Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Resveratrol: a natural polyphenol, that prevents illness and increases longevity -- an overview/Mahesh Masna, Gottumukkala V. Subbaraju and Modukuri V. Ramani. 2. Ethnobotany, chemistry and pharmacology studies of the medicinal specimen/Ixora Coccinea Linn./Maria Aparecida M. Maciel, Aurea Echevarria, Silvana A.F.A. Monteath, Valdir F. Veiga Jr., Carlos R. Kaiser, Fabiano E.S. Gomes, Joao Walter S. Silveira, Ricardo H. Costa e Sousa and Frederico A. Vanderlinde. 3. A review on phytochemistry, pharmacology and therapeutic uses of Wrightia tinctoria R. Br./Papiya Bigoniya and A.C. Rana. 4. Genotoxicity: its methods of evaluation and the significance--a review/S. Singh, R. Sharma, G.D. Singh, A. Kaul, A. Khajuria, P. Koul and V.K. Gupta. 5. Vasodilatory activity induced by natural products/Gisele Zapata-Sudo, Juliana Montani Raimundo and Roberto Takashi Sudo. 6. Scope of Chicory with special reference to its medicinal value/Yogendrasinh B. Solanki and Sunita M. Jain. 7. Role of curcuminoids, the yellow colored phenols of turmeric, in disease prevention and health maintenance/Somepalli Venkateswarlu and Gottumukkala V. Subbaraju. 8. Opioid activity of the ethanol extract from psychotria carrascoana delprete and E.B. Souza Leaves in Mice/Claudia Ferreira Santos, Antonia Torres Davila Pimenta, Adriana Sousa Barros, Victor Martins Gomes, Natalia Rocha Celedonio, Marta Regina Kerntopf, Silvania Maria Mendes Vasconcelos, Ana Maria Sampaio Assreuy, Elnatan B. de Souza, Mary Anne Sousa Lima, Edilberto Rocha Silveira, Francisco Arnaldo Viana and Nilberto Robson Falcao do Nascimento. 9. Comparative effects of Soybean, sunflower, olive and sugar cane wax oils and their respective fatty acids in cutaneous inflammation/N. Ledon, A. Casaco, S. Rodriguez, A. Gonzalez, N. Merino, O. Ancheta, V.J. Rodriguez, J. Cruz, R. Gonzalez, A. Capote, M. Cano, Z. Tolon, E. Rojas and R. Gonzalez. 10. Mitochondrial protection was involved in the effect of Limonium sinense extract against APAP-Induced toxicity/J. Gao, Y.H. Tang, L.Z. Xu, X.H. Tang and X.N. Zhao. 11. Multi-targeted approaches for polygenic disorders using medicinal plants: a new battle against old aniversaries/V.S. Muthusamy and B.S. Lakshmi. 12. Safety assessment of orthosiphon stamineus Benth Methanol Leaf extract: drug interaction and oral toxicity study in rats/Jin Han Chin and Abas Hj Hussin. 13. Capsicum genus: ethnobotany, chemistry and pharmacology studies of the pepper/Roosevelt H. Leal and Valdir F. Veiga Junior. 14. Review of plants having potential in the management of hyperlipidemia/T. D'Souza and S.A. Mengi. 15. A review on phytochemistry and pharmacology of Alangium Sp./Papiya Bigoniya, Alok Shukla and C.S. Singh. 16. An overview of the Ayurvedic medicinal plant Phyllanthus amarus for its botanical, phytochemical and biological explorations/P. Koul, S. Singh, R. Sharma and V.K. Gupta. 17. In vitro antisickling activity of anthocyanins extracts from Morinda Lucida Benth (Rubiaceae)/P.T. Mpiana, V. Mudogo, K.N. Ngbolua, D.S.T. Tshibangu and E.K. Atibu. 18. Studies on the phenolic compound profiles and antioxidant activity in fruit portions of Marx Red Bartlett and Starkrimson Pear cultivars/Z. Chikwambi and M. Muchuweti. 19. Antioxidant activity of the Methanol Extract of Hypericum hookerianum stem in Ehrlich Ascites carcinoma bearing mice/Santoshkumar H. Dongre, Shrishailappa Badami, Senthilkumar Natesan and Raghu Chandrashekhar H. 20. Antioxidant and antihypertensive investigation of seed extract of parinari Curatellifolia/M.T. Olaleye, O.O. Adegboye and A.A. Akindahunsi. 21. Studies on the analgesic and antipyretic activities of ethanolic extract of carica papaya leaves in rats/B.V. Owoyele, A.O. Soladoye and O.A. Omopariola. 22. Degradation kinetics studies of the powdered leaves, extracts and formulations of Loranthus micranthus Parasitic on Kola acuminata/I.C. Uzochukwu and P.O Osadebe. 23. Phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial activity of Hyptis suaveolens/R.A.U. Nwobu, I.C. Uzochukwu and E.L. Okoye. 24. Pharmacognostical and preclinical studies on Stembark of Gmelina Arborea: an Ayurvedic Medicinal plant/K. Yogesh and A. Veeranjaneyulu. 25. Clinical evaluation of Anacardium occidentale/Veronica S. Lopes, Zelia M.S. Assis, Vanusia S., Galdino, Iaperi S. Araujo, Carlos L. Camacho, Damaso P. Chacon, Tereza N.C. Dantas and Maria Aparecida M. Maciel. 26. Effect of Emblica officinalis Diet in Streptozotocin Diabetic Mice/Richa Shri and Disha Arora. 27. Investigation into the folkloric antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of Nauclea Latifolia leaves and stem bark extracts and fractions/P.O. Osadebe, U. Ajali, F.B.C. Okoye and C. Diara. 28. Herbal drug therapy: a promising solution for helminthes parasites/J.K. Chamuah, C.C. Barua, A.G. Barua and D. Lahkar. 29. Antimalarial bioactivity of enantia chlorantha Stem bark/Ayoade A. Adesokan and Musbau A. Akanji. Index.

"Ancient civilization greatly depended on local flora and fauna for their survival and experimented with various berries, roots, leaves, minerals or animal parts to find out what effects they had and as a result, many crude drugs were observed by the local healer to have some medical use. As understanding of therapeutic benefits deepens and demands for natural products increased, previously serendipitous discoveries evolved into active searches for new medicines. At present 25 per cent of the modern medicines are developed from plants that were first used traditionally, and many synthetic drugs have also been obtained from natural precursors.

The present volume of the book series, "Medicinal Plants: Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Therapeutics" contained as many as 29 review/research articles contributed by the eminent scientists from across the world, some of which are as under:

• Resveratrol: a natural polyphenol.
• Phytochemistry, pharmacology and therapeutic uses of Wrightia tinctoria.
• Genotoxicity, its methods of evaluation and the significance.
• Vasodilatory activity induced by natural products.
• Scope of Chicory with special reference to its medicinal value.
• Role of curcuminoids, in disease prevention and health maintenance.
• Multi-targeted approaches for polygenic disorders using medicinal plants.
• Safety assessment of Orthosiphon stamineus Benth.
• Plants having potential in the management of hyperlipidemia.
• Phytochemistry and pharmacology of Alangium Sp.
• In vitro antisickling activity of anthocyanins extracts from Morinda Lucida.
• Antioxidant and antihypertensive investigation of parinari curatellifolia.
• Clinical evaluation of anacardium occidentale.
• Effect of Emblica officinalis diet in streptozotocin diabetic Mice.

The present volume, with its balanced approach will be a valuable, and an important research manual, that will stimulate interest and satisfy the need for further knowledge of this rapidly expanding and exciting discipline."