Medicinal Plants and Environmental Challenges

Description

This book sheds new light on the role of various environmental factors in regulating the metabolic adaptation of medicinal and aromatic plants. Many of the chapters present cutting-edge findings on the contamination of medicinal plants through horizontal transfer, as well as nanomaterials and the biosynthesis of pharmacologically active compounds. In addition, the book highlights the impacts of environmental factors (e.g., high and low temperature, climate change, global warming, UV irradiation, intense sunlight and shade, ozone, carbon dioxide, drought, salinity, nutrient deficiency, agrochemicals, waste, heavy metals, nanomaterials, weeds, pests and pathogen infections) on medicinal and aromatic plants, emphasizing secondary metabolisms. In recent years, interest has grown in the use of bioactive compounds from natural sources. Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute an important part of the natural environment and agro-ecosystems, and contain a wealth of chemical compounds known as secondary metabolites and including alkaloids, glycosides, essential oils and other miscellaneous active substances. These metabolites help plants cope with environmental and/or external stimuli in a rapid, reversible and ecologically meaningful manner. Additionally, environmental factors play a crucial role in regulating the metabolic yield of these biologically active molecules. Understanding how medicinal plants respond to environmental perturbations and climate change could open new frontiers in plant production and in agriculture, where successive innovation is urgently needed due to the looming challenges in connection with global food security and climate change. Readers will discover a range of revealing perspectives and the latest research on this vital topic. Front Matter ....Pages i-vi Importance of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Human Life (Mansour Ghorbanpour, Javad Hadian, Shahab Nikabadi, Ajit Varma)....Pages 1-23 Introduction to Environmental Challenges in All Over the World (Azadeh Kazemi, Mansour Ghorbanpour)....Pages 25-48 Rarity of Endemic Medicinal Plants and Role of Herbaria for Their Conservation Against Environmental Challenges (Rizwana Khanum)....Pages 49-68 Metabolic Responses of Medicinal Plants to Global Warming, Temperature and Heat Stress (Shabir H. Wani, Nisha Kapoor, Ritu Mahajan)....Pages 69-80 Effects of Toxic Gases, Ozone, Carbon Dioxide, and Wastes on Plant Secondary Metabolism (Vinay Kumar, Tushar Khare, Sagar Arya, Varsha Shriram, Shabir H. Wani)....Pages 81-96 Plant Secondary Metabolites and Some Plant Growth Regulators Elicited by UV Irradiation, Light And/Or Shade (Zornitsa Katerova, Dessislava Todorova, Iskren Sergiev)....Pages 97-121 Effect of Climate Change on Algae Valuable Source of Medicinal Natural Compounds (Morteza Yousefzadi, Mohammad Hossein Mirjalili)....Pages 123-135 Metabolic and Hormonal Responses of Plants to Cold Stress (Joanna Lado, Matías Manzi)....Pages 137-158 The Impact of Drought Stress on the Quality of Spice and Medicinal Plants (Dirk Selmar, Maik Kleinwächter, Sara Abouzeid, Mahdi Yahyazadeh, Melanie Nowak)....Pages 159-175 Effect of Salinity Stress on Growth and Physiology of Medicinal Plants (Aditya Banerjee, Aryadeep Roychoudhury)....Pages 177-188 Heavy Metal-Mediated Changes in Growth and Phytochemicals of Edible and Medicinal Plants (Shohreh Fahimirad, Mehrnaz Hatami)....Pages 189-214 Horizontal Natural Product Transfer: A so Far Unconsidered Source of Contamination of Medicinal Plants (Melanie Nowak, Mahdi Yahyazadeh, Laura Lewerenz, Dirk Selmar)....Pages 215-225 Strategies for Enhancing Artemisinin Production in Artemisia annua Under Changing Environment (M. Naeem, Tariq Aftab, M. Masroor A. Khan)....Pages 227-246 Plant Nanobionics a Novel Approach to Overcome the Environmental Challenges (Mansour Ghorbanpour, Shohreh Fahimirad)....Pages 247-257 Medicinal Plants: Influence of Environmental Factors on the Content of Secondary Metabolites (Cristine Vanz Borges, Igor Otavio Minatel, Hector Alonzo Gomez-Gomez, Giuseppina Pace Pereira Lima)....Pages 259-277 The Most Important Fungal Diseases Associated with Some Useful Medicinal Plants (Faezehossadat Abtahi, Seydeh Lavin Nourani)....Pages 279-293 Weed and Weeding Effects on Medicinal Herbs (Alessandra Carrubba)....Pages 295-327 Medicinal Plant Diseases Caused by Nematodes (Faezehossadat Abtahi, Mansoureh Bakooie)....Pages 329-344 Plant Derived Essential Oils Against Aedes aegypti L. and Their Biotechnological Production (Clarice Noleto Dias, Ludmilla Santos Silva de Mesquita, Denise Fernandes Coutinho, Sonia Malik)....Pages 345-357 Adaptation Strategies and Defence Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress (E. Lamalakshmi Devi, Sudhir Kumar, T. Basanta Singh, Susheel K. Sharma, Aruna Beemrote, Chingakham Premabati Devi et al.)....Pages 359-413