Himalayan Medicinal Plants

The Himalayan Region is a mega hot spot for biological diversity. It supports over 1,748 plants species of known medicinal value. This title focuses on origin and distribution of Himalayan herbs, their medicinal potential, industrial significance, and research advancements pertaining to molecular breeding and omics-based approaches. Discusses evolved secondary biochemical pathways often in response to specific environmental stimuli Reviews conservation efforts Presents an in-depth analysis of 12 key species

Contributed articles presented at the Workshop on "Himalayan Medicinal Plants: Potential and Prospects" organized by G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development Kosi-Katarmal, Almora from 5-7 November, 1988.

The Himalayan region is among the largest mountains systems of the world with uncounted unique medicinal plants resources. The lesser Himalayas ranges are the extension of Greater Himalayas. They have unique ecology, vegetation and diversity of medicinal flora due to tremendous variation in the altitude, climate and associated wildlife. The utilization of medicinal plants in medicine suffers from the fact that although plants are used to treat diseases, scientific evidence is lacking in many cases. Different societies of the world use the plants according to their own beliefs and knowledge and previous experiences. Their knowledge about the use of the plants is usually not known to the other world or science. This book provides a brief introduction of Lesser Himalayas, ethnobotanical aspects, marketing and anthropogenic pressure on medicinal flora. It comprises one hundred medicinal plant species including Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms (Monocots and Dicots) along with their scientific description and traditional uses.

In the backdrop of remarkable strength and achievements of modern medical science, an overwhelmingly large proportion of world population still depends upon varying indigenous systems for meeting its health care needs. These systems, exemplified by Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, rely on traditional knowledge of indigenous communities about health-imparting and curative properties of plants. Such plants of health promoting and curative value are currently collected from the wild in large amounts and face threat of loss of diversity and extinction. Because of this reason, and the imperative of improving them genetically for productivity and the desired trait quality, it becomes imperative that the needed demands for them are met from organised cultivation and not by extraction from natural stands. Meeting complex demands of the above mentioned kind will require collation and presentation of detailed information about the targeted plant species. The book is an attempt to meet this requirement for nine important plant species, viz., Panax Ginseng, Polygonatum spp., Picrorhiza kurroa, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Crepedium acuminatum, Tribulus terrestris, Ephedra spp. Crataegus rhipidophylla and Ginkgo biloba. Each chapter provides information on different plants on aspects such as, reproductive biology, medicinal, chemical and pharmacological aspects, threats and conservation, cultivation, commercial status, future directions for research, value addition, patents and literature cited. The book will be of interest to a very wide and diverse audience, which includes academics and researchers, interest groups of drug industry, administrators and policy makers.

Research in recent years has increasingly shifted away from purely academic research, and into applied aspects of the discipline, including climate change research, conservation, and sustainable development. It has by now widely been recognized that “traditional” knowledge is always in flux and adapting to a quickly changing environment. Trends of globalization, especially the globalization of plant markets, have greatly influenced how plant resources are managed nowadays. While ethnobotanical studies are now available from many regions of the world, no comprehensive encyclopedic series focusing on the worlds mountain regions is available in the market. Scholars in plant sciences worldwide will be interested in this website and its dynamic content. The field (and thus the market) of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology has grown considerably in recent years. Student interest is on the rise, attendance at professional conferences has grown steadily, and the number of professionals calling themselves ethnobotanists has increased significantly (the various societies, like the Society for Economic Botany, the International Society of Ethnopharmacology, the Society of Ethnobiology, and the International Society for Ethnobiology currently have thousands of members). Growth has been most robust in BRIC countries. This new MRW on Ethnobotany of the Himalayas takes advantage of the increasing international interest and scholarship in the field of mountain research. It includes the best and latest research on a full range of descriptive, methodological, theoretical, and applied research on the most important plants in the Himalayas. Each contribution is scientifically rigorous and contributes to the overall field of study.