Himalayan Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Depression : A Source of Rich Antidepressant Agents

Plants are a source of bioactive compounds that act as important components in medicines. The Himalayan region especially has been found to be brimming with medicinal plants that have the potential to prevent as well as cure a number of diseases. This new book, Himalayan Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Depression: A Source of Rich Antidepressant Agents, presents research on the importance of bioactive compounds derived from Himalayan plants, focusing specifically on their beneficial antidepressant activities.

The volume discusses a wide range of Himalayan plants, vegetables, fruits, flowers, mushrooms, grains, beans, nuts, spices, beverages, roots and tubers, and even microalgae, along with their traditional applications, chemical compositions, and antidepressant effects with the help of scientific literature. The book explores how bioactive compounds from Himalayan botanicals and foods can alleviate depression ailments. It documents the traditional uses, phytochemicals, and biological applications in terms of antidepressant agents in a systematic manner.

The new volume sheds a bright light on the antidepressant potential of the rich source of plants of the Himalayas. The documented information presented here will be valuable to researchers for new drug discovery and for knowledge for isolating and purifying novel compounds from Himalayan botanicals as a cure and treatment for depression.

Abdur Rauf, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Swabi, Anbar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. His research work focuses on phytochemistry and pharmacology, dealing particularly with bio-guided isolation of new compounds for drug discovery. His research interests include isolation and structure elucidation of bioactive compounds using several innovative techniques followed by in vitro and in vivo biological screening. Dr. Rauf is the author and coauthor of more than 280 research papers published in peer-reviewed journals, with 5392 citations as reported by Google Scholar. He has also written 10 book chapters in international books and holds two national and two international patents for discovery of novel antidiabetic drugs. Furthermore, he is an associate editor/editorial board member of Frontiers in Pharmacology, Biocell, Green Processing and Synthesis, and Medicinal Chemistry, among others. He is also a fellow of the American Chemical Society and of the Laboratory of Biological Control and Antimicrobial Resistance of Orel State University, Russia. He has supervised two PhD and four MPhil students. Dr. Rauf has won a Young Scientist Award from the Directorate of Science and Technology, KP, Pakistan (2018), and the Research Productivity Award (2016-17) from the Pakistan Science Foundation. He has also won eight national and four international projects. The major goals of Dr. Rauf's research include the discovery of eco-friendly and cost-effective protocols for the production of nanoparticles-based new drugs with bio-medicinal interest. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2015.

Prabhakar Semwal, PhD, is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, Graphic Era (deemed to be University), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. He served as a guest editor for Frontiers in Pharmacologyand as a reviewer for Scientific Reports, Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Frontiers in Pharmacology, Ethnobotany Research & Applications,etc. Before joining GEU, Dr. Semwal worked at the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology, Dehradun (Governement of Uttarakhand) for five years in different capacities. Dr. Semwal also presented papers at several international and national conferences. His major research interests include high-altitude medicinal plants and bioactive compounds and their biological applications. Dr. Semwal has published more than 50 research and review articles in highly reputed journals along with five book chapters. Presently, he is supervising several students and also working on a research project funded by Uttarakhand Council for Biotechnology (UCB), Govt. of Uttarakhand, India.

Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, PhD, is affiliated with the School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia. He was formerly the Alfred Deakin Research Fellow at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. He did his postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetic and Health at Kansas State University, USA. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Diamantina Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Dr. Suleria has been awarded an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and the Australian Postgraduate Award for his PhD research at the UQ School of Medicine and the Translational Research Institute in collaboration with the Commonwealth and Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia. Before joining the UQ, he worked as a lecturer in the Department of Food Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He also worked as a research associate in the PAK-US Joint Project funded by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, and Department of State, USA, with collaboration of the University of Massachusetts, USA, and the National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Dr. Suleria has published more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers in professional journals and has co-edited several books. He is also in collaboration with more than ten universities where he is working as a co-supervisor/special member for PhD and postgraduate students. His major research focus is on food nutrition, particularly in the screening of bioactive molecules, including isolation, purification, and characterization using various cutting-edge techniques from different plants, marine, and animal sources; in vitro, in vivo bioactivities; and cell culture and animal modeling.