Sustainable Uses Of Medicinal Plants And Prospects

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.

Sustainable Uses of Medicinal Plants and Prospects 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 for documentation profiling their ethnobotany, developments in their phytochemistry, and pharmacological activities. 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.

All 15 new independent states established in the economic space of the former Soviet Union suffered big declines in output and trade after their independence. This study summarizes cross-country experience on the role of trade and payments policies in the linked contraction of output and trade by drawing on eight country case studies: Estonia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The results of the case studies show that trade reform and reorientation of trade toward the rest of the world have done much to arrest the decline in output usually associated with the transformation from plan to market. Also available in Russian: Stock no. 13687 (ISBN 0-8213-3687-8).

Today, the world witnesses a global resurgence of interests in plant-based drugs and cosmetics. The revival of traditional health care systems, which is mainly plant-based, has several ramifications including the challenging tasks of meeting the health care needs of the ever increasing human population. Since the majority of raw material for preparing herbal medicine is exploited from the wild and also the traditional practices of medicinal plants harvesting does not remain sustainable due to commercial interests, the loss of medicinal plants is unprecedented. People across the world use medicinal plants in several health care practices, and the loss of this valuable resource has direct bearings on these traditional health care systems. This book deals with multidisciplinary approach and contains information on different aspects of medicinal plants, which can be used as guiding tools.

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.

Medicinal plant materials are supplied through collection from wild populations and cultivation. Under the overall context of quality assurance and control of herbal medicines WHO developed the Guidelines on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants providing general technical guidance on obtaining medicinal plant materials of good quality for the sustainable production of herbal products classified as medicines. These guidelines are also related to WHO's work on the protection of medicinal plants aiming promotion of sustainable use and cultivation of medicinal plants. The main objectives of these guidelines are to: (1) contribute to the quality assurance of medicinal plant materials used as the source for herbal medicines to improve the quality safety and efficacy of finished herbal products; (2) guide the formulation of national and/or regional GACP guidelines and GACP monographs for medicinal plants and related standard operating procedures; and (3) encourage and support the sustainable cultivation and collection of medicinal plants of good quality in ways that respect and support the conservation of medicinal plants and the environment in general. These guidelines concern the cultivation and collection of medicinal plants and include certain post-harvest operations. Good agricultural and collection practices for medicinal plants are the first step in quality assurance on which the safety and efficacy of herbal medicinal products directly depend. These practices also play an important role in protection natural resources of medicinal plants for sustainable use.

This new 2-volume set aims to share and preserve ethnic and traditional knowledge of herbal medicine and treatments, while also emphasizing the link between biodiversity, human nutrition, and food security. Ethnic Knowledge and Perspectives of Medicinal Plants is divided into two volumes, with volume 1 focusing on the traditional use of curative properties and treatment strategies of medicinal plants, and volume 2 addressing the varied nutritional and dietary benefits of medicinal plants and the practice of Ayurveda. Both volumes stress the importance of bioresources for human nutrition and nutraceuticals based on ethnic knowledge and the need for efforts to protect biodiversity in many regions rich with medicinal plants. Exploring the benefits of medicinal plants in disease prevention, treatment, and management, Volume 1 discusses the traditional use of medicinal plants as promising therapeutics for cancer, liver conditions, COVID-19, and other human ailments. It examines the efficacy of Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine, Indian traditional medicine, and other ethnic herbal practices used by indigenous peoples of Azerbaijan, South America, Turkey, India, etc. A variety of plants are discussed, and the ethnomedicinal applications of over 100 wild mushrooms for their medicinal and healthcare purposes are elaborated on. While volume 1 focuses primarily on natural plant resources for addressing specific health issues, volume 2 looks at traditional medicinal plant use for their nutritional and dietary benefits, while also encouraging the preservation of biodiversity for healthy and sustainable diets. The volume presents information on over 2200 vascular plant taxa from 127 families as well as many taxa from leaf parts, fruits, underground parts, floral parts, seeds, and more that have potential use as edible food plants. Ethnic knowledge on the wild edible mushrooms is an emerging area, which is unique and is dependent on the folk knowledge of tribals; this volume discusses the unique nutritional attributes of wild edible mushrooms (206 species belonging to 73 genera) in Southern India. The authors look at various lichens as nutritional aids and medicine and as flavoring agents and spices. Fucoidans derived from the seaweeds (and spirulina) are described for their antioxidant activity, nutritional and anti-aging properties, antiviral activities, anti-cancer properties, anti-diabetic properties, and more. The authors also examine how ethnicity affects healthcare/nutritive systems at different levels through various dynamics such as lower income, inability for services uptake, disputes among different ethnic groups, cultural attitudes (some ethnic group are vegetarian), lack of socio-economic resources, and disease prevalence. Together, these two important volumes aim to preserve and disseminate the valuable ethnic knowledge of medicinal plants gained over thousands of years and to promote the value of integrating and safeguarding biodiversity.