Herbal Drugs: Ethnomedicine to Modern Medicine

425 Pages·2008·9.94 MB·English

by  K.G. Ramawat

Herbal Drugs: Ethnomedicine to Modern Medicine
K.G. Ramawat (Ed.)
Herbal Drugs: Ethnomedicine
to Modern Medicine
123
Editor
Prof.Dr.K.G.Ramawat
M.L.SukhadiaUniversity
BotanyDept.
Udaipur-313002
India
ISBN:978-3-540-79115-7 e-ISBN:978-3-540-79116-4
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2008935113
(cid:2)c Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2009
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.Allrightsarereserved,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialis
concerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,
reproductiononmicrofilmorinanyotherway,andstorageindatabanks.Duplicationofthispublication
orpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsoftheGermanCopyrightLawofSeptember9,
1965,initscurrentversion,andpermissionforusemustalwaysbeobtainedfromSpringer.Violationsare
liabletoprosecutionundertheGermanCopyrightLaw.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnotimply,
evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelaws
andregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Coverdesign:WMXDesignGmbH,Heidelberg
Printedonacid-freepaper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
springer.com

About the editor
Professor K.G. Ramawat (born in 1952) received his M.Sc. (1974) and Ph.D.
(1978, Plant Biotechnology) from the University of Jodhpur, Jodhpur, India and
becameafacultymemberinJanuaryof1979.HejoinedM.L.SukhadiaUniversity
as an Associate Professor in 1991 and became a Professor in 2001. He served as
HeadoftheDepartmentofBotany(2001–2004),wasinchargeoftheDepartment
of Biotechnology (2003–2004), was a member of the task force on medicinal and
aromatic plants at the Department of Biotechnology (Government of India, New
Delhi; 2002–2005), and was a coordinator of the UGC-DRS and DST-FIST pro-
grams(2002–2007).HedidhispostdoctoralstudyattheUniversityofTours,France
(1983–85)andsubsequentlyworkedasvisitingprofessorattheUniversityofTours
(1991)andUniversityofBordeaux2,France(1995,1999,2003,2006).Hevisited
PolandundertheauspicesofanINSA-PANacademicexchangeprogram(2005).He
haspublishedmorethan100researchpapersandreviewarticlesinreputedjournals
andbooks.Hehaseditedtwobooksonthebiotechnologyofsecondarymetabolites
and of medicinal plants (Scientific Publishers, Enfield, USA and Springer verlag,
Heidelberg, Germany). Professor Ramawat has completed several major research
projectsfromUGC,CSIR,ICAR,DBT,andDST,andhassupervisedthedoctoral
thesesof16students.HehasbeenamemberofthePlantTissueCultureAssociation
ofIndiasince1991.
v

Preface
Considerable progress has been made in our healthcare system, in particular with
respecttosensitivediagnostictools,reagentsandveryeffectiveandprecisedrugs.
Ontheotherhand,high-throughputscreeningtechnologycanscreenvastnumbers
of compounds against an array of targets in a very short time, and leads thus ob-
tained can be further explored. In developing countries, the exploding population
exerts pressure not only on natural resources but also on the human population it-
self,whosemembersstrivetobecomesuccessfulandadvanceinsociety.Thisleads
to increased blood pressure, anxiety, obesity-associated lipid disorders, cardiovas-
cular diseases and diabetes. Most of these diseases result in disturbed family life,
includingsexualbehaviour.
Despite technological developments, herbal drugs still occupy a preferential
placeinamajorityofthepopulationintheThirdWorldandterminalpatientsinthe
West. Herbal drugs, in addition to being cost effective and easily accessible, have
been usedsincetimeimmemorialandhave passedthetestoftimewithout having
anysideeffects.Themultitargeteffectsofherbs(holisticapproaches)arethefunda-
mentalbasisoftheirutilization.Thisapproachisalreadyusedintraditionalsystems
of medicine like Ayurveda, which has become more popular in the West in recent
years. However, the integration of modern science with traditional uses of herbal
drugs isoftheutmostimportance ifones wishestouseancient knowledge forthe
bettermentofhumanity.Thisbookwilltrytobridgethisgapandwillbeavaluable
sourceforherbalists,traditionalandmodernmedicalpractitioners,andresearchers
in botany, ethnobotany, pharmacy, phytochemistry and agriculture. Contributions
on herbs used for beneficial effects on memory, sexual behaviour, neurodegener-
ation, erectile dysfunction, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, cancer preven-
tion, stroke and central nervous system disorders will provide vital information to
readers.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge my contributors, who have gone to great
lengthstoensurethehighscientificqualityofthebook.Iwouldalsoliketothank
mycolleaguesatSpringer.
July2008 K.G.Ramawat
vii

Contents
1 Medicinal Plants: A Renewable Resource for Novel Leads
andDrugs.................................................. 1
R.Verpoorte
1.1 Introduction.............................................. 2
1.2 Conclusion............................................... 4
References..................................................... 5
2 TheChemicalDiversityofBioactiveMoleculesandTherapeutic
PotentialofMedicinalPlants.................................. 7
K.G.Ramawat,S.DassandMeetaMathur
2.1 Introduction.............................................. 7
2.2 TraditionalUseofMedicinalPlants .......................... 8
2.3 AncientSystemsofMedicine ............................... 9
2.3.1 TraditionalIndianMedicine......................... 9
2.3.2 TraditionalChineseMedicine ....................... 10
2.3.3 TraditionalEgyptianMedicine ...................... 11
2.3.4 TraditionalArabicMedicine ........................ 11
2.3.5 African, European and Other Traditional Systems
ofMedicine ...................................... 11
2.4 ExplorationofMedicinalPlants ............................. 12
2.5 ApproachestoDrugDiscovery.............................. 13
2.6 BioactiveMoleculesofMedicinalPlants...................... 15
2.6.1 Alkaloids ........................................ 16
2.6.2 Phenolics ........................................ 21
2.6.3 Terpenes......................................... 24
2.7 Conclusion............................................... 29
References..................................................... 30
ix