Nature is a unique source of structures of high phytochemical diversity, many of them possessing interesting biological activities and medicinal properties. In the context of the worldwide spread of different diseases such as AIDS, chronic diseases and a variety of cancers, an intensive search for new lead compounds for the development of novel pharmacological therapeutics is extremely important. Medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety of drugs and, therefore, such plants should be investigated to understand better about their properties. Based on this rational, the present volume, Bioactive Phytochemicals: Perspectives for Modern Medicine , Vol. 2 presents edited information on 24 research and review communications received from eminent scientists from Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria and Turkey and includes topics like- Alkaloids and Flavonoids: Versatile and Novel Bioactive Natural Products; Tumor and its Environment: Efforts by Neem Leaf Glycoprotein to Keep it Green; Betulinic Acid and its Derivatives: The Potential Anticancer Agents; Biological Activities and Phytochemicals of the Fruits of Vitex Plants; Bioactive Bibenzyls and Bis(bibenzyls)s from Bryophytes; The Hope for Potential Bioactive Phytoconstituents from Heterophragma Genus; Modulatory Efficacy of Capsaicin on Polyamine Content, DNA, RNA Levels and DNA Damage During Experimental Lung Cancer; An Insight into Therapeutic Potentials of Imidazole Moiety with Special Reference to Alkaloids from Natural Sources; Podophyllotoxin-A Second Generation Anticancer Drug; Phytopharmacological Review on Calophyllum inophyllum; L-DOPA, an Anti Parkinsonian Agent from Mucuna pruriens; Biologic Effectiveness and Recent Advancing of Natural Products on the Discovery of Anticancer Agents; The Current Status on Imperative Medicinal Plant: Catharanthus roseus; Endophytic Fungi: Novel and Potential Source of Bioactive Natural Products; Importance of Cichorium Species: Insight into the Wide Range of Biological Activities and Phytochemical Ingredients; Phytochemical Characterization and Pharmacological Profiling of Picroliv-An Overview; Pharmacognosy of Aspilia africana Plant: Phytochemistry and Activities; Phytochemical Composition and In vitro Anti-oxidant Property of Various Extract of Elsholtzia communis; Lignoids of Burseraceae; Antioxidant Activity of Amazon Fruits; Phytochemical Analysis of Bioactive Constituents in Coriandrum sativum Seeds; Utilization of Cyclodextrin and its Derivatives in Novel Delivery of Herbal Constituents and Bioactives; Bauhinia variegata: A Review of its Traditional Uses, Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Analysis; Embelin- A Lead Molecule for the Future. This volume, with its balanced approach will be a valuable and important research manual, that will stimulate interest and hoped this serial book will attract the attention of scientific community particularly of phytochemists, biochemists, pharmacologists, ethnopharmacologists, ethnobotanists, and others engaged in the natural products research.
