Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants (Ethnomedicine and Pharmacognosy II)

Ethnomedicines have gained new dimensions in the present days through phytochemical researches in India and abroad, as information on medicinal plants and folk drugs recorded during field work is now being subjected to investigation in the search for new biodynamic compounds of therapeutic value. The curative properties of plants acquired by trial and error over centuries in Human Laboratories of tribal communities hold high esteem all over the globe. Besides, there is a need to establish pharmacopoeial standards for the herbal preparations and drugs of Indian System of Medicine to meet the challenge of international market norms and check the ongoing adulteration in plant drugs. Based on this rationale, the present volume Ethnomedicine and Pharmacognosy II of the series Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants has been conceived. It provides detailed information on the subject from 40 original and review research contributions from eminent scientists and researchers from India and abroad. The findings presented will open new vistas of knowledge in the investigation of promising drugs of natural origin, particularly for terminal and chronic diseases and conditions viz., arthritis, asthma, cancer, diabetes, filaria among others for which there appears no satisfactory cure in modern medicine. The studies included also contributes significantly in evaluation and standardization of botanicals, thereby help in the quality assurance of herbal drugs.