The botanical and chemical qualities, traditional and modern medicinal use, origin and distribution, pharmacological activities, and clinical trials for 16 plants (and foods) are included in this volume. Coffee, tea, marijuana, coconut, ginger, asafetida, carrots, and tobacco are among the plants featured. The discussion of each plant, with medicinal use summarized by country, is annotated to a full bibliography that follows each chapter. A list of the plants found in the first two volumes and a glossary of terms are provided. Ross, a toxicologist for the US Food and Drug Administration, has worked in agricultural and rural development in his native Guyana. Annotation ยฉ2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Theresa A. John
This is a systematic documentation of scientific knowledge on 27 classical medicinal plants that are of perennial importance to healthcare delivery worldwide. The editor has neatly merged diffuse knowledge from a complex field to provide an education resource pertinent to researchers, drug developers, and pharmaceutical and clinical services. In its simplicity, the book is useful to lay persons and students. Experts and researchers may find it a useful reference. The editor also intends it for clinicians, though it is not a proper pharmacopoeia or clinician's reference because of its scope (27 plants) and limited provision of available dosages, methods, efficacy, and clinical experience. The editor expertly covers relevant cultural backgrounds, global human experience, and up-to-date scientific research on the medicinal plants discussed. The compilation of chemical constituents, selected traditional usages, and experimentation data form valuable literature with the cross reference of common names and the biography can be a uniting factor for researchers. This book is well prepared and well produced. In terms of approach, it is an advancement on some formerly popular books such as Lewis and Elvin-Lewis' Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man's Health (John Wiley & Sons, 1982), because of it foundation on scientific evidence as well as traditional anecdotes. Its merge of global experience makes it more useful to researchers than books limited to particular cultures such as Burkill's, Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa: Families A-D (University Press of Virginia, 1985); Adjanohoun's Traditional Medicine andPharmacopoeia (OAU/STRC, 1991); and Sofowora's Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa (Spectrum, 1993). This is an interesting introduction to the intriguing field of ethnopharmacology and traditional medicine.