Flora of Turkey, Volume 5

Medicinal herbs are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and are able to synthesize secondary metabolites with disease preventive properties. It is due to these qualities that herbs have been used throughout history for flavouring and in food, medicine and perfumery preparations. They are also often considered to be safe alternatives to modern medicines because of their healing properties. Though interest in medicinal and aromatic crops is growing worldwide, there is still little focus on the area of leafy medicinal herbs. This book compiles the literature for 23 globally relevant leafy medicinal herbs. Beginning with a general overview and discussion of the importance of these plants, it then handles each herb by chapter. Chapters discuss the botany of the crop, including its history and origin, geographical distribution and morphology, before focusing on the chemical composition and phytochemical attributes. They then review postharvest technology aspects such as processing and value addition, before concluding with the general and pharmacological uses for each crop. A complete compilation of the subject, this book forms a vital resource for researchers, students, farmers and industrialists in the area of leafy medicinal herbs.

This book is part of the book series titled Natural Products Chemistry of Global Plants, and examines the rich plant diversity of Turkey, with descriptions of the plants and pharmacognosy properties. There is a focus on the chemistry of natural products and areas rich in folklore and botanical medicinal uses are covered with a particular interest in the region of Anatolia. This book focuses on the chemistry of the natural products, and where possible links these molecules to pharmacological modes of action. Students and professionals interested in the ethnobotany, chemistry, pharmacology and biological activites of species used medicinally in Turkey will benefit from this book. Features Addresses the rich chemistry of the natural products and their respective biosynthetic building blocks Includes the association that many of the extracts have today with important drugs, nutrition products, beverages, perfumes, cosmetics and pigments Describes the key natural products and their extracts, with emphasis on sources, their complex molecules and applications in science Fills a gap in our understanding of medicinal plants, specifically in Turkey Provides an in-depth understanding of medicinal plants from Turkey, and their complex chemistry and structures

Traditional medicinal knowledge, especially the use of ethnomedicinal plants in developing countries, has been passed down for generations. Today, however, scientists are poised to combine traditional medicinal plants and modern drug discoveries to further develop essential products that have followed the leads of indigenous cures used for centuries. Ethnomedicinal Plant Use and Practice in Traditional Medicine provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of indigenous knowledge and therapeutic potential within ethnobotany. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as drug discovery, traditional knowledge, and herbal medicine, this book is ideally designed for doctors, healers, medical professionals, ethnobotanists, naturalists, academicians, researchers, and students interested in current research on the medical use and applications of natural-based resources.

Early anthropological evidence for plant use as medicine is 60,000 years old as reported from the Neanderthal grave in Iraq. The importance of plants as medicine is further supported by archeological evidence from Asia and the Middle East. Today, around 1.4 billion people in South Asia alone have no access to modern health care, and rely instead on traditional medicine to alleviate various symptoms. On a global basis, approximately 50 to 80 thousand plant species are used either natively or as pharmaceutical derivatives for life-threatening conditions that include diabetes, hypertension and cancers. As the demand for plant-based medicine rises, there is an unmet need to investigate the quality, safety and efficacy of these herbals by the “scientific methods”. Current research on drug discovery from medicinal plants involves a multifaceted approach combining botanical, phytochemical, analytical, and molecular techniques. For instance, high throughput robotic screens have been developed by industry; it is now possible to carry out 50,000 tests per day in the search for compounds, which act on a key enzyme or a subset of receptors. This and other bioassays thus offer hope that one may eventually identify compounds for treating a variety of diseases or conditions. However, drug development from natural products is not without its problems. Frequent challenges encountered include the procurement of raw materials, the selection and implementation of appropriate high-throughput bioassays, and the scaling-up of preparative procedures. Research scientists should therefore arm themselves with the right tools and knowledge in order to harness the vast potentials of plant-based therapeutics. The main objective of Plant and Human Health is to serve as a comprehensive guide for this endeavor. Volume 1 highlights how humans from specific areas or cultures use indigenous plants. Despite technological developments, herbal drugs still occupy a preferential place in a majority of the population in the third world and have slowly taken roots as alternative medicine in the West. The integration of modern science with traditional uses of herbal drugs is important for our understanding of this ethnobotanical relationship. Volume 2 deals with the phytochemical and molecular characterization of herbal medicine. Specifically, it focuess on the secondary metabolic compounds, which afford protection against diseases. Lastly, Volume 3 discusses the physiological mechanisms by which the active ingredients of medicinal plants serve to improve human health. Together this three-volume collection intends to bridge the gap for herbalists, traditional and modern medical practitioners, and students and researchers in botany and horticulture.

"The Caucasus MRW (online and print) Volume will cover this European Macroregion. The content will focus on the ethnobotany of wild plants in this Macroregion and it will be first developed as an online site and, later, when all of the planned topics have been covered for this specific volume, printed in a hard copy version. The online site will remain live and be available for updates (with new monographs [if not covered initially due to lack of research]). The content will be divided into sections covering countries (or groups of countries), based on plant diversity and not necessarily political or national boundaries. The Caucasus volume will have an Introduction (4,000-6,000 words); 50 200 plant monographs (10 to maximum 50 monographs per country) with each monograph having a length of ~1,500 words (with references), plus 2-4 photographs. To further define the content, the plant monographs will be divided into five major categories (food; medicine/cosmetic; veterinary; handicraft plants; and ritual/folkloric uses) and include notes. The number of the monographs in every category will be negotiated depending on the advances of the ethnobotanical research in each specific country, or group of countries. The main criteria for the inclusion of a given plant will be its cultural salience within a given country (assessed by the Volume Editor). References will be given at the end of the Introduction and each monograph..."--Publisher's website.

The pharmacopoeias of most African countries are available and contain an impressive number of medicinal plants used for various therapeutic purposes. Many African scholars have distinguished themselves in the fields of organic chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmacognosy and other areas related to the study of plant medicinal plants. However, until now, there is no global standard book on the nature and specificity of chemicals isolated in African medicinal plants, as well as a book bringing together and discussing the main bioactive metabolites of these plants. This book explores the essence of natural substances from African medicinal plants and their pharmacological potential. In light of possible academic use, this book also scans the bulk of African medicinal plants extract having promising pharmacological activities. - The book contains data of biologically active plants of Africa, plant occurring compounds and synthesis pathways of secondary metabolites - This book explores the essence of natural substances from African medicinal plants and their pharmacological potential - The authors are world reknowned African Scientists