to increasing human population pressure and the demands of economic development. Based on a major conference sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, Biodiversity creates a systematic framework for analyzing the problem and searching for possible solutions.
As the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War examines military history from the perspective of plant science. From victory gardens to drugs, timber, rubber, and fibers, plants supplied materials with key roles in victory. Vegetables provided the wartime diet both in North America and Europe, where vitamin-rich carrots, cabbages, and potatoes nourished millions. Chicle and cacao provided the chewing gum and chocolate bars in military rations. In England and Germany, herbs replaced pharmaceutical drugs; feverbark was in demand to treat malaria, and penicillin culture used a growth medium made from corn. Rubber was needed for gas masks and barrage balloons, while cotton and hemp provided clothing, canvas, and rope. Timber was used to manufacture Mosquito bombers, and wood gasification and coal replaced petroleum in European vehicles. Lebensraum, the Nazi desire for agricultural land, drove Germans eastward; troops weaponized conifers with shell bursts that caused splintering. Ironically, the Nazis condemned non-native plants, but adopted useful Asian soybeans and Mediterranean herbs. Jungle warfare and camouflage required botanical knowledge, and survival manuals detailed edible plants on Pacific islands. Botanical gardens relocated valuable specimens to safe areas, and while remote locations provided opportunities for field botany, Trees surviving in Hiroshima and Nagasaki live as a symbol of rebirth after vast destruction.
The Gardener's Companion to Medicinal Plants is a beautifully illustrated giftable gardening reference book, which combines exquisite botanical illustrations with practical self-help projects. Every day sees a discovery in the press about the new uses of plants, and it's certain that most of our most important drugs are derived from plants. From willow (used to procure aspirin) to periwinkle (used in chemotherapy to treat lymphoma) many common garden plants have provided cures in modern medicine. In this book readers can discover more than 200 life-saving plants and 25 home-grown remedies to make themselves. Each home cure is described and illustrated with step-by-step photographs to show how you can be a gardener and heal yourself.
For over a century, plant specialists worldwide have sought to transform healing plants in African countries into pharmaceuticals. And for equally as long, conflicts over these medicinal plants have endured, from stolen recipes and toxic tonics to unfulfilled promises of laboratory equipment and usurped personal patents. In Bitter Roots, Abena Dove Osseo-Asare draws on publicly available records and extensive interviews with scientists and healers in Ghana, Madagascar, and South Africa to interpret how African scientists and healers, rural communities, and drug companies—including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Unilever—have sought since the 1880s to develop drugs from Africa’s medicinal plants. Osseo-Asare recalls the efforts to transform six plants into pharmaceuticals: rosy periwinkle, Asiatic pennywort, grains of paradise, Strophanthus, Cryptolepis, and Hoodia. Through the stories of each plant, she shows that herbal medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry have simultaneous and overlapping histories that cross geographic boundaries. At the same time, Osseo-Asare sheds new light on how various interests have tried to manage the rights to these healing plants and probes the challenges associated with assigning ownership to plants and their biochemical components. A fascinating examination of the history of medicine in colonial and postcolonial Africa, Bitter Roots will be indispensable for scholars of Africa; historians interested in medicine, biochemistry, and society; and policy makers concerned with drug access and patent rights.
An herbal medicine making book and formulary with its roots in original herbalism designed for home medicine makers, herbal schools and small manufacturers.
Organized by body system and ailment makes it easy to locate appropriate therapies. Includes background on the physiology of major systems and ailments so readers can understand how and why a pharmaceutical, botanical, or dietary supplement works. Broad coverage includes green plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Includes extensive references and citations from both conventional and complimentary-alternative medical systems when natural products or their derivatives are involved.
