With chapters written by scientists from respected institutes and universities around the world, this book looks at the bioprospecting of medicinal plants for potential health uses and at the pharmacognosy of a selection of medicinal and aromatic plants.
The book touches on a diverse selection of topics related to medicinal plants. Chapters look at the use of medicinal plants in healthcare and disease management, such as to treat inflammation, antihyperglycemia, and obesity and as immunity boosters. The authors also address the conservation, maintenance, and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants along with postharvest management issues. A chapter discusses the use of synthetic seeds in relation to cryopreservation, and a chapter is devoted to the use of microcomputed tomography and image processing tools in medicinal and aromatic plants. Other topics include consumption, supply chain, marketing, trade, and future directions of research.
Table of Contents:
1. Medicinal Plants: Perspectives and Retrospectives 2. Traditional Medicine in Health Care and Disease Management 3. Herbal Drug Discovery Against Inflammation: Traditional Wisdom to Modern Therapeutics 4. Foeniculum vulgare Mill: Flavoring, Pharmacological, Phytochemical, and Folklore Aspects 5. Ocimum basilicum: A Model Medicinal Industrial Crop Enriched with an Array of Bioactive Chemicals 6. Syzygium aromaticum, Curcuma longa, and Lavandula: Volatile Components and Antioxidant Activities 7. Anti-Hyperglycemic Property of Medicinal Plants 8. Improved Production and Postharvest Technologies in Ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng) 9. Endangered Medicinal Plants of Temperate Regions: Conservation and Maintenance 10. Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Threatened Medicinal Plants of North East India 11. Essential Oils: Clinical Perspectives and Uses 12. Asparagus sp.: Phytochemicals and Marketed Herbal Formulations 13. Phytosomes: Preparations, Characterization, and Future Uses 14. Synthetic Seeds vis-a-vis Cryopreservation: An Efficient Technique for Long-Term Preservation of Endangered Medicinal Plants 15. Use of Microcomputed Tomography and Image Processing Tools in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 16. Postharvest Care of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: A Reservoir of Many Health Benefiting Constituents 17. Prosopis cineraria (Khejri): Ethanopharmacology and Phytochemistry 18. Mitigation of Obesity: A Phytotherapeutic Approach 19. Ethnomedicinal Plants of North Eastern Himalayan Region of India to Combat Hypertension 20. Medicinal Plants: Consumption, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Trade in India 21. Potential of Spices as Medicines and Immunity Boosters 22. Medicinal Plants: Future Thrust Areas and Research Directions
About the Author :
Amit Baran Sharangi, PhD, is Professor of Horticultural Science and former Head of the Department of Plantation, Spices, Medicinal and Aromatic Crops in the Faculty of Horticulture at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Agricultural University), India. He has been teaching for 23 years and was instrumental in the process of coconut improvement, leading to the release of a variety Kalpa Mitra from the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute. He spent time at several laboratories around the world and has published many research papers, conference papers, book chapters, and books. One of his papers was ranked among the top 25 articles by ScienceDirect. Presently he is associated with 50 international and national journals as editor-in-chief, associate editor, regional editor, technical editor, editorial board member, and reviewer. The recipient of several international awards, Dr. Sharangi has delivered invited lectures around the world on herbs and spices.
K. V. Peter, PhD, is the former Vice-Chancellor at Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), India; Director of ICAR–Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut; Director of Research at KAU; and Professor of Horticulture. He is an acknowledged teacher and science manager and is associated with development of biotic stress resistant varieties in chili (Pant-CI, Pant-C2), tomato (Sakthi), and brinjal (Surya) grown throughout the Indian sub-continent. He is the author or editor of many books and is Editor (Horticulture) of Agricultural Research, published by NAAS New Delhi. Dr. Peter has received many awards for his work. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Biological Sciences, International Society of Noni Science, Indian Academy of Horticulture Science, and Confederation of Horticultural Associations of India.
