Underexplored Medicinal Plants from Sub-Saharan Africa: Plants with Therapeutic Potential for Human Health examines a comprehensive selection of rarely explored plants that have been underestimated for their therapeutic value. The book contains monographs of medicinal plants, outlining their botanical description, geographical distribution, ethnobotanical usage, chemical constituents, sample and standard preparations and methods, and pharmacological properties. With expert contributors from South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Cameroon and Nigeria, and the compilation of ethnobotanical, taxonomic and pharmacologic information for each species, this book is a valuable resource for researchers, academics in pharmacology, ethnopharmacology, medicinal plant sciences, and more. - Explores the therapeutic potential of a comprehensive selection of underexplored and underutilized medicinal plants in sub-Sahara Africa - Provides a summary table of structures of any known natural products, including details of plant source (chapter) and observed activity (e.g. anticancer, antibacterial) - Includes contributions from experts from South African, Mauritius, Seychelles, Cameroon and Nigeria

"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." – Chinese proverb This Chinese proverb simply means: Reading helps strengthen one’s intellect, which correlates with the feeling one will have, once they have read this book. Medicinal Plants in Cosmetics, Health and Disease describes diseases and ailments occurring in individuals worldwide including acne, ageing, various cancers, eczema and other conditions. This book explains each disease and ailment, allowing the reader to gain a better perspective on misunderstood and underestimated assumptions accompanying the ailment or condition. Not only does this book present information on different diseases and ailments, it presents a variety of plants and plant-based compounds demonstrating potential health benefits. Features: Provides details on a broad range of diseases and conditions prevalent throughout the world. Includes information on how plant bioactives can aid in the prevention, treatment and management of diseases and conditions including cancer, tuberculosis and anti-coagulants, acne, wrinkle formation and eczema. Each chapter provides a list of plants and plant-based compounds found globally, demonstrating their potential in treating various diseases and conditions. This book is appropriate for individuals having interest in learning several potential health benefits using bioactives derived from medicinal plants and phytomedicine. About the Editor Namrita Lall is a professor of Medicinal Plant Sciences, DST/ NRF SARCHII Chair in Plant Health Products from IKS, and is based at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. In addition to this, she holds numerous appointments, including an adjunct faculty position at the University of Missouri, JSS College of Pharmacy, India and a senior research fellow at the Bio-Tech R&D Institute, Jamaica. She has an interest in investigating medicinal plants and evaluating their potential for pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical purposes.

Aquatic Plants: Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Applications provides a concise description of popular aquatic plants found across the globe. The chapters in this beautifully illustrated, full-color book focus on the aquatic species native to specific continents. Written by a global team of experts, this book explains the distribution, ethnobotanical uses, genome sequencing, chemical compounds, and biological activity of these plants and addresses the cultivation and sustainable production of aquatic and wetland plants. Features: Describes the biological activity of a large collection of aquatic plants. Color photographs highlight each plant’s ethnobotanical characteristics, and structural formulae show their chemical constituents. Contributions come from leading scientists from countries including the United States, India, Mauritius, South Africa, and Cyprus. Aquatic Plants: Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Applications is a valuable resource for academics conducting research on aquatic plants and for professionals in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries who are involved with the therapeutic applications of these plants and their sustainable usage.

Forests cover thirty-one percent of the world’s land surface, provide habitats for animals, livelihoods for humans, and generate household income in rural areas of developing countries. They also supply other essential amenities, for instance, they filter water, control water runoff, protect soil erosion, regulate climate, store nutrients, and facilitate countless non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The main NTFPs comprise herbs, grasses, climbers, shrubs, and trees used for food, fodder, fuel, beverages, medicine, animals, birds and fish for food, fur, and feathers, as well as their products, like honey, lac, silk, and paper. At present, these products play an important role in the daily life and well-being of millions of people worldwide. Hence the forest and its products are very valuable and often NTFPs are considered as the ‘potential pillars of sustainable forestry’. NTFPs items like food, herbal drugs, forage, fuel-wood, fountain, fibre, bamboo, rattans, leaves, barks, resins, and gums have been continuously used and exploited by humans. Wild edible foods are rich in terms of vitamins, protein, fat, sugars, and minerals. Additionally, some NTFPs are used as important raw materials for pharmaceutical industries. Numerous industry-based NTFPs are now being exported in considerable quantities by developing countries. Accordingly, this sector facilitates employment opportunities in remote rural areas. So, these developments also highlight the role of NTFPs in poverty alleviation in different regions of the world. This book provides a wide spectrum of information on NTFPs, including important references. We hope that the compendium of chapters in this book will be very useful as a reference book for graduate and postgraduate students and researchers in various disciplines of forestry, botany, medical botany, economic botany, ecology, agroforestry, and biology. Additionally, this book should be useful for scientists, experts, and consultants associated with the forestry sector.

This book explores the medicinal (and broadly cultural) use of selected plants, covering 11 species of trees and 12 species of shrubs. Most of these species are native African plants, but some now have worldwide distribution. The description of each species provides details of their botanical characteristics, common names, distribution, traditional medical use, phytochemical characteristics, biological activity and clinical results, culinary usage, and planting and care. The book then proposes unique and original medical usages for these plants. As such, this text is an absolutely essential reference for medical practitioners interested in natural remedies.

This contributed volume provides a comprehensive, in-depth and subject-based reviews on the current status of active ingredients, sustainable use, biodiversity and conservation of certain endangered medicinal plants. The book also explores conventional and non-conventional biotechnological interventions for their biodiversity conservation. Medicinal plants have been used in worldwide as a major source of raw material for the traditional herbal healthcare practices as well as for drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical industry. The cumulative consequences of various human activities and environmental factors cause decline in the biodiversity of medicinal plants at an unprecedented rate worldwide. Thus, the overall understanding of ecology, species and genetic diversity along with assessment of the status of different threats and their impact on medicinal plants is crucial to sustain existing biodiversity, its utilization and conservation. All the latest advancements in the biotechnological approaches for the conservation research of endangered medicinal plants and the future perspectives have been described. This book provides comprehensive reviews spreading over about 25 chapters divided in three sections. The chapters of this book are written by recognized scientists in their respective fields which are useful to students, academicians, researchers, botanists, biotechnologists, policy makers, conservationists and industries interested in biodiversity conservation and medicinal plant research for the production of secondary metabolites.

This text explores the multidisciplinary context of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems from scholars and scholar activists committed to the interrogation, production, articulation, dissemination and general development of endogenous and indigenous modes of intellectual activity and praxis. The work reinforces the demand for the decolonization of the academy and makes the case for a paradigmatic shift in content, subject matter and curriculum in institutions in Africa and elsewhere – with a view to challenging and rejecting disinformation and intellectual servitude. Indigenous intellectual discourses related to diverse disciplines take center stage in this volume with a focus on education, mathematics, medicine, chemistry and engineering in their historical and contemporary context.

Botanists study plants. Ethnologists study ethnic groups including their language. Ethnobotany is an interface between botany and ethnology dealing with the perception of ethnic groups about plant life surrounding them. Language, as the mirror of the mind of speakers, is central in ethnobotanical studies. This work describes the linguistic properties of wild plant names and traditional botanical knowledge among three ethnolingistic groups in northwestern Ethiopia: Awi, Gumuz and Shinasha. The ethnolingistic groups speak Awni (Cushitic), Gumuz (Nilo-Saharan) and Shinasha (Omotic) languages, respectively. The purpose of this study is to document the names and uses of wild plants from three ethnolinguistic communities of Ethiopia: the Awi (A), Gumuz (G), and Shinasha (S) - henceforth AGS. The study also attempts to describe the traditional botanical knowledge (henceforth TBK of these groups in the identification and classification of their plant life.