Book Description:
Plants have been the main source of medicines since ancient times. Practically all human societies have utilized plants not only as sources of nutrition but also as therapy against diseases and ailments. Considering the fact that the synthesis of a pharmaceutical requires an enormous investment of research and money, the discovery of useful medicinal plants which have been used for millennia is very appealing. This book examines Scutellaria baicalensis, one of the most widely used medicinal plants whose roots have been used for anti-inflammation, anticancer, decreasing blood pressures, reducing the total cholesterol level and treating bacterial and viral infections. The pharmacological, toxicological reports and clinical applications of B-carotene, an organic compound abundant in plants and fruits, is also explored. Furthermore, diabetes is a metabolic syndrome resulting from low levels of insulin. This book focuses on recent examples of traditional medicines and foods that have been validated by scientific evaluation as having promising activity for the prevention and/or treatment of diabetes. Other chapters in this book describe compounds found in some plants that have been tested in different bioassays and showed anti-mycobacterial activity, the advantages of the novel quality control near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) tool in medicinal plant analysis, and a quantitative analysis of polysaccharides from medicinal plants and fungi.

Table of Contents:
Preface

Biological Effects of β -carotene;pp. 1-47
(Rosa Martha Perez Gutierrez, Adriana Maria Neira Gonzalez, Sandra Lugardo Diaz, Nancy Alonso Carrillo, Laboratorio de Investigación de Productos Naturales, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Química e Industrias extractivas IPN, Av. Otón de Mendizábal S/N, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Mexico D.F.)

Native Medicinal Plants used in the Ethnomedicine of the Córdoba Hills in Central Argentina: Relevance and Interest for Primary Health Care and Conservation;pp. 49-96
(Gustavo J. Martínez, Mara Sato, Marta Ojeda,Dr. en Cs. Agropecuarias, Investigador Conicet, Equipo de Etnobiología. Museo de Antropología, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Hipólito Irigoyen, Córdoba, Argentina, and others)

Gastroprotective Triterpenoids: Pharmacological Mechanism;pp. 97-138
(Aracely E. Chávez-Piña, Andrés Navarrete, Facultad de Química, Departamento de Farmacia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México)

Biosyntheses and Bioactivities of Flavonoids in the Medicinal Plant Scutellaria Baicalensis;pp. 139-166
(Hua-Bin Li, Dan Li, Ren-You Ga, Feng-Lin Song, Lei Kuang, Feng Che, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, and others)

Management of Diabetes with Diet and Plant-Derived Drugs;pp. 167-187
(Vandana Gulati, Ian H. Harding, Enzo A. Palombo, Environment and Biotechnology Centre, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia)

Biomolecules with Anti-Mycobacterial Activity;pp. 189-201
(Jorge Castro-Garza, Delia E. Cruz-Vega, Ma. Teresa González-Garza, División de Biología Celular y Molecular, CIBIN, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), Monterrey, N.L., México, and others)

Metal Concentrations in Taiwanese Health Food, Angelica Keiskei, Other Products and Maximum Daily Intake;pp. 203-216
(Chien-Yi Chen, School of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China)

Pharmacologic study of some plant species from the Brazilian Northeast: Calotropis procera, Agava sisalana, Solanum paludosum, Dioscorea cayenensis and Crotalaria Retusa;pp. 217-242
(Silvânia Maria Mendes Vasconcelos, José Eduardo Ribeiro Honório Júnior, Rita Neuma Dantas Cavalcante de Abreu, Márcia Calheiros Chaves Silva, José Maria Barbosa Filho, Rodrigo de Freitas Guimarães Lobato, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Laboratório de Neuropsicofarmacologia)

Ethnobotany and Experimental Pharmacology of Echinodorus Grandiflorus (chapéu de couro);pp. 243-254
(Sônia Sin Singer Brugiolo, Luciana Valente Borges, Daniel Sales Pimenta, Alessa Sin Singer Brugiolo, Vera Maria Peters, Martha de Oliveira Guerra, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil)

Non-Invasive Near Infrared Spectroscopic Techniques for the Characterization of Medicinal Plants and their Constituents;pp. 255-273
(C.W. Huck, G.K. Bonn, Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, Leopold-Franzens University, Austria)

What is the Future of Phytotherapy? A Commentary;pp. 275-278
(Paolo Sossai, Department of Medicine - General Hospital, Viale Comandino,70, I - 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy)

Quality Control of Polysaccharides From Medicinal Plants and Fungi;pp. 279-313
(Jia Guan, Shao-Ping Li, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, Univ. of Macau, Taipa, Macao SAR, China)

Medicinal Plants: A Tool to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance?;pp. 315-336
(Philippe N. Okusa, Caroline Stevigny and Pierre Duez, Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie, de Bromatologie et de Nutrition Humaine, Institut de Pharmacie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgique)

Index