This book discusses the scope and limitations of the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of foods as medicines or medicinal coadjuvants in traditional Indian herbal therapies.

The first chapter introduces readers to the relevance of the Ayurveda system, its holistic classification approach, applications of selected herbs and the demonstrable efficacy of herbal extracts in terms of antimicrobial susceptibility. In turn, the second chapter discusses the antimicrobial properties and kinetic mechanisms of inhibition ascribed to selected vegetable extracts. The third chapter addresses the antioxidant power of phenolic compounds from vegetable products and herbal extracts. The book closes with a review of natural antioxidant agents' role in the treatment of metabolic disorders.

Written from an Indian perspective, this book unravels the chemistry of the traditional Indian diet and its impact on health. Further, it can serve as a reference for other traditional productswith similar health claims.

Unravels the use of food as medicine in India Introduces the role of the Ayurveda system Reviews the therapeutic potential of the traditional Indian diet

Autorentext

Ramesh Kumar Sharma is Food Safety Consultant and Scientific Writer on food and environment issues. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Chemistry, with specialisation in physical chemistry, from the University of Rajasthan (India). He has worked as a chemist at the Research Laboratory of Sriram Rayons in Kota (Rajasthan, India) and Fellow at the Science Education Centre (University Grants Commission Project) of University of Rajasthan in Jaipur. He has also worked as Chief Investigator at Play Material Project (UNICEF project) for the National Council of Educational Research and Training in Jaipur (Field Adviser's Office), as Agmark Approved Chemist for the edible oil industry and Quality Control Chemist at Tilam Sangh Rajasthan in Bikaner (Rajasthan). He co-authored the book Toxins and Contaminants in Indian Food Products published by Springer. Pasqualina Laganà is Biologist with a M.Sc. from the University of Messina, Italy, with specialisations inGeneral Pathology (1992) and Chemistry and Food Technologies (2000). She graduated in 'Risks and disorders in the Work' (1998) and in 'Parasitology of Territory' (2009); she also obtained a masters in 'Epidemiology and Biostatistics' (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy) in 2013. Since 1996, she has been Adjunct Professor of General and Applied Hygiene and Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Messina. She is also Member of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (S.It.I.), and the Italian Study Group Hospital Hygiene and Italian Foods Group. She has been Member of the Sicilian Commission for the application of Legionella Guidelines since 2011, Responsible of Analysis within the Regional Reference Laboratory for clinical and environmental Legionella Surveillance (branch of Messina, Sicily) since 2012, and Head of the Laboratory from October 2016 onwards. She is Member of the Editorial Board of several Journals, including the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Biochemical Technology (JCMBT), Zeszyty Naukowe (Gdynia Maritime University, Poland), Global Drugs and Therapeutics (GDT), and EC Microbiology (ECMI). She is also Referee for various international scientific journals and Author of 80 publications indexed in Medline and other databases. Maria Anna Coniglio graduated as Medical Doctor from the University of Catania in 1998 and specialised in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the University of Catania in 2002, where she started her research activities in the fields of health promotion and epidemiology of infectious and non-infectious diseases. In 2003, she became Researcher of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the University of Catania. In 2005, she became Aggregate Professor at the same University. She has been Member of the Sicilian Commission for the application of Legionella Guidelines since 2011 and Director of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Clinical and Environmental Legionella Surveillance (branch of Catania, Sicily) since 2012. In collaboration with the Local Health Unit, she has organised several training courses related to the field of health promotion. She has taken part as a speaker in many scientific national and international congresses. She has published several papers in national and international journals in the field of health promotion, epidemiology, and prevention of the infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Inhalt
Relevance of Ayurveda.- Herbal Extracts and Preparations in India.- Herbal Extracts, Phenolic Compounds, and Related Antioxidant Power.- Natural Antioxidant Agents for treatment of Metabolic Diseases and Disorders.