Herbal Constituents. Foundations of Phytochemistry

Herbal Constituents is a unique addition to the botanical medicine literature. Written in a down-to-Earth style by a traditional herbalist with extensive training in chemistry and botany, this book is designed for anyone who wants an in-depth understanding of how medicinal plants work. Herbal Constituents presents the most important concepts and research on phytochemical compounds in medicinal plants.

In a clear, step-by-step fashion, the reader is first introduced to the basic language of phytochemical structure including bonding, polarity, functional groups, isomers, and more. This non-mathematical presentation distills the information that is important for understanding the personalities and activities of constituents in medicinal herbs.

The next chapters address areas of concern for the botanical practitioner including solubility and extraction of herbal constituents, solvent polarity and other influences on solubility, phytochemical stability and reactivity in extracts, synergy and variability in herbs and formulas, and the role of standardization.

After a concise and well-organized outline of herbal constituents, the book presents a detailed and thoroughly referenced chapter for each of the major categories. Each chapter contains numerous illustrations and explanations of the botanical occurrence and physiological activities of the constituents, and is based on up-to-date research considered in the context of traditional usage.

Finally, Herbal Constituents offers an extensive illustrated glossary with some 250 entries that will be helpful for those needing to review some of the most relevant concepts and terminology from organic and biochemistry.