This is the ninth in a series of books on medicinal and aromatic plants dealing with biotechnology developments in producing in vitro and tissue culture production of secondary metabolites. With the increased popularity for herbs and phytomedicines and growing demand for botanical materials, new interest is being focused on sustainable methods of agriculture and biotechnical production of both the medicinal plants and, in some cases, the actual enhanced yields of their specific chemical compounds. Although this present volume deals only with in vitro (in a laboratory environment) production of specific plants, the research that it represents might be useful for future development of specific compound or group of compounds for food, flavor, or pharmaceutical use, or for production of higher quality strains of the plants themselves on a large-scale agricultural basis.

The book consists of 24 chapters, each dealing with the studies, protocols, and references on specific plants and key compounds within each species. Included in this group of plants are Anthemis nobilis (Roman chamomile), Catha edulis (Khat), Catharanthus roseus (Syn. Vinca Rosea; Madgascar Periwinkle), Mentha spp. (Mints), Paeonia spp. (Peony), and Portulaca spp. (Purslane), among numerous others. Other important medicinal and aromatic plants have been reviewed in previous volumes in this series. This book is highly technical and is designed for research scientists involved with tissue culture research and development.

Article copyright American Botanical Council.

~~~~~~~~

By Mark Blumenthal