Preface Apart from treating ailments, derivatives of plant origin have been used for improving overall well-being by many communities around the world. In contrast to modern medicines, which in general are single compounds, plant derivatives are used as combination of many different compounds, derived at times from different species. These are believed to attack multiple targets, and through different mechanisms for generating a synergistic effect. Plants promoting the feeling of well-being may improve body resistance for tackling physical, chemical or biological stress, or help reducing disorders associated with aging, tiredness or weakness. In recent years, such compounds have been termed as ‘adaptogens’, and are attributed the broad role of initiating biochemical alterations that enhance body’s ability to adapt to unfavourable conditions in both ailing and healthy individuals. In brief, the adaptogens have a prophylactic (tonic or a fortifier) role. The adaptogenic plants are believed to help people handle stress. The exponentially growing information suggests that adaptogens plants have antioxidant, liver protective and antitoxin activities which improve blood sugar metabolism, reduce craving for alcohol and sugar, improve immune resistance, increase energy and stamina, improve muscle tone, induce faster recovery, impart better focus and concentration, reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality, enhance motivation & productivity and elevate mood. The remarkable rise in trade of medicinal plant species is testimony to the growing popularity of bio-molecules. The global market in herbal medicines increased from US $ 12.4 billion in 1994 to US $ 62 billion in 2005. Interestingly, the top ten selling herbs have such therapeutic properties as immunity enhancer, anti-stress, anti-oxidant, liver tonic, adaptogen, antidepressant; cardiotonic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, mood elevator, etc. and qualify for similarity to adaptogenic plants. Within Himalayas, a large number of plant species have found utility amongst different dwelling communities for enduring stress due to environmental harshness. While it is difficult to lay down rigid qualifying bench mark, some broad criteria are necessary to decide which species will merit inclusion of plants that promote wellness. A wide range of terms and expressions related to the adaptogenic action are known in literature. In this book, selected plants are targeted which, when taken by people without symptom of disease, protect the regular user from acquiring that affliction. The following are some activities which could relate plant metabolites to improved feeling of well-being: *Immune-modulation (Agent that balances and improves the immune response of the body in fighting bacteria, viruses, microbes, allergens etc and maintaining health) *Enhancing strength and physical endurance *Content of antioxidants (protection against damage caused by free radicals) *Anti-inflammatory and vasodilator properties leading to calmness *Improving digestion and providing important nutrients *Promoting healthy metabolism/enhancing stamina In recent times, herbals are increasingly being embraced as an alternative of choice for perusing a healthy life style. This trend transcends the economic or developmental status of countries of the global community. As a consequence, the global nutraceutical market size is expected to grow dramatically: from US $ 198.7 billion in 2016 to $ 285.0 by 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5% (ASSOCHAM-RNCOS, 2017). The Indian nutraceutical market, estimated at US $ 4 billion in 2017, is estimated to reach $ 10 billion in 2022 at CAGR of 21% (ASSOCHAM-MRSS, 2017). This rapidly growing market is exerting unprecedented pressure on demand of plant material on which this enterprise is based. In trade of medicinal and aromatic plants, there has been a three-fold increase globally, from US $ 1.1 billion (1999) to US $3.0 billion (2015). India is the second largest exporter of medicinal plants in the world. Importantly, 60-90 % trade by volume of medicinal and aromatic plants is of collection from the wild. This rampant plunder is severely eroding genetic diversity and driving several important species of nutraceutical and aromatic value to brink of extinction. Quite clearly, the prevailing situation is not sustainable and calls for urgent course correction. Among the aspects requiring urgent and well planned attention are: (1) Working out designed Agro-technologies for bringing the relevant important medicinal and aromatic plant species under organised cultivation so that collecting from the wild is replaced by raising the required material by scientific cultivation and (2) genetically improving the targeted plant species for desired pharmaceutical attributes and biochemical profiles for enhancing their effectiveness. For creating a base for achieving these objectives, this book presents the current state of the art for nine plant species of the Himalayan region. We believe that the book will be of interest to a very wide and diverse audience which includes academics and researchers, interest groups of drug industry, administrators and policy makers.

An overwhelming proportion of plant material used for compounding herbal medicines and nutraceuticals is currently collected from the wild. With traditional health care systems gaining increasing popularity, the enormous amount of plant material extracted from the limited plant populations available in natural stands is a cause of justifiable alarm. The unscrupulous plunder of plant populations growing in the wild is pushing increasing number of important species to the endangered category and many to the verge of extinction. Also, unethical practices like adulteration and storage of medicinal plants under unacceptable conditions are rampant. All this is happening, when the consumer is becoming increasingly quality conscious and is demanding traceability of source material used for formulations and adherence to good practices for the entire chain of manufacturing process for herbal drugs and plant-based nutraceuticals. Clearly, solution to this problem lies in replacing the ‘collection from the wild’ paradigm to ‘production by cultivation’. An essential prerequisite for meeting this objective is a well thought out research agenda which not only tackles productivity enhancement goals for the targeted plant species but also addresses the validity of the entrenched notion among healers who use the traditional medical systems, that only material collected from the wild produces the desired results. The reason advanced in support of this argument is that phytomedicines are derived from plant populations growing in the wild under organic conditions and under their natural rhizosphere and rhizoplane. The associated soil-microbial complexes, and a variety of endophytic microorganisms, may be the initiators or modifiers of the production and expression of medicinal properties.

INTRODUCTION The term ‘ginseng’ is applied to a range of plants from family Araliaceae involving genus Panax. Out of the many species available in nature, Himalayas are also home to a commercially lesser known variety called as Panax psuedoginseng Wall (Nayar and Shastry 1990). In the interior temperate areas of the eastern Himalayas, the species is distributed across Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal, and extends into China. Keeping in view its high commercial international demand, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) Palampur has recently taken an initiative to introduce and cultivate Chinese ginseng (Panax ginseng) in the Lahaul valley of Himachal Pradesh, in India. This chapter addresses the different biological, chemical, medicinal and cultivation aspects of both the indigenous Himalayan variety (P. psuedoginseng) and the introduced Chinese species (P. ginseng) in particular.

Introduction Species of Polygonatum, traditional known for their therapeutic properties for treating different ailments,are fairly well represented in temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, America and Europe and find use. In India, P. cirrhifolium, and P. verticillatum are the two important constituting species of Ashtavarga, but have attained a threatened status due to overexploitation. Of the 60 odd known species of the genus, less than 10 have been explored phyto-chemically. Their status varies species wise, at regional and global level.

Introduction Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth is an important alpine medicinal plant of the Himalayan region. The root and rhizome of P. kurroa are source of the crude drug, which is characteristically bitter in taste and is linked to the medicinal properties. In Indian system of medicine, the species popularly known as Kutki, is an important constituent of several drugs items. This plant also finds a place in Chinese system of medicine where it is known as Hun-hung lien. Chemically, compounds of interest in Picrorhiza are iridoid glycosides: picroside-I and picroside-II. Material for crude drug has traditionally been extracted from the wild. Natural stands have sharply dwindled due to over extraction and habitat degradation. The species was listed as “endangered” in 1997 by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Commercial cultivation is not popular, but is urgently recommended.

Abstract Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D.Don) Soo, a plant species native to Indian Himalayas (Badola and Aitken, 2003; Ved et al., 2003), is one of 110 orchids known for their medicinal properties (Jain 1991; Lal et al., 2004). Known earlier as Orchis latifolia auct. non Linn., D. hatagirea has traditionally been used in indigenous system of medicine in India as ‘Hatajari’ or ‘Salam Panja’. The plant has therapeutic, ornamental and ecological significance (Gupta et al., 1998; Vij et al., 1992; Kala, 2000a). Due to over extraction from nature for medicinal use, the species has become threatened and categorized as critically endangered species (Ved and Tandon, 1998; Kala, 2000b; Ved et al., 2003; Bhattarai et al., 2014). This contribution provides insight into the botanical background, distribution, medicinal importance, threat status, cultivation and commercial aspects, and strategies for its conservation and sustainable utilization.

INTRODUCTION Himalayan region is known for the diversity of its cultural heritage and climate. In Indian part, this mountain range includes states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. The climatic variability of the region,from sub-tropical to extreme dry temperate, offers great attraction to naturalists, all across the globe. The forest formations here are the natural habitats of a large number of flora and fauna. The flora found in these forests varies with the altitudinal gradient and is quite distinct. In the sub-tropical Himalayas, for example,the predominant vegetation is of deciduous type consisting of trees, shrubs, scrubs, climbers and xerophytes. Man-made Chir pine forests can also be witnessed. At middle elevation, the climate is sub-temperate and supports a mix of broad leaves and pines forests.In the high reaches including Trans Himalayas, climate is typically wet or dry temperate. In the wet temperate climate, evergreen forests are the predominant vegetation, whereas, the dry temperate areas do not support any significant vegetation.This variation in climate and altitude has a great impact on the biodiversity found in the region, and represents about seven percent of the country’s total biodiversity. Among this diversity, many valuable and rare medicinal and aromatic plants grow wild in the region. The herbs which are traded from this region are of immense value for the preparation of Ayurvedic drugs in the form of monoherbal preparations or as multi-compound herbal formulations. Charak Samhita mentions that the herbs of the Himalayan forests excel in efficacy.

INTRODUCTION Tribulus terrestris L. (Gokhru) is an important industrial herb, belonging to family Zygophyllaceae which includes 285 species representing around two dozen genera. Members of this family are distributed in tropical and warm climates. Most species are shrubs, but some grow as small trees or herbs. T. terrestris is a mat forming plant that grows extensively in warm and dry areas all over the world. In China, India, Greece and other parts of the world, the species finds wide application in folk medicine, in polyherbal formulations and as food supplement for physical rejuvenation, to enhance muscle strength, sexual potency, etc. Amidst many positive claims, clinical trials are recommended to evaluate its reported toxicity in animals.

INTRODUCTION In India, medicinal plants have traditionally occupied an important place in the socio-cultural, spiritual and health related aspects of peoples’ life. As much as 34% (ca. 6000) of total plant wealth have some known medicinal value (Ved, 2008). The genus Ephedra is one such important group of medicinal plants, from which the drug Ephedrine and a range of medicinally active compounds such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, methyl ephedrine, methyl pseudoephedrine, alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids are obtained. Owing to its medicinal properties, genus Ephedra is in high demand by pharmaceutical industries. It is currently facing heavy extraction pressure from its restricted habitat in the wild, and utterly lacks effective proper conservation and management efforts. For long-term conservation management of this genus, a better and comprehensive understanding of the species remains a top priority, for which detailed studies on its biology, habitat ecology, and agro-technology are required.

INTRODUCTION Crataegus species, or hawthorn, are shrubs or small trees that have been widely and globally used for treating cardiac problems (arrhythmia, angina, hypertension and gastrointestinal ailments. Fruits of the plant are also consumed as food and nutritional supplement. Crataegus species has several pharmacological properties attributable primarily to presence of flavonoids and anthocyanins. The major flavonoids reported are hyperoside, vitexin, and glycosylated derivatives of these compounds. Crataegus has been listed as the plant for future in terms of its utility and significance. Though the species can be easily grown, its commercial cultivation is not yet popular. This presentation highlights the medicinal significance of the species for its greater utilization.

INTRODUCTION The Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba) is the only living representative of the order Ginkgoales, a group of gymnosperms of the family Ginkgoaceae. Ginkgo tree can live for as long as 1000 years and has been present for over 250 million years (“Living Fossil”). The name Ginkgo is believed to have come from the Chinese word sankyo or yin-kuo, meaning “hill apricot” or “silver apricot”. The species name “biloba,” meaning two lobes, refers to the unique twolobed, fanlike leaves. Ginkgo has been used as both food and medicine for thousands of years. It is the only tree to have survived atomic blast in Hiroshima (Singh et al., 2008).Seeds of Ginkgo were recorded in the early Chinese records on herbals as a medicine. G. biloba extract (GBE), is the extracts of Ginkgo leaves, and is available as filmcoated tablets, liquid formulations or injectable in markets of Europe and America. Standardized extract of the leaves of the G. biloba, labeled EGb761, is one of the popular herbal supplements. GBE has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries for treating circulatory disorders, asthma, tinnitus, vertigo, and cognitive problems. Currently, GBE is among the most commonly taken phytomedicines globally, and is approved in Germany for treatment of cerebral insufficiency (memory loss associated with Alzheimer, vascular or multiinfarct dementia) and conditions such as, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), vertigo and intermittent claudication that results in poor circulation (Mohanta, 2012).

Index Symbols 1, 8-ceneol 141 3-rhamnosides 253 3-rutinosides 253 4-hydrobenzoic acid 56 5- methoxybilobetol 253, 255 5-methoxybilobetol 253, 255 8-methyl-dihydrobenzopyrone 56