Offers an inventory of plant-derived compounds alongside the effective ways to identify, extract, analyze, and characterize fresh plant-derived compounds. This title presents examples of plant products used in food and beverages, disease prevention and treatment, pest control, textiles, and fragrances.

A 2008 nominee for Significant Work in Botanical or Horticultural Literature by the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries', this volume offers a thorough inventory of plant-derived compounds and the study of plant constituents, including biochemistry, plant natural product performance at target sites in humans, modern molecular biology, and biotechnology for the production of natural products. Fully indexed using common, scientific, and chemical names, it presents examples of plant products used in food and beverages, disease prevention and treatment, pest control, textiles, fragrances, and more.

"The book does a great job in explaining how natural products are interrelated with the environment, and explains physiological and ecological functions of natural products . . . written in a way that makes it interesting to read . . . It is a book well worth having." -Anna K. Jäger, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, in South African Journal of Botany, 2007, Vol. 73, No. 3 Praise for the First Edition: "The five authors all have a common background in the natural sciences but their professional careers have taken them to diverse positions inside or outside of academia?and this diversity is definitely one of the strongest aspects of the book." - Michael Heinrich, Journal of Ethnopharmacology "The book is well written with many photographs?and well indexed and has good supplemental information and references at the end of each chapter?" - Charles D. Hufford, University of Mississippi (Journal of Natural Products, 2000, 63, 735-738)