Medicinal Plants Research – Trends and Dimensions

Description

Medicinal plants are one of the numerous gifts of nature, they are loaded with several bioactive chemicals or phytochemicals as part of their normal metabolic activities. Medicinal plants as organic alternatives have increased due to the increasing awareness of food safety and the dangers of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics or synthetic chemicals. Ensuring the safety, quality, and effectiveness of medicinal plants and herbal drugs very recently became a key issue in industrialized and developing countries, hence, the global market of herbs and herbal-based medicines is growing year by year with the interest in natural medicines. There is a promising future of medicinal plants as there are about half a million plants around the world, and most of them are not investigated yet for their medical activities and their hidden potential of medical activities could be decisive in the treatment of present and future studies.

Today, the importance of research in the field of medicinal plants is felt more than ever. A large number of researchers in different parts of the world are studying different aspects of herbal medicine. The idea was to present their recent research and discuss different dimensions of medicinal plants in the form of a book. The presented book consists of chapters written by eminent researchers from different geographical areas and working with different specialties on medicinal plants. The presented book expresses recent trends of medicinal plants research and opens the door for future research in the field of medicinal herbs by aggregating our present knowledge. The book will prove to be an asset to researchers, professionals, and students,working in the field of medicinal plants and their mechanisms of action.