From the introduction: Plant based drugs are being increasingly used in recent times all over the world. However their standardization has become a matter of great concern in getting a wider acceptance for them. Further non availability of genuine Phytochemical Reference Standards (PRS) puts a serious limitation in the process of standardization. For this purpose the concerned stakeholders would be in need of the detailed procedure of isolation of PRS with all spectral data needed for their correct identification and characterization.

To address this Medicinal Plants unit of the Indian Council of Medical Research has initiated a programme for generation of PRS for some frequently used Indian medicinal plants. Under this programme, simple procedure for isolation of the PRS has been adopted making appropriate modifications in the method reported in the literature. The quantification of PRS in the plant part used was also meticulously carried out. Special emphasis has been laid on complete characterization of the PRS by recording the physico-chemical and spectral data. Extensive use of spectral methods like UV-VIS, IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy have been made for this purpose. Incorporation of the original spectra and their interpretation was also thought to be useful for the stakeholders. Besides this a comprehensive literature search was carried out and all other chemical constituents are listed to give a clear idea about the complexity of the extract. Illustrations of chromatographic fingerprinting of the plant extract with the isolated PRS using TLC and HPLC have been given. The profiling by gas chromatography was also carried out for the volatile PRS.

Contents: Vol. 2: Foreword. Preface. Introduction. Monographs: 1. Amarogentin. 2. Arjunetin. 3. Arjungenin. 4. Asclepin. 5. Asiatic acid. 6. Bacopaside X. 7. Bacoside A3. 8. Bacosine. 9. Bassic acid. 10. Betaine. 11. Capsaicin. 12. Echinocystic acid. 13. Galangin. 14. Genistein. 15. 6-Gingerol. 16. Hayatin. 17. Hecogenin. 18. Hederagenin. 19. Hesperidin. 20. Indican. 21. Malkanguniol. 22. Naringin. 23. Neriifolin. 24. Parkinsonin A. 25. 6-Shogaol. 26. Tecoside. 27. Valerenic acid. 28. Voacangine. 29. Withanolide A. 30. Withanoside IV. Appendices. Indices.