Nature and Medicine - Traditional uses, Chemistry and Bioprospecting of Natural Products

Nature is complete and self-fulfilling in its wholeness. Our forefathers were able to harness the properties of plants, animals and mineral matter to medicate their bodies and to live long and fruitful lives. We have always been passionate about the nature, the source of the medicaments having healing properties. There exists a wealth of information that has been transcribed down from various different cultures across the world. People from most parts of the world rely on medicinal plants for meeting their primary healthcare. According to WHO, 3/4th of population especially living in remote areas depends on medicinal plants as traditional medicine. These natural products have since been harnessed by owners of big Pharma to make medicines for profit. It is well known that a vast majority of drugs available in marked have their origin from natural sources like plants and animals as the leads and the chemistry of most of these drugs have their origin in natural products. Artemisinin, quinine, digoxin, morphine, vincristine and vinblastine are few among the important drugs obtained from natural sources like plants. This book is a collection of chapters that have been written by various authors on different aspects of natural products such as traditional utilization of plants in different localities of India and other parts of the world, chemistry of natural products and screening of natural products for various biological activities. The reader of this book will surely get at least preliminary idea about the role of natural products in human welfare. Moreover, the therapeutic potential of plants mentioned in the chapters may encourage preservation of traditional knowledge on the medicinal properties of the plants.