Role of Biotechnology in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Vol. XIX

Contents: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Asthma and its management/Irfan Ali Khan, Atiya Khanum and Rizwana Mubeen. 2. Hepatoprotective phytomedicines/R. Jeyachandra, A. Mahesh and L. Cindrella. 3. Nephroprotective plant medicines/R. Jeyachandra, A. Mahesh and L. Cindrella. 4. Allergenic plants of Gorakhpur/A.K. Srivastava Jr., G. Chandra and Vishalakcchi Ashok. 5. Folk veterinary phytomedicine/T.V.V. Seetharami Reddi, S. Prasanth B.V.A. Ramarao Naidu and K. Nagaiah.

"Hippocrates, the father of Medicine (460-357 B.C.), said that nature cures, not the physician. He also advocated that your food shall be your medicine. Home remedies for common diseases is an old age practice that has been passed down from one generation to the other. They are based on the knowledge that most natural foods like fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, seeds and nuts, as well as other natural substances, possess many medicinal virtues. These natural foods and substances have been tried and refined as natural cures in different countries. Research has proved many of these cures to be astonishingly effective. The living proof is that our ancestors with the help of these cures - lived a happier, healthier, and longer life than the present generation.

The tribal communities have a traditional self-developed system of folk medicine and primary health care methods mainly based on herbal remedies. The use of plants as medicine can be traced back to the Vedic period. India has rich diversified flora, which provides a valuable storehouse of medicinal plants. Emphetic knowledge about vast resources of herbs and other plants having curative properties is prevailing in rural people. Plants are more intimately connected with the life of the rural people than, perhaps, anywhere else in India."