Preface

The extinction of plant species is progressively taking place due to their being trapped in the vicious circle of ever-increasing industrialization, deforestation, global warming, climate change and also unscrupulous human activities. This has led to many species being listed in the Red Data Book or /in the various threat categories of IUCN. Of the total 3000 medicinal plants reported from India, over 1700 species of medicinal value are found in the Indian Himalayan region; nearly 47% are endemic to this region and about 62 species fall under different categories of threat. The situation warrants the acceleration of efforts to develop methods for germplasm preservation. The importance and applications of plant cell and tissue culture in plant science are vast and varied. The last few years of our research investigations have led to the emergence of this technique. Utilizing the biotechnological tools, many tissue culture protocols have been developed for rapid and mass multiplication of valuable medicinal plants to increase planting stock so as to meet the market demand. The rapid increase in knowledge of nutrition, medicine, agriculture, and plant biotechnologies has effectively changed the concept of food and health causing an overwhelming revolution.

India is known for its diverse climatic zones which are habituated of diverse flora having medicinal value, thus there is a wide scope for India to lead global herbal market. The National Medicinal Plant Board of India has recognized more than 7000 medicinal plants, which are currently used in different systems of medicines. The Ayurveda market in India has been valued at INR 300 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach INR 710 billion by 2024. Plants are active biochemical factories of a vast group of secondary metabolites which are indeed the basic source of various commercial pharmaceutical drugs. There are possibilities for year round production of biomass with reduced cost and time. Elicitation and precursor feeding are two important strategies of the in-vitro techniques to enhance metabolite production to meet the demands of mankind. Utilization of the existing genetics resources and understanding the biosynthesis, transport, accumulation and modulation of important secondary metabolites are critical issues linked to its improvement.

Overall, the rapid propagation of elite plants will provide high dividends to farmers and the associated herbal industry.

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the fundamental principles, current practices and trends in the field of pharmaceutical industry and provides baseline data for further research in the field. We are grateful to all the contributors and hope the book will be beneficial to students, researchers, scientists and other concerned stake holders who are working in the respective fields. MA acknowledges the much needed moral support of his wife, Humera Anis. We would also like to place on record our sincere thanks to Mr. Mohammad Zohaib Siddiqui for preparing the layout of the contents.

The cooperation and help received from Bentham Science Publishers is duly appreciated.