Bioactive Molecules and Medicinal Plants

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXIII

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2. Drug Discovery from Plants

   • Angela A. Salim, Young-Won Chin, A. Douglas Kinghorn

   Pages 1-24

3. Grapevine Stilbenes and Their Biological Effects

   • Pierre Waffo-Teguo, Stéphanie Krisa, Tristan Richard, Jean-Michel Mérillon

   Pages 25-54

4. Research into Isoflavonoid Phyto-oestrogens in Plant Cell Cultures

   • M.T. Łuczkiewicz

   Pages 55-84

5. Secondary Metabolite Production from Plant Cell Cultures: the Success Stories of Rosmarinic Acid and Taxol

   • Spiridon Kintzios

   Pages 85-100

6. Guggulsterone: a Potent Natural Hypolipidemic Agent from Commiphora wightii – Problems, Perseverance, and Prospects

   • K.G. Ramawat, M. Marthur, S. Dass, S. Suthar

   Pages 101-121

7. Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn: the Source of Silymarin

   • Purificación Corchete

   Pages 123-148

8. The Production of Dianthrones and Phloroglucinol Derivatives in St. John’s Wort

   • Ara Kirakosyan, Donna M. Gibson, Peter B. Kaufman

   Pages 149-164

9. Production of Alkaloids in Plant Cell and Tissue Cultures

   • Dominique Laurain-Mattar

   Pages 165-174

10. Bacopa monnieri, a Nootropic Drug

    • M. Rajani

    Pages 175-195

11. Chemical Profiling of Nothapodytes nimmoniana for Camptothecin, an Important Anticancer Alkaloid: Towards the Development of a Sustainable Production System

    • R. Uma Shaanker, B.T. Ramesha, G. Ravikanth, R. Gunaga, R. Vasudeva, K.N. Ganeshaiah

    Pages 197-213

12. Colchicine – an Overview for Plant Biotechnologists

    • Seemanti Ghosh, Sumita Jha

    Pages 215-232

13. In Vitro Azadirachtin Production

    • S. Srivastava, A.K. Srivastava

    Pages 233-254

14. Arabinogalactan Protein and Arabinogalactan: Biomolecules with Biotechnological and Therapeutic Potential

    • Amita Pal

    Pages 255-270

15. Hairy Roots: a Powerful Tool for Plant Biotechnological Advances

    • Stéphanie Guillon, Jocelyne Trémouillaux-Guiller, Pratap Kumar Pati, Pascal Gantet

    Pages 271-283

16. Hairy Roots of Catharanthus roseus: Efficient Routes to Monomeric Indole Alkaloid Production

    • Stéphanie Guillon, Pascal Gantet, Martine Thiersault, Marc Rideau, Jocelyne Trémouillaux-Guiller

    Pages 285-295

17. Roseroot (Rhodiola rosea L.): Effect of Internal and External Factors on Accumulation of Biologically Active Compounds

    • Z. Węglarz, J.L. Przybył, A. Geszprych

    Pages 297-315

18. Apoptosis and Plant-Derived Pharmaceuticals

    • Louise F. Brisson

    Pages 317-324

19. The Indian Herbal Drugs Scenario in Global Perspectives

    • K.G. Ramawat, Shaily Goyal

    Pages 325-347

20. Phytochemical Standardization of Herbal Drugs and Polyherbal Formulations

    • M. Rajani, Niranjan S. Kanaki

    Pages 349-369

Use of medicinal plants is as old as human civilization and continuous efforts are being made to improve medicinal plants or produce their products in high amounts through various technologies. About 200,000 natural products of plant origin are known and many more are being identifed from higher plants and microorganisms. Some plant-based drugs have been used for centuries and there is no alternative medicine for many drugs, such as cardiac glycosides. However, natural products research was sidelined to pave the way for com- natorial chemistry, which was expected to produce large numbers of synthetic compounds for high-throughput screening (HTS). This line of work has failed to deliver desirable results. Moreover, it is not possible for all pharmaceutical companies and institutions to adopt costly HTS technology. Therefore, medi- nal plants and their bioactive molecules are always in demand and are a central point of research. While planning this book, we endeavored to incorporate - ticles that cover the entire gamut of current medicinal plants research. The aim of this book was to review the current status of bioactive molecules and medicinal plants research in light of the surge in the demand for herbal medicine. The chapters focus on bioactive molecules (e.g., stilbenes and p- toestrogens) and on medicinal plants as a whole (e.g., Bacopa monnierie). We hope that this book will be useful for researchers in academia, industry, and agriculture planning.

• Medicinal Plants
• Pharmacology
• Plant Biotechnology
• Protein
• Secondary Metabolites
• biotechnology
• drug discovery
• pharmaceuticals
• roots

From the reviews:

"This new publication covers recent developments in the field and, as the title suggests, it deals with … bioactive molecules, as well as medicinal plants as a whole. … this book provides a good source of recent information on certain aspects of medicinal plant research. … it is very useful for researchers to be able to read the title of the relevant reference. … this book would be a useful addition to University Libraries and researchers working in the field." (Marine E. Light, South African Journal of Botany, Vol. 75 (2), 2009)

• Laboratory of Biomolecular Technology, Department of Botany, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India

  K.G. Ramawat

• Groupe d‘Etude des Substances Végétales à Activité Biologique Laboratoire de Sciences Végétales, Mycologie et Biotechnologie,, UFR Pharmacie Universite Victor Segalen, Bordeaux cedex, France

  J.M. Merillon

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