Conservation and Utilization of Threatened Medicinal Plants

✍ Scribed by P.E. Rajasekharan, Shabir Hussain Wani

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Springer
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 571
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products. Plant-based remedies have been used for centuries and have had no alternative in the western medicine repertoire, while others and their bioactive derivatives are in high demand and have been the central focus of biomedical research. As Medicinal plants move from fringe to mainstream with a greater number of individuals seeking treatments free of side effects, considerable attention has been paid to utilize plant-based products for the prevention and cure of human diseases. An unintended consequence of this increased demand, however, is that the existence of many medicinal plants is now threatened, due to their small population size, narrow distribution area, habitat specificity, and destructive mode of harvesting. In addition, climate change, habitat loss and genetic drift have further endangered these unique species. Although extensive research has been carried out on medicinal and aromatic plants, there is relatively little information available on their global distribution patterns, conservation and the associated laws prevailing.

This book reviews the current status of threatened medicinal plants in light of increased surge in the demand for herbal medicine. It brings together chapters on both wild (non-cultivated) and domestic (cultivated) species having therapeutic values. Thematically, conventional and contemporary approaches to conservation of such threatened medicinal plants with commercial feasibility are presented. The topics of interest include, but not limited to, biotechnology, sustainable development, in situ and ex situ conservation, and even the relevance of IPR on threatened medicinal plants. We believe this book is useful to horticulturists, botanists, policy makers, conservationists, NGOs and researchers in the academia and the industry sectors.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter ....Pages i-xviii
Front Matter ....Pages 1-1
Distribution, Diversity, Conservation and Utilization of Threatened Medicinal Plants (P. E. Rajasekharan, Shabir Hussain Wani)....Pages 3-30
Threatened Medicinal Plants of Eastern Ghats and Their Conservation (N. Sivaraj, Kamala Venkateswaran, S. R. Pandravada, M. Thirupathi Reddy, P. E. Rajasekharan)....Pages 31-62
Indian Medicinal Plants Database (IMPLAD) and Threatened Medicinal Plants of India (S. N. Venugopalan Nair, D. K. Ved, K. Ravikumar, I. F. Tabassum, Suma Tagadur Sureshchandra, B. S. Somasekhar et al.)....Pages 63-92
Harnessing the Potential of Medicinal, Aromatic and Non-timber Forest Products for Improving the Livelihoods of Pastoralists and Farmers in Himalayan Mountains (Madhav B. Karki)....Pages 93-106
Front Matter ....Pages 107-107
Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants in India: Concepts and Practices (D. K. Ved, S. Noorunnisa Begum, K. Ravikumar)....Pages 109-133
Biotechnological Interventions for Conservation and Multiplication of Threatened Medicinal Plants (M. R. Rohini)....Pages 135-158
In Vitro Multiplication and Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants of Western Ghats of South India (R. K. Radha)....Pages 159-180
In Vitro Conservation and Cryopreservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants of India (Neelam Sharma, Ruchira Pandey, R. Gowthami)....Pages 181-228
Geospatial Technologies for Threatened Medicinal Plant Conservation (N. Sivaraj, Kamala Venkateswaran, S. R. Pandravada, N. Dikshit, M. ThirupathiReddy, P. E. Rajasekharan et al.)....Pages 229-274
Front Matter ....Pages 275-275
Threatened Medicinal Plants in the Western Ghats – Phytochemical Perspective (K. B. Rameshkumar, Lekshmi N. Menon, M. Priya Rani, E. S. Anchu, Brijesh Kumar, R. Prakashkumar)....Pages 277-316
Genomics and Molecular Characterization of Threatened Medicinal Plants (M. R. Rohini)....Pages 317-346
Drugs From Threatened Medicinal Plants (Kuntal Das, P. E. Rajasekharan)....Pages 347-366
Front Matter ....Pages 367-367
Conservation and Utilization of High-Altitude Threatened Medicinal Plants (Ravinder Raina, Kamini Gautam)....Pages 369-387
Approaches Towards Threatened Species Recovery in Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas (MPCA)–Case Studies from South India (C. Kunhikannan, B. Nagarajan, V. Sivakumar, N. Venkatasubramanian)....Pages 389-428
Threatened Tree Species of the Western Ghats: Status, Diversity and Conservation (Rekha R. Warrier, S. Geetha, Veerasamy Sivakumar, B. Gurudev Singh, Ravichand Anandalakshmi)....Pages 429-460
Front Matter ....Pages 461-461
Relevance of Ethnopharmacological Research Related to Threatened Medicinal Plants Associated with Traditional Knowledge (S. R. Suja, Ragesh R. Nair, S. Rajasekharan, R. Prakashkumar)....Pages 463-487
Intellectual Property Rights and Threatened Medicinal Plants: The Scenario (K. Souravi, Rahul Patil)....Pages 489-511
Access and Benefit Sharing and Threatened Medicinal Plants (Atul Kumar Gupta, K. Souravi)....Pages 513-529
Front Matter ....Pages 531-531
Future of Threatened Medicinal Plants in the Era of Anthropocene and Climate Change (P. E. Rajasekharan, Shabir Hussain Wani)....Pages 533-548
Back Matter ....Pages 549-565

✦ Subjects

Life Sciences; Plant Physiology; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Ecology; Plant Breeding/Biotechnology; Complementary & Alternative Medicine