Indian Medicinal Plants

The book discusses the medicinal properties of plants such as, Bacopa monnieri, Centella asiatica, Rubia cordifolia, Hemidesmus indicus and Phyllanthus amarus. These plants have several therapeutic uses and are indigenous to India. They have immense value since ancient times and are still used in Ayurvedic preparations and hence in demand in the herbal market. The book describes in-vitro cultures which were established using various explants. It further discusses various analytic techniques such as Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) & High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) which were exploited during the course of study of these plant extracts. Description of animal study techniques, acute toxicity on Swiss mice and efficacy studies of Phyllanthus amarus and Andrographis paniculata extracts on Albino Wistar rats with damaged liver as well as screening of hepatoprotective activity of pure phyllanthin are part of this book. The study also explains standardizing protocol using Carbon Tetrachloride as a chemical hepatotoxicant on Albino Wistar rats.