There are an enormous number of traditional drugs associated with a vast empirical knowledge concerning their clinical use, but lacking modern investigation. This area appears to be promising for the future development of novel therapeutic agents. Albizzia lebbeck known as sirisha is being used in traditional medicine. It is reported to possess anti-asthmatic and anti-anaphylactic, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial activities. The present study is on the antioxidant activity of A. lebbeck and its role in the prevention of hepatotoxicity. A. lebbeck seems to be a promising plant in respect to its antioxidant potential and possibility of developing a dietary oral supplement containing this extract or its active principle.

Isabgol or Blond Psyllium (Plantago ovata Forsk.) is a winter season medicinal plant. It belongs to family Plantaginaceae and genus Plantago.In recent years, demand of isabgol has increased in the western countries and it is traded in major medicinal drug market of the world. The productivity of Isabgol is very low. The limited existing genetic variability is the major bottleneck for the improvement of the crop and because of small size and closely borne florets, artificial hybridization is difficult for inducing the variability. So the present investigation was carried out to estimate the induced variability, efficiency and effectiveness of physical mutagen and to isolate desirable mutants in M2 and M3 generation of Isabgol. Variety R1-89 of isabgol was treated with 9 doses of gamma rays (15 kR - 135 kR with an interval of 15 kR) and studied the M1, M2 and M3 generations for mutagenic variability and efficient and effective dose of gamma rays.

India is the largest producer of milk with a share of 14.5 per cent of the total world's milk production. Dairy cooperatives have played an important role to improve the economy of milk producers' in different regions of the country. It has not only provided organized network of milk marketing to the rural households, but also provided the crucial technical inputs like provision of artificial insemination, health services and feed inputs. Thus, considering the significant role of dairy cooperatives in socio-economic development of rural economy, an attempt been made to assess the impact of dairy cooperatives in this book. In order to assess the impact of dairy cooperatives on the overall economy of rural households, socio-economic parameters such as production, consumption, marketed surplus of milk, cost of milk production, income and employment were taken into account. All these parameters were explained with the help of tabular and functional analysis. The subject matter has been presented in simple language. This book can serve as a good reference material for the students, teachers/scientists, researchers, policy makers, staff of agricultural economics and dairy economics.

The quality of the final product especially with respect to the content of uniformity is primarily determined by homogenicity of mixture. Validation of process has become mandatory in U.S. as per GMP regulations and also by a court action of 1993. Present study involves validation of mixing, drying and compression process for the manufacturing of Paracetamol Tablet I.P.(500 mg) Paracetamol was mixed with starch in a mass mixer as per the developed formula. Samples were withdrawn from predetermined locations in the mixer at different time intervals 4 to 16 min and assayed spectrophotometrically. The dried granules were mixed with lubricants consisting of Talcum, Magnesium Stearate and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. The samples were withdrawn from different predetermined locations and assayed for Paracetamol content. From analysis of data that 10 min was found to be optimum mixing time during mixing process. Time required for 3 Kg of material was 29 to 30 minutes for drying studies and different compression parameters were comply with requirements of I.P. 96. Self developed software Pro-Vali was found to be useful in process validation studies.

In present work an attempt has been made to improve to the therapeutic efficacy, systemic absorption of drug and patient compliance by developing extended release matrix tablet formulations of diltiazem HCl (DIL) and verapamil HCL (VER). DIL and VER matrix tablet formulations were prepared by direct compression by using various combination of HPMC K15M CR and Eudragit RSPO polymer. A full factorial design was applied to systematically optimize drug release profile. For optimization study and data analysis software OPTI - STAT was developed. The optimized formulations shows regression value for Higuchi kinetics indicated the diffusion dependence for drug release. Stability trials up to three months displayed excellent reproducibility. In vivo studies were carried out on the optimized batches and CF using new developed HPLC and LC-MS/MS methods A good correlation between the dissolution profiles and bioavailability indicated a linear relationship between in vitro - in vivo data.

A tremendous increase in the knowledge of herbal drug constituents, their effects, and side effects has occurred in recent years. As a result, many herbal products are undergoing a transition from classic herbal to standardized extracts. Alteration in the immune system can be achieved by immonomodulatory agents. Herbal medicines constitute a major component in all traditional and alternate systems of medicines like Siddha, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and native American Medicine.Many medicinal plants are the rich source of substances which are claimed to induce paraimmunity, the non specific immunomodulation of granulocytes, macrophages, natural killer cells, complement and lymphocytes, and also to the production of various effector molecules generated by activated cells.Evaluation of traditionally used medicines, keeping into account the traditional principles that are applied in drug therapy, may provide leads towards effective drug discovery. This work is an attempt to bridge the gap between ancient historical and the recent scientific evaluation of phytomedicines.