Synopsis World population is nearing 5 billion and with this rate of growth it is likely to touch 7.5 billion by the year 2020.  Global estimates indicate that over 3/4th of the five billion world population cannot afford the products of the western pharmaceutical industry and have to rely upon the use of traditional medicines, which are mainly derived from plants. Derived from plants.  As a part of strategy to reduce financial burden on developing countries which spend 40-50% of their total health budget on drugs, W.H.O. currently encourages, recommends and promotes the inclusion of herbal drugs in national health care programems because such drugs are easily available at a price within the reach of a common man and as such are time tested and thus considered to be much safter than the modern synthetic drugs.  Sensing this demand, the material of this book has been compiled to help the scientists to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments.  This book will cater to the immediate needs of the students, researchers, faculty members and pharmaceutical industries in India and abroad.