Bioactive medicinal plants

277 Pages·2007·12.06 MB·English

by  Dharamvir Hota

BIOAGTIVE
MEDICINAL PlANTS

BIOAGTIVE
MEDIGINAL PlANTS
Editor
Dharamvir Hota
2007
Gene-Tech Books
New Delhi - 110 002
2007, © Publisher
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Preface
Medicinal plants are plants whose extracts can be used
directly or indirectly for the treatment of different ailments.
The use of traditional medicine and medicinal plants in
most developing countries, as a basis for the maintenance
of good health, has been widely observed. In the world
more than 30 per cent of the pharmaceutical preparations
are based on plants. Scientists throughout the world are
trying to explore the precious assets of medicinal plants
to help the suffering humanity.
An increasing reliance on the use of medicinal plants
in the industrialised societies has been traced to the
extraction and development of several drugs and
chemotherapeutics from these plants. The medicinal values
of these plants are due to the presence of small doses of
active compounds which produces phYSiological actions
in the human and animal body. Some of the important
bioactive compounds found in medicinal plants are
alkaloids, glycosid~s, resins, gums, mucilages etc.
The present book explores the recent developments
in the field of botanical medicine. It provides vital
information on various bioactive compounds. present in
plants and their use in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals.
Educated readers, practitioners, and academics of natural
sciences will be benefited by the contents of this work.
Editor

Contents
Preface v
1. Therapeutic Value of Medicinal Plants 1
2. Plant-based Biopharmaceuticals 21 ' \
3. Identification of Bioactive
Compounds in Plants 41
4. Plant-based Antimicrobials 55
5. Validity of Ethnomedicines 76
6. Evaluation of Plant Extracts 87
.-
,
7. Forest Botanicals as Pharmaceuticals 97
8. Medicinal Value of Phytoecdysteroids 111
9. Herb-drug Interactions 122
10. Bioactive Compounds in Legume
Natural Products 158
11. Production of Secondary Metabolites from
Medicinal Plants 173
12. Herbal Pharmacokinetics 189
13. Risks of Plant-derived Vaccines 203
14. Conservation of Medicinal Plants 223
Bibliography 265
Index 267

1
Therapeutic Value of Medicinal
Plants
Medicinal plants are an integral component of
ethnoveterinary medicine. Medicinal plants, since times
immemorial, have been used in virtually all cultures as a
source of medicine. The widespread use of herbal remedies
and healthcare preparations, as those described in ancient
texts such as the Vedas and the Bible, and obtained from
commonly used traditional herbs and medicinal plants, has
been traced to the occurrence of natural products with
medicinal properties. The use of traditional medicine and
medicinal plants in most developing countries, as a
normative basis for the maintenance of good health, has
been widely observed.
Furthermore, an increasing reliance on the use of
medicinal plants in the industrialised societies has been
traced to the extraction and development of several drugs
and chemotherapeutics from these plants as well as from
traditionally used rural herbal remedies. Moreover, in these
societies, herbal remedies have become more popular in
the treatment of minor ailments, and also on account of
the increasing costs of personal health maintenance.
Indeed, the market and public demand has been so great
that there is a great risk that many medicinal plants today,
face either extinction or loss of genetic diversity.