Contents: Message. Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction of medicinal plants. 2. Indian systems of medicine. 3. Herbal therapeutics: From ancient times to the 21 century. 4. Essentials of crude drugs. 5. Medicinal botany. 6. In Vitro culture of medicinal plants: tissue culture. 7. Systematic examination of powdered drugs. 8.1. Application of chromatography and spectroscopy in plant drug analysis. 8.2. Extraction, isolation and analysis of Phytopharmaceuticals. 9. Screening methods used for herbal drugs. 10. Standardisation of herbal drugs. 11. Herbal formulations: a comparative study of Ayurvedic and modern dosage forms. Glossary. Glossary of botanical terms. Glossary of medical terms. Bibliography. Index.

"During the past decade, there have been significant advances in herbal drug technology. In keeping with these advances, a plethora of research material on the subject has been published, but there is no authoritative textbook to guide the beginner in this vast field. This book has been designed specially to fulfil this need.

Beginning with an introduction to medicinal plants and traditional systems of medicine, the book goes on to discuss medicinal botany including plant taxonomy and morphological considerations of crude drugs. It provides guidelines for setting up an in vitro culture laboratory and discusses in detail the systematic examination of crude drugs--their extraction and isolation. Testing of herbal drugs for effectiveness in therapy is also explained.

To counteract the range of spurious drugs entering the market, standardisation of herbal drugs has been gaining importance. This book discusses the WHO protocol, different methods used for standardisation, quality control and standards for herbal extracts and validation of herbal products. The book will be useful to students and professionals in the fields of Pharmacy, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha."