This book presents a comprehensive guide to traditional immunity-boosting medicinal plants of the Himalayas, their traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, diversity, conversation, biotechnology, toxicology, as well as future prospective. All the chapters cover the latest advances in ethnobotany, phytochemistry, biochemistry, and biotechnology. The book offers a valuable asset for researchers and graduate students of chemistry, botany, biotechnology, microbiology, and the pharmaceutical sciences. The main purpose of the present book is to draw on the rich culture, folklore, and biodiversity of immunity-boosting medicinal plants of the Western Himalayas, with particular emphasis on the Indian Trans-Himalayan and Western Himalayan region. All the plants included in the present book are extensively used by the local tribes and people for their health-promoting properties from ancient times. This book will be a substantial contribution to the knowledge of the region and the country. Also, the book will be very useful to scientists, graduates, and undergraduates, along with researchers in the fields of natural products, herbal medicines, ethnobotany, pharmacology, chemistry, and biology. Further, it is an equally significant resource for a person working in different traditional medicinal systems; doctors (especially those engaged in Ayurveda, Chinese traditional medicinal system, Amchi, and allopathy); the pharmaceutical industry (for drug design and synthesis); biochemistry and biotechnology sciences; and the agricultural sciences.

In its thirteen chapters, this book deals with biophysical, biological, hydrological, meteorological and socio-economic aspects of western Himalayan region of India. It emphasizes on the need for strengthening institutional and research capacities that are critical to delivering meaningful and sustainable outcomes & impacts in return for the investments made. It also makes recommendations for the policy, planning and administrative interventions & reforms necessary for efficient and equitable delivery of benefits to the intended beneficiaries and for conservation of the valuable natural resources of the region. Each chapter has been prepared by a recognized expert in the identified area and the treatment bears the required mark of quality & authenticity.

Ethnobotany of India: Volume 4: Western and Central Himalayas is the 4th volume of the 5-volume set, an informative book series on the ethnobotanical aspects of India. The books cover different regions, including Volume 1: Eastern Ghats and Deccan Volume 2: Western Ghats and West Coast of Peninsular India Volume 3: North-East India and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Volume 4: Western and Central Himalayas Volume 5: The Indo-Gangetic Region Each volume looks at the important ethnic plants of the specific region. Volume 4 covers the Western and Central Himalayas, the well-known mountain range on the Indian subcontinent. The unique flora and fauna of the Himalayas are varied, affected by climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils, and are vulnerable to impacts from climate change. The editors espouse that because indigenous non-Western societies form the vast majority of people now as well as in the past, a study of their plant interrelationships is necessary, and India is one of the most important regions of the old world for its ancient and culturally rich and diverse knowledge of ethnobotany. With this in mind, these volumes share a great deal of information that will be valuable to plant botanists and others working in and interested in ethnobotany. This important volume covers the ethnobotanical aspects of many plants of the region. It looks at ethnic diversity of people ethnic food plants and food preparation ethnomedical aspects of plants psychedelic plants and their possible link to soma, a vedic ritual drink whose plant origins are a mystery ethnoveterinary medicinal plants ethno-conservation practices biodiversity heritage sites The volume includes the details of the plants used, their scientific names, the parts used, and how the plants are used, providing the what, how, and why of plant usage. The book is well illustrated with 20 color and 67 b/w illustrations. Together, the five volumes in the Ethnobotany of India series presents the available ethnobotanical knowledge of India in one place. India’s ancient and culturally rich and diverse information and use of ethnobotany will be valuable to those in the fields of botany and plant sciences, pharmacognosy and pharmacology, nutraceuticals, and others. The books also consider the threat to plant biodiversity imposed by environmental degradation, which impacts cultural diversity.