With a history as ancient as any cultivated fruit, many believe the fig has been with us even longer than the pomegranate. The Ficus constitutes one of the largest and hardiest genera of flowering plants featuring as many as 750 species. Although the extraordinary mutualism between figs and their pollinating wasps has received much attention, the phylogeny of both partners is only beginning to be reconstructed. The fig plant does have a long history of traditional use as a medicine and has been a subject of significant modern research. Figs, the Genus Ficus brings together those histories, ancient and modern, to present an extraordinary profile of an extraordinary plant with an abundance of medical uses and a reputation as both a delicacy and a diet staple in some regions of the world. Several chapters within the book are devoted to intensive study of different parts of the tree: fruits, leaves, bark and stem, roots, and latex. These chapters discuss the Ficus genus as a whole, including the botany of the most important species that have been related to that particular part pharmacologically. The authors, Dr. Ephraim Lansky MD, highly respected as one of the world's only physician pharmcognocists and Dr. Helena Paavilainen, a renowned researcher of natural products, go on to consider the chemistry and pharmacology of each part in selected Ficus species, and modern, medieval, and ancient methods for obtaining and preparing the beneficial components from that plant part for medicinal use. Special attention is paid to the plants' propensity for fighting inflammation, including cancer. Figs' future potential is considered in a number of treatments, as are future areas of research. Includes a wealth of comparative tables for quick reference Provides dozens of illustrative and original high-quality photos as well as drawings and chemical structures Offers complete references after every chapter Figs, the Genus Ficus is a book in the CRC Press Series, Traditional Herbal Medicines for Modern Times, edited by Roland Hardman. Each volume in this series provides academia, health sciences, and the herbal medicines industry with in-depth coverage of the herbal remedies for infectious diseases, certain medical conditions, or the plant medicines of a particular country. Figs, the Ficus trees, are an understudied genus in modern pharmacognosy. This book present a multidisciplinary approach to the botany, chemistry, and pharmacology of fig trees and figs of the Ficus species, including the fig of commerce, Ficus carica, the rubber tree, Ficus elastic, and the Bo tree, Ficus religiosa. Traditional and current uses of figs in medicine are discussed in detail. The book also explores how figs and fig tree parts are processed, and the pharmacological basis underlying the potential efficacy of preparations is investigated in relation to their chemical composition. The book moves seamlessly from mythology to botany to ethnomedicine to pharmacology to phytochemistry.

Caper: The Genus Capparis presents a pharmacognostic and ethnopharmacological exploration of the genus Capparis, emphasizing its medicinal potential. There is a long history of safe usage of Capparis parts both in diet and as plant drugs throughout the world, and the details of this usage are summarized in 39 tables covering numerous Capparis species. This detailed survey of historical and traditional medical uses of capers provides a forum for the integration of ethnomedicine and modern pharmacology. This book tracks the use of the genus Capparis from the present position of caper fruit and its flowers as a niche culinary article of economic importance, to ancient times and its use in traditional medicine of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Section I covers the various classes of compounds found in Capparis that hold potential for being physiologically and medically active, including alkaloids, flavonoids, vitamins, and proteins and amino acids. Section II examines therapeutic uses for Capparis species for medical conditions such as inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, pain and fever, cancer, infections and infestations, hypertension, and more. The authors balance the role of this plant in mythological and religious thinking with advances in modern chemical and pharmacological research. Coverage of ethnomedical usage leads to practical discussions of how the unique evolution of the genus Capparis impacts present and future applications of the different species for medicine and therapeutic nutrition. Providing chemical and pharmacological reviews to an extent not previously undertaken, this book will serve as a firm basis for scientists interested in conducting research on this novel source of safe phytoceutical agents.

Harmal: The Genus Peganum is an in-depth treatment of one of the most commanding plants in the botanical kingdom. Humble in appearance, modest in its needs, Peganum harmala has been venerated for millennia as a Deity-manifesting entheogen and a powerful medicine. This book traverses harmal's medicinal chemistry, its possible role in the origins of religion, and its employment from ancient times to the present in the therapy of patients suffering from infections, infestations, metabolic derangements, neurological degeneration, visual weakness, and cancer. Its peculiar indolic compounds, known as harmala alkaloids, are now appreciated as exerting profound effects on the mind and on the body. These effects are the result of the alkaloids' interactions with, and binding to, serotonin receptors on the cell surfaces of neurons in the brain and lymphocytes in the blood, the latter constituting the diffuse structural basis of the immune system. This biphasic modulation by harmala alkaloids has led to a novel pharmacologic re-visioning presented herein for the first time, the concept of a "lymphoneuric syncytium" and its possible long term tuning via "somatodelic" as well as "psychedelic" effects. The scientific rationale underlying the use of harmal in the medicines of the past and the healing technologies of our future is developed through exhaustive and meticulous explorations in both ethnopharmacology and modern phytochemistry. The presentation is enhanced through appraisals of the effects of harmal in two clinical cancer case scenarios, and of intentional inebriation and "provings" by one of the authors and a psychiatric colleague. The noted and esteemed botanically-trained physician Dr. Andrew Weil states in his Preface that this "monumental" volume will become the standard reference work in the field. Harmal: The Genus Peganum will be an invaluable addition to the personal libraries of professional pharmacognosists, botanists, physicians, psychologists, neuroscientists, and all persons interested in the interrelationship of consciousness, medicine, and coevolution.

Acacias: The Genus Acacia (sensu lato) is an evidence-based treatment of this super genus, through the eyes of a clinical pharmacognosist and integrative medicine specialist. The book begins with antiviral activity, revealing within the five genera of Acacia s.l., pharmacological properties and pharmacologically active compounds. Profiles of prominent species within these genera, including photographs, accompany the narrative of current research and traditional usage into antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, antidiabetic, metabolic syndrome ameliorative, and psychotherapeutic potential. Features: Comprehensive treatment of the entire Acacia sensu lato genus. Aids ethnopharmacological prospectors of new sources of novel botanically-based medicines for modern metabolic and psychiatric diseases. Illuminates the presence of psychedelic simple substituted tryptamines in trees and their medical and psychotherapeutic potential. Acacias: The Genus Acacia (sensu lato) provides a unique and comprehensive coverage of one of the most interesting and diverse genera of trees, firmly entrenched in the Levant, Africa, Australia, the Far East, and the New World. The influence of these genera on pharmacy and industry (especially through gum arabic, wildcrafted in Africa from Senigallia senigallia), human consciousness, the advent and development of religions, planetary ecology, botanical therapeutics, and the emergence of psychedelic medicine reflects both the history of our species and the transformative promise of tomorrow.

Caper: The Genus Capparis presents a pharmacognostic and ethnopharmacological exploration of the genus Capparis, emphasizing its medicinal potential. There is a long history of safe usage of Capparis parts both in diet and as plant drugs throughout the world, and the details of this usage are summarized in 39 tables covering numerous Capparis species. This detailed survey of historical and traditional medical uses of capers provides a forum for the integration of ethnomedicine and modern pharmacology. This book tracks the use of the genus Capparis from the present position of caper fruit and its flowers as a niche culinary article of economic importance, to ancient times and its use in traditional medicine of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Section I covers the various classes of compounds found in Capparis that hold potential for being physiologically and medically active, including alkaloids, flavonoids, vitamins, and proteins and amino acids. Section II examines therapeutic uses for Capparis species for medical conditions such as inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, pain and fever, cancer, infections and infestations, hypertension, and more. The authors balance the role of this plant in mythological and religious thinking with advances in modern chemical and pharmacological research. Coverage of ethnomedical usage leads to practical discussions of how the unique evolution of the genus Capparis impacts present and future applications of the different species for medicine and therapeutic nutrition. Providing chemical and pharmacological reviews to an extent not previously undertaken, this book will serve as a firm basis for scientists interested in conducting research on this novel source of safe phytoceutical agents.