Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants (Fixed Oils and Fats) (ePub)

The recent progress in medicinal plants, volume 33 is focused on the most comprehensive scientific material about fixed oils and fats of contemporary pharmaceutical importance. Fixed oils and fats are important not only from the nutritional viewpoint, but also in terms of their medicinal or pharmacological properties. This volume aims to describe those important fixed oils and fats in an organized approach. Its contributors are from 13 countries namely Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Portugal and Spain. This volume is divided into 17 chapters. The first general chapter embraces all the major and minor constituents of fixed oils and fats, their isolation, refining, processing, physic-chemical, analytical, nutritional and medicinal properties; followed by comprehensive monographs of pharmaceutically important fixed oils and fats from nature. Then it states the use of fixed oils in injectables. The next chapters individually elaborate the medicinal and health beneficiary properties of important fixed oils. Three chapters deal with fixed oils and fats of specific properties and usage namely antimicrobial, nutraceutical and cosmetics. Role of fixed oils and fats in human physiology as well as in prevention of certain diseases are discussed in two chapters. The health effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the medicinal properties of fish oils are explicated in two chapters. A chapter details the adulteration and evaluation methods of medicinal fixed oils and fats. The facts and findings presented in this volume would serve as basic as well as applied scientific material for further studies in developing newer and effective drugs, nutraceuticals, cosmetics and pharmaceutical recipients from fixed oils and fats. This special volume is designed for professionals of health sciences, food technology, nutrition, dietetics, pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, agriculture, botany, medicine, therapeutics, traditional medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, herbalist, medical and public health sciences, healthcare professionals of other various disciplines, policy-makers and marketing and economic strategists. It is addressed to undergraduates, post-graduates, teachers and researchers.