Description
Since ancient times, plants are being used traditionally throughout the country. The use of herbal remedies is on the rise in developed and developing countries. Many plant products have been used as a source of medicinal agents to cure urinary tract infections, vaginitis, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory diseases, cutaneous infections, helminth infections, protozoan diseases, liver diseases, inflammatory processes etc. Plant products have served as a major source of drugs for centuries and about half of the pharmaceuticals in use today are derived from these herbal or plant derived products. The efficacy and safety of herbal medicines have attracted the attention of major pharmaceutical companies towards medicinal plants research.In current years, pathogenic strains of microorganisms have developed resistance to antibiotics in response to the indiscriminate use of commercial antimicrobial drugs commonly employed in the treatment of various infectious diseases. The increasing prevalence of multidrug resistance strains of bacteria and undesirable side effects of certain antibiotics, has forced scientists to look for new antimicrobial substances from various sources especially the medicinal plants. Plant kingdom is a gold mine for novel and affordable active compounds/phytoconstituents. The medicinal properties of plants and mushrooms (antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antiviral, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, enzyme inhibitory etc.) are due to the presence of metabolites especially secondary compounds (Phytochemicals) produced by plant species around the globe through different mechanisms. Therefore, the present book entitled “Significance of Indian Medicinal Plants and Mushrooms - Vol II” has been envisaged in order to discuss various aspects of ethnobotanically important plants and mushrooms and provides comprehensive and condensed information of an extensive and large number of medicinal plants and mushrooms grown and found in different parts of the country covering many important and interesting aspects on the subject concerned. The book will be highly valuable to students, teachers, scientists, cultivators, entrepreneurs and the farmers as well.
