Role of Plants in Traditional Medicine and Current Therapy

Contents: Preface. 1.Introduction. 2. Role of traditional medicine in promoting the well being of the people. 3. A Compilation of bioactive compounds from Ayurveda. 4. Strategy for promotion of medicinal plants in India. 5. Recent advances in traditional plant drugs and orchids. 6. Current status of herbal and their future perspectives. 7. Medicinal plants for modern health care.  8. Important Indian medicinal plants of global interest. 9. The Efficacy and safety of traditional plant medicines. 10. Evaluation of the antibacterial potential of some plants against human pathogenic bacteria. 11. Role of Medicinal Plants in the rural development programs of India. 12. Anit-Diabetic potential and Indian medicinal plants. 13. Ayurvedic Medicines: Some potential plants for medicine from India. 14. Medicinal plants, indigenous medicine and conservation of biodiversity. 15. Trichosanthes tricuspidata: A Medicinally important plant. 16. Ethnobotany: The winning combination of drugs and plants. 17. Medicinal plants: An approach towards. 18. Medicinal and aromatic plants-future opportunities. 19. A Multidisciplinary study of herbal, medicinal and aromatic plants. 20. Diversity, Utilization and management of Medicinal Plants. 21. Important Indian medicinal plants of global interest. Bibliography. Index.

This interest is channeled into the discovery of new biologically – active molecules by the pharmaceutical industry and into the adoption of crude extracts of plants for self-medication by the general public. In both of these areas some attention is being paid to the investigation and use of ethnopharmacology, the traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes by particular cultural groups. Ethnopharmacologic leads have resulted in the introduction of new single molecule drugs but have a greater role to play if crude extracts are accepted for clinical use in the West.