2008 NOMINEE The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Annual Award for a Significant Work in Botanical or Horticultural Literature From medicinal, industrial, and culinary uses to cutting-edge laboratory techniques in modern research and plant conservation strategies, Natural Products from Plants

Wood as found in trees and bushes was of primary importance to ancient humans in their struggle to control their environment. Subsequent evolution through the Bronze and Iron Ages up to our present technologically advanced society has hardly diminished the importance of wood. Today, its role as a source of paper products, furniture, building materials, and fuel is still of major significance. Wood consists of a mixture of polymers, often referred to as lignocellulose. The cellulose micro fibrils consist of an immensely strong, linear polymer of glucose. They are associated with smaller, more complex polymers composed of various sugars called hemicelluloses. These polysaccharides are embedded in an amorphous phenylpropane polymer, lignin, creating a remarkably strong com posite structure, the lignocellulosic cell wall. Wood also contains materials that are largely extraneous to this lignocellulosic cell wall. These extracellular substances can range from less than 1070 to about 35% of the dry weight of the wood, but the usual range is 2% -10%. Among these components are the mineral constituents, salts of calcium, potassium, sodium, and other metals, particularly those present in the soil where the tree is growing. Some of the extraneous components of wood are too insoluble to be ex tracted by inert solvents and remain to give extractive-free wood its color; very often these are high-molecular-weight polyphenolics.

Covering the latest technologies in process engineering, this handbook and ready reference features high pressure processing, alternative solvents and processes, extraction technologies and biotransformations -- describing greener, more efficient and sustainable techniques. The result is an expert account of engineering details from lab-scale experiments to large-scale industrial design. The major focus is on the engineering aspects of extraction with organic and supercritical solvents, ionic liquids or surfactant solutions, and is supplemented by aspects of both up- and downstream processing, biotransformation, as well as a survey of typical products in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. This is rounded off by market developments, economic considerations and regulations requirements in the field Authored by experts from leading industrial and academic institutions, this is essential reading for the hands-on scientist and office manager alike.

The book entitled Medicinal Plants and Natural Product Research describes various aspects of ethnopharmacological uses of medicinal plants; extraction, isolation, and identification of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants; various aspects of biological activity such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, immunomodulatory activity, etc., as well as characterization of plant secondary metabolites as active substances from medicinal plants.

Plants produce a huge array of natural products (secondary metabolites). These compounds have important ecological functions, providing protection against attack by herbivores and microbes and serving as attractants for pollinators and seed-dispersing agents. They may also contribute to competition and invasiveness by suppressing the growth of neighboring plant species (a phenomenon known as allelopathy). Humans exploit natural products as sources of drugs, flavoring agents, fragrances and for a wide range of other applications. Rapid progress has been made in recent years in understanding natural product synthesis, regulation and function and the evolution of metabolic diversity. It is timely to bring this information together with contemporary advances in chemistry, plant biology, ecology, agronomy and human health to provide a comprehensive guide to plant-derived natural products. Plant-derived natural products: synthesis, function and application provides an informative and accessible overview of the different facets of the field, ranging from an introduction to the different classes of natural products through developments in natural product chemistry and biology to ecological interactions and the significance of plant-derived natural products for humans. In the final section of the book a series of chapters on new trends covers metabolic engineering, genome-wide approaches, the metabolic consequences of genetic modification, developments in traditional medicines and nutraceuticals, natural products as leads for drug discovery and novel non-food crops.

This volume provides information on how to select and screen plants for their medicinal properties. It describes phytopharmacological techniques for extracting and qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing a plant’s phytochemicals. After a detailed in vitro investigation including nutritional and anti-nutritional analyses, medicinal properties were tested with various in vivo models for anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-pyretic, anticancer and anti-diabetic properties, as well as wound healing, neurodegenerative diseases, etc. Compound identification and purification techniques include, among others, TLC and column chromatography, as well as molecular docking with specific proteins.

Offers a thorough overview of the important agricultural applications of both natural products and synthetic compounds derived from natural products, presenting detailed information on the isolation, structural studies, biological activity and toxicology of these compounds. The expanding area of insecticidal natural products is highlighted.