Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are invaluable natural resources of use to human race, without which the survival of human/ animal race is incredible. There is an enormous diversity of plants which are put into medicinal, beauty care and culinary purposes. Cultivation of commercially important medicinal plants is in high demand as the global community is growing towards a green and herbal oriented approach. India as a country has thousands of years old traditional medicinal systems which rely solely on medicinal plants. There is a gradual loss of medicinal plants with the increasing demand of plant derived drugs. Majority of medicinal plants are still collected from the wild. This doesn't meet the demand and thereby pave ways to adulterants. The over extraction and ignorant activities cause biodiversity loss. Farm production of MAPs in these days is extremely vulnerable to underlying climate risk. Sustainable management of these resources requires urgent attention for environmental stability and improvement of livelihood. New income generating opportunities are opening up for rural populations and in particular for small-scale farmers as well as marginal farmers through MAPs cultivation. New generation are not well aware of the various uses of many plants to which it was put before. Thus there is an urgent need to spread the knowledge and conserve the wild populations of medicinal plant diversity in various forest areas of India. Considering the importance of the MAPs, an attempt was taken in this edited book to understand and highlight the role of MAPs in livelihood improvement and income generation through cultivation, conservation and utilisation. Most of the chapters in this book dealt with individual medicinal plants in detail. Two chapters have also been included on pests and diseases management of MAPs. Nowadays, IPR issues are more important. One chapter has been included on IPR issues on medicinal plants. A chapter also devoted on value addition of the medicinal plant products.

Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have accompanied mankind from its very early beginnings. Their utilization has co-evolved with homo sapiens itself bringing about a profound increase in our scientific knowledge of these species enabling them to be used in many facets of our life (e.g. pharmaceutical products, feed- and food additives, cosmetics, etc.). Remarkably, despite the new renaissance of MAPs usage, ca. 80 % of the world’s population is relying on natural substances of plant origin, with most of these botanicals sourced from the wild state. This first volume and ultimately the series, provides readers with a wealth of information on medicinal and aromatic plants.

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products. Plant-based remedies have been used for centuries and have had no alternative in the western medicine repertoire, while others and their bioactive derivatives are in high demand and have been the central focus of biomedical research. As Medicinal plants move from fringe to mainstream with a greater number of individuals seeking treatments free of side effects, considerable attention has been paid to utilize plant-based products for the prevention and cure of human diseases. An unintended consequence of this increased demand, however, is that the existence of many medicinal plants is now threatened, due to their small population size, narrow distribution area, habitat specificity, and destructive mode of harvesting. In addition, climate change, habitat loss and genetic drift have further endangered these unique species. Although extensive research has been carried out on medicinal and aromatic plants, there is relatively little information available on their global distribution patterns, conservation and the associated laws prevailing. This book reviews the current status of threatened medicinal plants in light of increased surge in the demand for herbal medicine. It brings together chapters on both wild (non-cultivated) and domestic (cultivated) species having therapeutic values. Thematically, conventional and contemporary approaches to conservation of such threatened medicinal plants with commercial feasibility are presented. The topics of interest include, but not limited to, biotechnology, sustainable development, in situ and ex situ conservation, and even the relevance of IPR on threatened medicinal plants. We believe this book is useful to horticulturists, botanists, policy makers, conservationists, NGOs and researchers in the academia and the industry sectors.

Papers presented at the National Seminar on Conservation and Utilization of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, held at Bhubaneswar during 4-6 December 2001; in Indian context.

Since ancient times, plants serve as a valuable source of traditional herbal medicines. Unlike modern medicines, herbal medicines have consistently demonstrated health advantages, including a lack of serious adverse side effects, long-lasting curative impacts and overall cost-effectiveness. Even today, with various modern pharmaceutical medicines commonly available, plant-based medicines and aromatics are increasingly in demand throughout the health sector globally, where they are used not only for the treatment of disease, but also, preventatively for maintaining good health. People are seeking alternatives to modern medical treatments turning to phytomedicine for primary health care. However, an inadvertent consequence of this increased demand for herbal medicines has resulted in medicinal plants being threatened due to their initial small population sizes, narrow distribution areas, habitat specificity, and increasingly destructive non-sustainable harvesting. This book critically examines and reviews the status of medicinal plants and includes several important case studies of representative plant species. It contains information on aspects concerning phytochemistry, natural products, cultivation, conservation techniques, environmental interactions, and therapeutic features of medicinal aromatic plants. Features Evaluates plants as medicine and aromatics covering pharmacognosy and ecology of plants having therapeutic values. Discusses how plants can play a role in treatment of diseases and as potential therapeutics standards for maintaining good health. Presents conventional and contemporary approaches to conservation of such plants with commercial feasibility.

This contributed volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth and subject-based reviews on the current status of active ingredients, sustainable use, biodiversity and conservation of certain endangered medicinal plants. The book also explores conventional and non-conventional biotechnological interventions for their biodiversity conservation. Medicinal plants have been used in worldwide as a major source of raw material for the traditional herbal healthcare practices as well as for drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industry. The cumulative consequences of various human activities and environmental factors cause decline in the biodiversity of medicinal plants at an unprecedented rate worldwide. Thus, the overall understanding of ecology, species and genetic diversity along with assessment of the status of different threats and their impact on medicinal plants is crucial to sustain existing biodiversity, its utilization and conservation. All the latest advancements in the biotechnological approaches for the conservation research of endangered medicinal plants and the future perspectives have been described. This book provides comprehensive reviews spreading over about 25 chapters divided in three sections. The chapters of this book are written by recognized scientists in their respective fields which are useful to students, academicians, researchers, botanists, biotechnologists, policy makers, conservationists and industries interested in biodiversity conservation and medicinal plant research for the production of secondary metabolites.

A detailed discussion of the need to conserve medicinal plants and their environments.

Medicinal and aromac plants (MAPs) are invaluable natural resources of use to human race, without which the survival of human/ animal race is incredible. There is an enormous diversity of plants which are put into medicinal, beauty care and culinary purposes. Culvaon of commercially important medicinal plants is in high demand as the global community is growing towards a green and herbal oriented approach. India as a country has thousands of years old tradional medicinal systems which rely solely on medicinal plants. There is a gradual loss of medicinal plants with the increasing demand of plant derived drugs. Majority of medicinal plants are sll collected from the wild. This doesn't meet the demand and thereby pave ways to adulterants. The over extracon and ignorant acvies cause biodiversity loss. Farm producon of MAPs in these days is extremely vulnerable to underlying climate risk. Sustainable management of these resources requires urgent aenon for environmental stability and improvement of livelihood. New income generang opportunies are opening up for rural populaons and in parcular for small-scale farmers as well as marginal farmers through MAPs culvaon. New generaon are not well aware of the various uses of many plants to which it was put before. Thus there is an urgent need to spread the knowledge and conserve the wild populaons of medicinal plant diversity in various forest areas of India. Considering the importance of the MAPs, an aempt was taken in this edited book to understand and highlight the role of MAPs in livelihood improvement and income generaon through culvaon, conservaon and ulisaon. Most of the chapters in this book dealt with individual medicinal plants in detail. Two chapters have also been included on pests and diseases management of MAPs. Nowadays, IPR issues are more important. One chapter has been included on IPR issues on medicinal plants. A chapter also devoted on value addion of the medicinal plant products.

This volume brings together a collection of papers by some experts in medicinal plants. It is presented as a contribution to clarifying the many policy and technical issues associated with the conservation, use, production and trade of medicinal plants. This publication draws attention to the huge contribution of medicinal plants to traditional and modern health care systems, but also alert the readers on the many problems and challenges facing their sustainable development, such as: assessment and management of the medicinal plant resource base; best harvesting and processing practices; trade issues and aspects dealing with the intellectual property rights on traditional medicine by indigenous peoples. The use of this document will help raise the awareness on medicinal plants as an important forest resource, and will help ensure that medicinal plants are adequately included in forest conservation and utilization programmes.