Medicinal plants supply the ever-growing needs of humankind for natural
chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, agrochemicals, and
chemical additives. These plants contain bioactive secondary
metabolites, which possess antimalarial, anthelminthic,
anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, antiarthritic, antioxidant,
antidiabetic, antihypertensive, anticancer, antifungal, antispasmodic,
cardioprotective, antithyroid, and antihistaminic properties. Secondary
metabolites play a major role in the adaptation of plants to the
changing environment and stress condition as they are affected by both
biotic and abiotic stress. Humans rely on medicinal plants for various
needs since ancient time, and their population still seems enough for
fulfilling our demands. However, in the foreseeable future, we will be
forced to think about the accessibility of resources for future
generations. For these reasons, we must look for alternative sustainable
options of resources which can protect these immensely important
medicinal plants from various stresses induced by challenging
environment. Evolving eco-friendly methodologies and mechanisms to
improve these plants' responses to unfavorable environmental
circumstances is important in creating significant tools for better
understanding of plant adaptations to various abiotic stresses and
sustaining the supply of pharmaceuticals as global climate change
intensifies.
One of the great challenges in the near future will be the sustainable
production of medicinal plants under increasing adverse effects of
climate change. A combination of adverse demographic factors and
climatological perturbations is expected to impact food and
pharmaceutical production globally. Despite the induction of several
tolerance mechanisms, medicinal plants often fail to survive under
environmental extremes. To ensure their sustainable production under
adverse conditions, multidisciplinary approaches are needed, and useful
leads are likely to emerge. However, improving plants' performance under
restrictive growth conditions requires a deep understanding of the
molecular processes that underlie their extraordinary physiological
plasticity.
This edited volume emphasizes the recent updates about the current
research on medicinal plants covering different aspects related to
challenges and opportunities in the concerned field. This book is an
attempt to bring together global researchers who have been engaged in
the area of stress signaling, crosstalk, and mechanisms of medicinal
plants. The book will provide a direction towards implementation of
programs and practices that will enable sustainable production of
medicinal plants resilient to challenging environmental conditions.
Moreover, this book will instigate and commence readers to
state-of-the-art developments and trends in this field.
