A Textbook Of Pharmacognosy

 Pharmacognosy is a highly inter-disciplinary science involving various subjects but quite closely related to botany. This book provides in-depth knowledge about natural sources of drugs, their chemical and pharmacological properties, and their applications. It emphasizes on basic principles of traditional medicines and their association to current drug development. The book will help students, as well as readers, understand various aspects such as the history and scope of pharmacognosy, different sources of drugs and its classification, drug adulteration, identification tests of drugs, and different therapeutic areas where drugs of natural origin play a vital role and have been used extensively by health care practitioners. Pharmacognosy occupies an important place in modern pharmacy as it deals with collection, identification, microscopy, preparation, and methods of extraction of active constituents from plants. All those who desire to know the significance and application of plants in the herbal drug industry may find this book quite informative and useful. The concept of this book is a critical resource for students in the fields of pharmacognosy, pharmacy, biotechnology, bioanalytical science, botany, herbal sciences, and life sciences. We earnestly believe that my sincere efforts in compiling the vast knowledge of pharmacognosy have been congregated in the form of well-structured, concise chapters with figures and tables wherever necessary, and will be beneficial to the students.