Herbal Technology: Concepts & Approaches

This is the first comprehensive book codifying the principles on the concepts, trends and various aspects of this exciting and recent branch of Botany. Herbal technology encompasses all the myriads of ways of utilizing the multifarious potentialities of plants for human welfare. There are presently five main branches such as Medicinal plants, Natural dyes, Biopesticides, Biofertilizers and Biofuel in this discipline, though more and more may be added later. Since all the ways of utilizing plants and plant products are based n the chemical diversity of the pat, a comprehensive treatise on Photochemistry is given in he beginning. In the chapter on Medicinal plants emphasis is on the correct botanical identity, name changes, biomarkers, active principles, cultivation, extraction, formulations, Aromatherapy, herbal Cosmetics, Herbal Veterinary medicine, Antioxidant therapy, metabolomics and TKDL. Natural dyes deals with the botany, chemistry and uses of about 150 plants which yield them. Also dealt with are colors for food and pharmaceutical preparations, in cosmetics like face powder and lipsticks, in paints and for painting. Biopesticides contain more than 300 plants in terms of their pesticidal principles and utilities and the preparation of extracts of as many as 40 plants. The fifth chapter is on Biofertilizers wherein emphasis is on soil microbes including nitrogen fixing bacteria, cyanobacteria, phosphate solubilising microorganisms and vascular arbuscular mycorrhizae. Biofuel, the last chapter, delves on the various alternate sources of fuels such as petrocrops, biocrude, liquid resins, vetetable oils and plant of methyl esters, biogas, alcohols and biological hydrogen. This book is just a beginning in this direction. Each of the topics is designed in such a way to rouse the curiosity of the student/reader and a conscientious worker can add many different dimensions in every topic. It is hoped that the subject of herbal technology will find a place in the curricula of graduate and post-graduate classes, will initiate a great deal of interest in the scientific community and will lead to many research programmes in each of the topics, be that Biopesticides or Biofuel.