Indian Herbal Medicines

This book discusses the scope and limitations of the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of foods as medicines or medicinal coadjuvants in traditional Indian herbal therapies.

The first chapter introduces readers to the relevance of the Ayurveda system, its holistic classification approach, applications of selected herbs and the demonstrable efficacy of herbal extracts in terms of antimicrobial susceptibility. In turn, the second chapter discusses the antimicrobial properties and kinetic mechanisms of inhibition ascribed to selected vegetable extracts. The third chapter addresses the antioxidant power of phenolic compounds from vegetable products and herbal extracts. The book closes with a review of natural antioxidant agents’ role in the treatment of metabolic disorders.

Written from an Indian perspective, this book unravels the chemistry of the traditional Indian diet and its impact on health. Further, it can serve as a reference for other traditional products with similar health claims.

Ramesh Kumar Sharma is currently Food Safety Consultant and Scientific Writer, having previously worked as Chemist in various capacities including: Fellow, Science Education Centre, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (1978-79); and as Chief Investigator for UNICEF’s Play Material Project. He is Co-Author (with Salvatore Parisi) of the book ‘Toxins and Contaminants in Indian Food Products’, published by Springer.

Maria Micali is an experienced Author in the field of food science and technology, with a particular focus on chemistry, microbiology and hygiene. Dr. Micali obtained her Ph.D. in Food Hygiene from the University of Messina, Italy. She is also Lecturer in different sectors, including professional training. Her published works include ‘The Chemistry of Thermal Food Processing Procedures’ (2016) and ‘Traceability in the Cheesemaking Field. The Regulatory Ambit and Practical Solutions’ (2016).

Bhupendra Kumar Rana is Seasoned Quality Professional who has worked extensively in healthcare quality and improvement. Dr. Rana obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Over the past 14 years, he has been Pioneer in accreditation standards and is currently the CEO of QAI and an international expert / consultant for the World Health Organization, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID and several Ministries of Health. He has published ten research papers and several book chapters on the antimicrobial properties of plant products and healthcare quality.

Alessandra Pellerito is Biologist who studied at the Universities of Palermo and Bologna, Italy. After a short period spent in the United Kingdom, Dr. Pellerito moved to Germany (Magdeburg). At present, she is working as Food Consultant in the private sector (Italy). She has published articles in the Journal of AOAC International and the book ‘Food Sharing - Chemical Evaluation of Durable Foods’ (Springer).

Rajeev K. Singla works as Assistant Researcher in Institutes for Systems Genetics, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu (Sichuan), China. He has previously worked as Assistant Professor in KR Mangalam University (Gurugram, India). He has obtained his doctorate degree from University of Delhi, India in the field of natural product chemistry. So far, he has published 47 SCI articles with cumulative impact factor of 161. Dr Singla is also Founder and Chief Editor of Indo Global Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (CNKI, and CrossRef linked Journal) & Review Editor of Frontiers in Chemistry and Frontiers in Oncology. He has so far reviewed 249 articles for 43 journals. One of His most recent publications is ‘Analytical Methods for the Assessment of Maillard Reactions in Foods’ (Springer).