Plants have been a source of medicines and have played crucial role for human health. Despite tremendous advances in the field of synthetic drugs and antibiotics, plants continue to play a vital role in modern as well as traditional medicine across the globe. In even today, one-third of the world’s population depends on traditional medicine because of its safety features and ability to effectively cure diseases. This book presents a comprehensive guide to medicinal plants, their utility, diversity and conversation, as well as biotechnology. It is divided into four main sections, covering all aspects of research in medicinal plants: biodiversity and conservation; ethnobotany and ethnomedicine; bioactive compounds from plants and microbes; and biotechnology. All sections cover the latest advances. The book offers a valuable asset for researchers and graduate students of biotechnology, botany, microbiology and the pharmaceutical sciences. It is an equally important resource for doctors (especially those engaged in Ayurveda and allopathy); the pharmaceutical industry (for drug design and synthesis); and the agricultural sciences.

This contributed volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth and subject-based reviews on the current status of active ingredients, sustainable use, biodiversity and conservation of certain endangered medicinal plants. The book also explores conventional and non-conventional biotechnological interventions for their biodiversity conservation. Medicinal plants have been used in worldwide as a major source of raw material for the traditional herbal healthcare practices as well as for drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industry. The cumulative consequences of various human activities and environmental factors cause decline in the biodiversity of medicinal plants at an unprecedented rate worldwide. Thus, the overall understanding of ecology, species and genetic diversity along with assessment of the status of different threats and their impact on medicinal plants is crucial to sustain existing biodiversity, its utilization and conservation. All the latest advancements in the biotechnological approaches for the conservation research of endangered medicinal plants and the future perspectives have been described. This book provides comprehensive reviews spreading over about 25 chapters divided in three sections. The chapters of this book are written by recognized scientists in their respective fields which are useful to students, academicians, researchers, botanists, biotechnologists, policy makers, conservationists and industries interested in biodiversity conservation and medicinal plant research for the production of secondary metabolites.

Sustainable Uses and Prospects of Medicinal Plants presents information on less known and underexplored medicinal plant species in various regions of the world. The book investigates current advances in medicinal plant science and includes detailed information on the use of green nanotechnology, characterization of plants, conservation, revitalization, propagation, and pharmacological activities of selected plants. A volume in the Exploring Medicinal Plants series, it collects information on less known medicinal plant species in various regions of the world for documentation profiling their ethnobotany, developments in their phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities and provides an in-depth look at some specific herbal medicines of importance, threatened and less known species and addresses sustainable utilization and conservation of medicinal plants to ensure existence and use. Appropriate for plant and biodiversity conservation organisations, community leaders, academicians, researchers, and pharmaceutical industry personnel, the book comprises innovative works with information of what is expected to address sustainability in the future.

Medicinal plant research is an evergreen subject. There is a tremendous increase in popularity of herbal medicine in traditional medicine, ethnomedicine, modern medicine and as over the counter food supplements. Even after this increased demand, supply is neither uniform nor assured as most of these plants are collected from wild. In developing countries of tropical and subtropical regions where majority of herbal drugs are produced, this is not organised sector making it vulnerable to several malpractices, hence standardization of all aspects required. This has also negative impact on biodiversity and conservation of plants as well as supply of uniform material. This book is aimed to provide up to date information about sustainable use of selected medicinal plants, their active ingredients and efforts made to domesticate them to ensured uniform supply. Development of agrotechnology, biotechnology and cultivation practices using conventional and non-conventional methods are presented. Where these efforts will lead the medicinal plant research and future perspective are discussed. The chapters are written by well recognised group leaders in working in the field. The book contains topics on general biology of medicinal plants, their sustainable use and, cultivation and domestication efforts. A uniform chapter structure has been designed to keep consistency. The book will be useful for academicians, agriculturists, biotechnologists and researcher, and industries involved in manufacturing herbal drugs and supplementary products.

A detailed discussion of the need to conserve medicinal plants and their environments.

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products. Plant-based remedies have been used for centuries and have had no alternative in the western medicine repertoire, while others and their bioactive derivatives are in high demand and have been the central focus of biomedical research. As Medicinal plants move from fringe to mainstream with a greater number of individuals seeking treatments free of side effects, considerable attention has been paid to utilize plant-based products for the prevention and cure of human diseases. An unintended consequence of this increased demand, however, is that the existence of many medicinal plants is now threatened, due to their small population size, narrow distribution area, habitat specificity, and destructive mode of harvesting. In addition, climate change, habitat loss and genetic drift have further endangered these unique species. Although extensive research has been carried out on medicinal and aromatic plants, there is relatively little information available on their global distribution patterns, conservation and the associated laws prevailing. This book reviews the current status of threatened medicinal plants in light of increased surge in the demand for herbal medicine. It brings together chapters on both wild (non-cultivated) and domestic (cultivated) species having therapeutic values. Thematically, conventional and contemporary approaches to conservation of such threatened medicinal plants with commercial feasibility are presented. The topics of interest include, but not limited to, biotechnology, sustainable development, in situ and ex situ conservation, and even the relevance of IPR on threatened medicinal plants. We believe this book is useful to horticulturists, botanists, policy makers, conservationists, NGOs and researchers in the academia and the industry sectors.

Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are invaluable natural resources of use to human race, without which the survival of human/ animal race is incredible. There is an enormous diversity of plants which are put into medicinal, beauty care and culinary purposes. Cultivation of commercially important medicinal plants is in high demand as the global community is growing towards a green and herbal oriented approach. India as a country has thousands of years old traditional medicinal systems which rely solely on medicinal plants. There is a gradual loss of medicinal plants with the increasing demand of plant derived drugs. Majority of medicinal plants are still collected from the wild. This doesn't meet the demand and thereby pave ways to adulterants. The over extraction and ignorant activities cause biodiversity loss. Farm production of MAPs in these days is extremely vulnerable to underlying climate risk. Sustainable management of these resources requires urgent attention for environmental stability and improvement of livelihood. New income generating opportunities are opening up for rural populations and in particular for small-scale farmers as well as marginal farmers through MAPs cultivation. New generation are not well aware of the various uses of many plants to which it was put before. Thus there is an urgent need to spread the knowledge and conserve the wild populations of medicinal plant diversity in various forest areas of India. Considering the importance of the MAPs, an attempt was taken in this edited book to understand and highlight the role of MAPs in livelihood improvement and income generation through cultivation, conservation and utilisation. Most of the chapters in this book dealt with individual medicinal plants in detail. Two chapters have also been included on pests and diseases management of MAPs. Nowadays, IPR issues are more important. One chapter has been included on IPR issues on medicinal plants. A chapter also devoted on value addition of the medicinal plant products.