Medicinal Spices and Herbs from India

Indian spices are known for their tremendous advantages, both as medicines as well as in cuisine. This two-volume book, Medicinal Spices and Herbs from India, has been structured to provide detailed information about the pharmacological and therapeutic benefits of traditional and exotic Indian spices grown on Indian soil and available across geographical boundaries.

Volume 1: Introduction, Therapeutic Properties, and Commercial Products has been divided into four segments, beginning with an introduction to the history of use of spices in Indian culture. The book goes on to discuss the influence of geographical location and climatic variation, processing conditions for extraction of active principles from Indian spices, medicinal uses of traditional spices, etc. It also explores the therapeutic properties and molecular mechanisms of exotic Indian spices used as medicine in the treatment of cancer, inflammation, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, brain and cognitive function, cardiovascular diseases, skin diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, bacterial infections, and other pathological conditions. The application of Indian spices in dairy products and beverages and modern herbal formulations of Indian spices, essential oils and aromatic waters have also been discussed. The molecular mechanisms of some exotic Indian spices used as medicine have been detailed in this book as well.

Volume 2: Beneficial Health Effects of 20 Exotic Spices focuses on individual spices and their uses in treating various diseases. In particular, the volume explores the impacts and uses of black cumin, celery, black stone flowers, chili pepper, Asian spider flower, alkanet, kapok tree, pomegranate, asafoetida, fenugreek, cardamom, Indian sandalwood, musk, and more. Exploring each herb in detail, the book provides both new information as well as reinforces existing knowledge regarding these spices, adding to the knowledge about these exotic Indian spices in the field of medicine.

Covering a range of topics on exotic Indian spices, this two-volume book will prove extremely beneficial to researchers in the field of pharmacy, botany, agricultural sciences, food science, dietetics, and culinary science.