Contents: Preface. I. General topics: 1. Medicinal and aromatic plants-problem and prospects/Ajay Harlalka. 2. Emerging medicinal plants of 21 century: Safed Musli, Satawar, Brahmi and Jatamansi/S.K. Prabhuji, G.P. Rao, Shashi P. Singh and S.D. Singh. 3. Nutraceuticals: an overview/K.S. Patil, A.G. Jadhav and S.C. Chaturvedi. II. Biodiversity: 4. Medicinal plants diversity and their conservation in Western Ghats of Karnataka/S.K. Patil, V. Suryanarayana, G.O. Manjunath and V.M. Dabgar. 5. Weeds of medicinal importance/Pratibha Katiyar, S.S. Kohle, S.P. Tewari and M.I. Khan. 6. Medicinal pteridophytes: an overview/Sweta Singh, R.D. Dixit and T.R. Sahu. 7. Identification, characterization and conservation of Amla (Emblica officinalis) - a medicinal tree/Divya Goyal, Seema Bhadauria and Kaushal Pratap Singh. 8. Exploration of medicinal and aromatic plants in tribal areas of Jharkhand and West Bengal for chemo-ethnobotanical studies/C.S. Raghav, Poonam Suneja, K.C. Bhatt, J.B. Tomar and S.S. Malik. III. Cultivation and agrotechniques: 9. Chemistry and cultivation technology of emblica : an alternative land use for Alkali waste land/Seema Bhadauria. 10. Package of practices for cultivation of Balliospermum montanum (Willd) Muell-arg/V.P. Shimpale and S.R. Yadav. 11. Prospects of stevia cultivation in India: the sugar of 21 century/S.D. Singh and G.P. Rao. IV. Pest and disease management: 12. Endophytic bacteria mediated management of stem blight disease of phyllanthus emarus/S. Mathiyajhagan, K. Kavitha, W.G.D. Fernando, G. Chinnasamy, G. Chandrasekar and S. Nakkeeran. 13. Studies on damping-off, web blight and stem blight of phyllanthus amerus (Schum and Thonn.)/S. Mathiyajhagan, S. Nakkeeran, G. Chandrasekar, K. Kavitha, P. Renukadevi, G. Chinnasamy and W.G.D. Fernando. 14. Eco-climatic zonewise documentation of medicinal plant diseases in the forest nurseries of Uttar Kannada of Karnataka/G.K. Sudarshan, V. Suryanarayana and S.K. Singh. V. Indigenous knowledge and their importance: 15. Plants used as ethnomedicine by the Bhoxas of Uttaranchal/Harish Singh. 16. Ethnomedicinal plants for womenfolk's healthcare in Central Western Ghat Region of Karnataka/P. Ramana, S. Kannur and S.K. Patil. 17. Ethnomedicinal plants used in Rheumatism, Gout and Arthritis among the tribals in India/Anand Prakash and K.K. Singh. 18. Ethnomedicine of Halakki Okkaligas for snake bite and pediatric use/P. Ramana, A. Krishna and S.K. Patil. 19. Study of lithnotriptic plants used by the tribals of Khargoan Districts of Madhya Pradesh/S.K. Mahajan and Puspha Patel. 20. Ethno-Veterinary plants used by Halakki Okkaligas of Central Western Ghat Region of Karnataka/P. Ramana, A. Krishna and S. Kannur. 21. Birth control, practice among rural and tribal women of Chattarpur District (M.P)/Amita Arjaria and Anjali Rawat. 22. Dye yielding tree species of Uttar Kannada District of Karnataka/P. Ramana, A. Krishna and S.K. Patil. 23. Tannin yielding tree species of Central Western Ghats region of Karnataka/P. Ramana, A. Krishna and S.K. Patil. VI. Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry: 24. Impact of selected herbals on respiratory ailments in human beings/R. Brindha and Parvathy. 25. Anticonvulsant activity of centella asiatica and bacopa monnieri in animals/S. Sudha, A. Amit and B.V. Venkataraman. 26. Antihelmintic activity of semicarpus cathalekanensis/P. Ramana, S.K. Patil and K.S. Rawat. 27. Latex of Carica Papaya for hepatoprotective, acute and sub-acute toxicity studies in rats/V.P. Rasal, Mahesh Kumbhar, Hussain Jakir and S. Arul Mozhi. 28. Hypoglycaemic, hypolepidimic and antioxidant effect of withania somnifera fruits on Alloxan induced diabetes in experimental rats/R. Udaykumar, A. Ganapathi, R. Saravanan, R. Gopal, M. Sohanabanu and G. Thirupurasundari. 29. Influence of Artimisia pallens wall on experimental wounds in Albino rats/V.P. Rasal, Ajay Ksirsagar, Ras Bagali and Santosh K. Rai. 30. Antifeedant activity of chromolaena odorata on larvae of teak defoliator, hyblaea puera/P. Ramana, S.K. Patil and K.S. Rao. 31. Bioprospecting of indigenous flora of medicinal plants-a glimpse from Bay Islands/T.E. Sheeja, D. Chattopadhyaya, A.B. Mandal and R.B. Rai. 32. Extraction and isolation of furanocoumarins from the seeds of 'Bachi' (Coullen corylifolium L)/C.S. Raghav and Poonam Suneja. VII. Marketing patterns: 33. Demand potentials of medicinal and aromatic crops channelising marketing : an option in national economy/V. Suryanarayana, G.O. Manjunath and S.K. Patil. 34. Utilisation pattern, commercial value and red list categorisation of important indigenous tree species of medicinal importance in Uttar Kannada of Western Ghats/G.O. Manjunath, V. Suryanarayana, S.K. Patil and V.M. Dabaer. 35. Marketing of selected NTFP's : a case study of Sirsi and Siddapur Talukas of Uttar Kannada District, Karnataka/A. Krishna and P. Ramana. VIII. Biotechnology: 36. In vitro propagation of coleus forskohlii- a threatened medicinal plants/T.S. Mahendran and P. Sampath. 37. Tissue culture of stevia rebaudiana: a potent medicinal plant for 'Diabetes Tea'/T.K. Mondal and S. Parathiraj. 38. Allelopathic effects of different multipurpose tree species leaf leachates on seed germination of aromatic and medicinal plants/G.O. Manjunath, A. Krishna, V. Suryanarayana and S.K. Patil. 39. Biocomposting or organic waste and its effect on Shankpushpi and Palmarosa/Varsha Bhargava and Seema Bhadauria. Subject Index.

""There is no man on this earth who is incompetent and there is no plant which is of no medicinal use. Where everything is present, infact, a man to manage them properly is seldom available". During the past decade, demand for medicinal plants and its products as well as traditional health system attracted the worldwide interest. India, being the Botanical Garden and Treasure house of biodiversity with its diverse ecological conditions, rich ethnic diversity and a strong traditional knowledge base, accounts for 45000 plant species, out of which more than 8000 species are used in some 10000 herbal drug formulations. Ninety percent of the herbal industry's requirement is taken out from the forests, resulting into their destruction. There is no reliable assessment to the volume or value of the herb-related trade in India, but the conservatives put the quantity of dry raw material collected at 0.5 million tons each years. The global plant based drug is projected between US$30 and 60 billion with a 7% annual growth rate but, India has only a 2.5% share in it. Even so, there is a positive realization that the demand is fast outstripping supply, putting an unreasonable pressure on our wild phytoresources. This has already placed certain species at risk and other will soon follow, if immediate corrective measures are not taken. Conservation of medicinal plants has to be viewed not as an end it itself but as a means to enhance' the conservation and cultivation of our precious biowealth for sustainable utilization an in ensuring equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of biodiversity. Our knowledge about the aforesaid is still inadequate and needs further extensive and intensive investigations, so as we have full spectrum at hand. This edited book, containing most of the aspects related with medicinal plants, would provide a compiled literature on biodiversity, agro technique, pathological problems, indigenous knowledge base, pharmacology, photochemistry, biotechnology and marketing patterns etc. which be really useful for growers, technologists and industry people involved in medicinal plant research." (jacket)