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‘Biochemistry and Therapeutic Applications of Medicinal Herbs’ focus on the latest developments in biomedical research with special emphasis on natural products. Covering a wide variety of topics, this book is a valuable source of information for all those interested in the biochemical and therapeutical use of herbal medicines. For us it was a daunting task and a challenge to condense, organize and present all available information in the field, especially at the time when there is an explosion of progress, since advancement of technology has taken place. There is a paradox in the growth of scientific knowledge. As information accumulates in ever more intimidating quantities, disconnected facts and impenetrable mysteries give way to rational explanations and simplicity emerges from chaos. Gradually the essential principles of a subject come into focus. With rapid advancements and development of new techniques of analysis at the biochemical and molecular level many new compounds are being identified, isolated and characterized and are being explored for their medicinal value.

This book consists of original or review articles, provides an update and unique source of information for all those interested in the fundamental, biochemical processes of the latest and emerging topics and techniques concerned with the therapeutic uses of medicinal plants. Although we assume that most readers have at least an introductory knowledge of role of plants in medicine, yet we have attempted to compile and edit the invited chapters written by subject experts in a way that even a stranger to this field could easily understand and comprehend. Moreover, we hope that it will also be useful to working scientists in search of a guide to help them pick their way through a vast field of knowledge.