Contents: Preface. Introduction. I. Pharmacological Classification of Medicinal Herbs: 1. Adoptogens. 2. Anabolic hormones-herbs containing. 3. Anthelmintics. 4. Anti-arthritics and anti-inflammatory. 5. Anti-asthmatics. 6. Anti-diabetics. 7. Anti-dysentrics and anti-diarrhoeals. 8. Anti-fertility herbs. 9. Anti-filarials. 10. Anti-Galactagogues. 11. Anti-goitre herbs. 12. Anti-histaminics. 13. Anti-leprosy herbs. 14. Anti-migrain herbs. 15. Anti-obesity herbs. 16. Anti-parkinsonism herbs. 17. Anti-peptic ulcer herbs. 18. Anti-spasmodics. 19. Antimicrobials. 20. Aphrodisiacs. 21. Appetite stimulants. 22. Bioavailability enhancers. 23. Bone fracture healing herbs. 24. Cardio-vasculars. 25. Cough remedies. 26. Galactagugues. 27. General tonics. 28. Hyperacidity-herbs for. 29. Insecticides parasiticides and pesticides. 30. Laxatives. 31. Liver diseases-herbs for. 32. Memory stimulants. 33. Nervine sedatives. 34. Ophthalmic remedies. 35. Respiratory disorders-herbs for. 36. Skin diseases-herbs for. 37. Tropical eosinophillia-herbs for. 38. Urolithotriptics. 39. Uterines. 40. Viral hepatitis-herbs for.
II. Herbal Sources of Food Supplements, Taste Enhancers, Colours and Cosmetics: 1. Food supplements. 2. Taster enhancers. 3. Colours. 4. Cosmetics. III. Phytopharmaceuticals and their source herbs. IV. Suggested dosage of natural plant products. V. Key to identification of medicinal plants. VI. Extraction of Medicinal Plants: 1. Types of herbal extracts. 2. Processing. 3. Staff requirement. 4. Project profiles. 5. Plant and equipment. VII. Herbal extracts. VIII. Some hints on herbal formulations. IX. Quality Control and Standardization: 1. Quality control. 2. Standardization. X. Research and development. XI. Regulatory requirements. XII. Technologies available in India: 1. Agrotechnology. 2. Processing technology. 3. Phytochemicals technology. XIII. Herbal wealth of other countries.
From the introduction: "India is perhaps the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is rightly called the "Botanical Garden of the World". There are very few medicinal herbs of commercial importance, which are not collected of cultivated in this country. Medicinal herbs have been in use for thousands of years, in one form or another, under the indigenous systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Sidha and Unani, since independence in 1947, India has made tremendous progress in agrotechnology, process technology, standardisation, quality control, research and development etc.
"India has 15,000-18,000 species of flowering plants, 2500 algae, 23000 fungi, 1,600 types of litchen, 1, 800 varieties of bryophytes and an estimated 30 million types of micro-organisms."
