Role of Secondary Metabolites in Drug Development

The book is about importance and significance of secondary metabolites (natural products) in discovery of drugs. It emphasizes on how nature has provided a complete store house of remedies to cure all ailments of mankind and how natural products derived from plants, animals and minerals have been the basis of treatment of human diseases for thousands of years. The book is divided in three chapters. Chapter-1 provides an overview of natural products, their folklore claims and various drugs which have been discovered earlier. Chapter-2 and Chapter-3 describe the structure, classification and pharmacological significance of two important classes of natural products viz; Terpenoids and Coumarins, respectively.