This book consists of cutting-edge materials drawn from diverse, authoritative sources, which are sequentially arranged into a multipurpose, one-stop-shop, user-friendly text. It is divided into four parts as follows:

•    Part 1: Historical overview of some indigenous medical systems; an outline of the basic concepts of pharmacognosy, ethnopharmacology; common analytical methods for isolating and characterising phytochemicals; and the different methods for evaluating the quality, purity, biological and pharmacological activities of plant extracts.