There has been a resurgence in usage of herbal medicine in the past few years, not only among the traditional medicine users (ethno-medicine) but also among the modern consumers of herbal products. This is supplemented with all round growth of similar natural products among the nutritional supplements and personal care segments. The question of quality therefore acquires greater importance today than never before. Regulatory agencies and consumer groups on one hand and increasingly stringent quality norms required by GMP guidelines of manufacturers on the other hand, will always continue to demand that herbs used for medicinal, food and cosmetic purposes should be of high standard, reliable quality and free from contaminants. Quantitative testing of botanicals has all along been a difficult and controversial subject due to the complex nature of the active constituents of the botanicals found wild or cultivated in various regions of the world. In general there are no special quantitative assessments for active ingredients for most of the medicinal herbs, except in a few pharmacopoeias for a limited number of plants. While there are some books available on identification, description, pharmacological action, safety aspects etc. of medicinal herbs, very few books can be found on quantitative testing of medicinal herbs. This book fulfills that gap in knowledge-base with detailed, ready to use and validated methods of analysis to be performed in a quality control laboratory. This book will be welcomed by all those who are concerned about the standardization of botanicals as it provides analytical procedures for extracts as well as phytochemicals.
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