Phytochemical Diversity

While the study of the chemicals produced by plants is arguably one of the oldest of the natural product sciences, current global concerns regarding the disappearance of biodiversity, along with the availability of methodology for systematic genetic manipulation and plant tissue culture, have rekindled industrial interest in phytochemical screening. Phytochemical Diversity gives a comprehensive overview of recent discoveries and developments of new products from plants that have potential utility in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and cosmetic industries. It covers such areas as high throughput screening approaches for the discovery of novel phytochemicals, ethnobotanical drug discovery, comparisons of the chemical diversity available from plants and other natural sources, and adding value to phytochemicals through microbial biotransformations and synthetic approaches. It is particularly timely in its look at the ramifications of the recent UN Convention on Biological Diversity and its impact on the search for new industrial products from plants. This book provides a single source on developments in phytochemical research, with contributions from both academia to industry, and developing to developed countries, which will prove invaluable to bio-organic chemists, biotechnologists and those involved in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry.