Phytopharmaceuticals And Biotechnology Of Herbal Plants

Plant-based drugs play an important role in all cultures and have been crucial in maintaining health and fighting diseases, and by using contemporary methods of biotechnology, plants with explicit chemical compositions are propagated and genetically upgraded for the mining of pharmaceuticals. Phytopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology of Herbal Plants presents the latest advances in the development of transgenic plants, covering phototherapeutics, secondary metabolite production, metabolomics, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics, quality control of herbal plant products, crop improvement using various breeding techniques, tissue culture techniques, and the future of phytopharmaceuticals. Features: Describes developments and applications of phytopharmaceuticals of herbal plants. Highlights the importance of phytopharmaceutical of plants and potential applications in the food and pharma industries. Provides an overview of research on key anticancer drugs to elucidate the biotechnological approaches for their production in cell cultures. Places special emphasis on the biosynthetic pathway mapping and metabolic engineering. Phytopharmaceuticals and Biotechnology of Herbal Plants will be an invaluable resource to academics and researchers associated with plant science, herbal drug manufacturers, and phytochemists.

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.

Plant-based medicines play an important role in all cultures, and have been indispensable in maintaining health and combating diseases. The identification of active principles and their molecular targets from traditional medicine provides an enormous opportunity for drug development. Using modern biotechnology, plants with specific chemical compositions can be mass propagated and genetically improved for the extraction of bulk active pharmaceuticals. Although there has been significant progress in the use of biotechnology, using tissue cultures and genetic transformation to investigate and alter pathways for the biosynthesis of target metabolites, there are many challenges involved in bringing plants from the laboratory to successful commercial cultivation. This book presents the latest advances in the development of medicinal drugs, including topics such as plant tissue cultures, secondary metabolite production, metabolomics, metabolic engineering, bioinformatics and future biotechnological directions.

Healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses, are often confronted with patients who use over-the-counter (OTC) herbal medicinal products and food supplements. While taking responsibility for one’s own health and treatment options is encouraged, many patients use these products based on limited (and sometimes inaccurate) information from non-scientific sources, such as the popular press and internet. There is a clear need to offer balanced, well-informed advice to patients, yet a number of studies have shown that, generally, conventionally trained health practitioners consider their knowledge about herbal medicinal products and supplements to be weak. Phytopharmacy fills this knowledge gap, and is intended for use by the busy pharmacist, nurse, or doctor, as well as the ‘expert patient’ and students of pharmacy and herbal medicine. It presents clear, practical and concise monographs on over a hundred popular herbal medicines and plant-based food supplements. Information provided in each monograph includes: • Indications • Summary and appraisal of clinical and pre-clinical evidence • Potential interactions • Contraindications • Possible adverse effects An overview of the current regulatory framework is also outlined, notably the EU Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive. This stipulates that only licensed products or registered traditional herbal medicinal products (THRs), which have assured quality and safety, can now legally be sold OTC. Monographs are included of most of the major herbal ingredients found in THRs, and also some plant-based food supplements, which while not strictly medicines, may also have the potential to exert a physiological effect.

Preparation of Phytopharmaceuticals for the Management of Disorders: The Development of Nutraceuticals and Traditional Medicine presents comprehensive coverage and recent advances surrounding phytopharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and traditional and alternative systems of medicines. Sections cover the concepts of phytopharmaceuticals, their history, and current highlights in phytomedicine. Also included are classifications of crude drugs, herbal remedies and toxicity, traditional and alternative systems of medicine, nanotechnology applications, and herbal cosmeticology. Final sections cover applications of microbiology and biotechnology in drug discovery. This book provides key information for everyone interested in drug discovery, including medicinal chemists, nutritionists, biochemists, toxicologists, drug developers and health care professionals. Students, professors and researchers working in the area of pharmaceutical sciences and beyond will also find the book useful. Includes the history and current highlights in phytomedicine, along with classifications of crude drugs, herbal drug technologies and herbal cosmeticology Provides detailed information on herbal remedies and toxicity, traditional and alternative systems of medicine, and applications of microbiology and biotechnology in drug discovery Discusses the nutritional and health benefits of nutraceuticals and how they help in the management and treatment of metabolic diseases

New Look to Phytomedicine: Advancements in Herbal Products as Novel Drug Leads is a compilation of in-depth information on the phytopharmaceuticals used in modern medicine for the cure and management of difficult-to-treat and challenging diseases. Readers will find cutting-edge knowledge on the use of plant products with scientific validation, along with updates on advanced herbal medicine in pharmacokinetics and drug delivery. This authoritative book is a comprehensive collection of research based, scientific validations of bioactivities of plant products, such as anti-infective, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, immune-modulatory and metabolic disorders presented by experts from across the globe. Step-by-step information is presented on chemistry, bioactivity and the functional aspects of biologically active compounds. In addition, the pharmacognosy of plant products with mechanistic descriptions of their actions, including pathogenicity is updated with information on the use of nanotechnology and molecular tools in relation to herbal drug research. Compiles up-to-date information on the chemotherapeutics used in the treatment of infective and metabolic disorders Presents advancements in the discovery of new drugs from plants using molecular and nanotechnology tools Examines detailed information on the use of herbals agents in cancer, HIV and other ailments, including diabetes, malaria and neurological disorders

Pushed by the increase in the knowledge of herbal drug constituents, their effects, and side effects, many herbal products are undergoing a transition from classic herbal teas to standardized extracts. This new edition takes the advances made in medicinal plants research and phytotherapy into account and offers reliable and essential information. It offers comprehensive discussion of the origins, constituents, effects, indications, and dosage of herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. The text also includes phytopharmaceutical information such as types of extraction solvents, drug-to-extract ratios, and dosage recommendations for extracts.

This book provides a summarized information related to the global herbal drug market and its regulations, ethnopharmacology of traditional crude drugs, isolation of phytopharmaceuticals, phytochemistry, standardization, and quality assessment of crude drugs. Natural products science has constantly been developing with comprehensive data contemplating different parts of natural drugs, such as global trade, quality control and regulatory concerns, traditional medicine systems, production and utilization of drugs, and utilization of medicinal and aromatic plants. This broad information about crude drugs gives rise to a subject that is now recognized as advance natural products science. By contemplating all of this thorough knowledge of the areas, this book is intended to provide considerably to the natural products science. The area of natural products science involves a broad range of topics, such as the pharmacognostical, phytochemical, and ethno-pharmacological aspects of crude drugs. Each chapter gives a sufficient understanding to academicians and researchers in the respective topic. This book includes 40 illustrations and descriptions of roughly 80 medicinal plants used for herbal medicine. The book is an imperative source for all researchers, academicians, students, and those interested in natural products science. FEATURES Includes advance knowledge and detailed developments in natural products science Discusses the most important phytopharmaceuticals used in the pharmaceutical industry Explores the analysis and classification of novel plant-based medicinal compounds Includes standardization, quality control, and global trade of natural products Gives a deep understanding related to recent advances in herbal medicines to treat various ailments Discusses national and WHO regulations and policies related to herbal medicines Covers the complete profile of some important traditional medicinal plants, especially their historical background, biology, and chemistry