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.

Inhalt

Section I. General Biology of medicinal plants.- 1. Medicinal plant research at cross roads; S. Jha.- 2. Blessing of Medicinal Plants - The histories and prospects; M. Inoue.- 3. Introducing wild-growing medicinal plants into cultivation; Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris Moench.) - a rich source of phenolic compounds; Z. Weglarz, K.B. Bczek.- 4. Medicinal plants used in the treatment of diabetes; N. Hamza.- 5. Cultivation and utilization of Medicinal Plants in Traditional Medicine; A.C. Jnanesha.- Section II. Cultivation and domestication of medicinal plants.- 6. Cultivation and utilization of Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott (black chokeberry); H. Ekiert et al.- 7. Cultivation and utilization of Curculigo; P. Chaturvedi.- 8. Cultivation and utilization of Scutellaria baicalensis L. (Baikal skullcap); I. Kwiecie, H. Ekiert.- 9. Cultivation and utilization of Coleus Species; V.C. Kolluru.- 10. Cultivation and utilization of Pandanus odorifer for industrial application; S. Mohanty.- 11. H.Suleria (Title confirmation Awaited).- 12. H.Suleria (Title confirmation Awaited).- 13. Cultivation and utilization of Pueraria Species; J. Arora.- 14. Mango ginger: Prospects for domestication and utilization; A.A. Waman.- 15. Cultivation and utilization of Chlorophytum species; K. Singh.- 16. Cultivation and utilization of Rauwolfia serpentine; S. Mehrotra.- Section III.- Biotechnological approaches for medicinal plants.- 17. Review on the Extraction Methods Use in Medicinal Plants; N.N. Azwanida.- 18. Biotechnological applications for conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants; H.N. Murthy.- 19. High value metabolites from medicinal plants; K.G.Ramawat.- Conclusion.