Traditional Herbal Therapy for the Human Immune System
Exploring Medicinal Plants Series

Drawing on indigenous and scientific knowledge of medicinal plants, Traditional Herbal Therapy for the Human Immune System presents the protective and therapeutic potential of plant-based drinks, supplements, nutraceuticals, synergy food, superfoods, and other products. Medicinal plants and their products can affect the immune system and act as immunomodulators.

Medicinal plants are popularly used in folk medicine to accelerate the human immune defence and improve body reactions against infectious or exogenous injuries, as well as to suppress the abnormal immune response occurring in immune disorders. This book explains how medicinal plants can act as a source of vitamins and improve body functions such as enhanced oxygen circulation, maintained blood pressure and improved mood. It also outlines how specific properties of certain plants can help boost the immune system of humans with cancer, HIV, and COVID-19.

Key features:

• Provides specific information on how to accelerate and or fortify the human immune system by using medicinal plants.
• Presents scientific understanding of herbs, shrubs, climbers and trees and their potential uses in conventional and herbal medicine systems.
• Discusses the specific role of herbal plants that act as antiviral and antibacterial agents and offer boosted immunity for cancer, H1N1 virus, relieving swine flu, HIV and COVID-19 patients.

Part of the Exploring Medicinal Plants series, this book is useful for researchers and students, as well as policy makers and people working in industry, who have an interest in plant-derived medications.

Contents

Preface.......................................................................................................................ix

About the Editor.........................................................................................................xi

Contributors............................................................................................................ xiii

Disclaimer...............................................................................................................xvii

Chapter 1 Plant-based Potential Nutraceuticals for Improving

the Human Immune System..................................................................1

Azamal Husen and Muhammad Iqbal

Chapter 2 Antibacterial Properties of Medicinal Plants: Recent Trends,

Progress, and Challenges.................................................................... 13

Limenew Abate, Archana Bachheti, Rakesh Kumar Bachheti,

and Azamal Husen

Chapter 3 Antiviral Activity of Medicinal Plants: Current

Understanding, Prospects, and Challenges......................................... 55

Venkateish V P, Nivya V, Vani V, Baskaran V, and Madan Kumar P

Chapter 4 Conventional Medicinal Plants: Boosting the Immune

System in Humans............................................................................... 75

Antul Kumar, Anuj Choudhary, Harmanjot Kaur,

Asish Kumar Padhy, and Sahil Mehta

Chapter 5 Medicinal Plants for Strong Immune System and

Traditional Skin Therapy in South Africa: An Overview ................ 123

Learnmore Kambizi and Callistus Bvenura

Chapter 6 Traditional African Medicinal Plants for a Strong Immune System.......173

Anywar Godwin

Chapter 7 Traditional Brazilian Medicinal Plants for a Strong

Immune System................................................................................. 199

José Crisólogo de Sales Silva,

Solma Lúcia Souto Maior de Araújo Baltar,

and Maria Lusia de Morais Belo Bezerra

Chapter 8 Traditional Himalayan Plants: Nature’s Gift for Maintaining

a Strong Immune System.................................................................. 211

Antul Kumar, Anuj Choudhary, Harmanjot Kaur, Atul Arya,

Baljinder Singh, and Sahil Mehta

Chapter 9 Traditional South Indian Herbal Plants for a Strong

Immune System.................................................................................245

Mani Divya and Sekar Vijayakumar

Chapter 10 Sacred Medicinal Plants and their Use by Indigenous

People for Strengthening the Immune System.................................. 255

Jamal Akhtar and Fouzia Bashir

Chapter 11 Molecular Features of Potential Herbal Products in

Enhancing Human Immune System.................................................. 301

Chandrabose Selvaraj, Chandrabose Yogeswari, and

Sanjeev Kumar Singh

Chapter 12 Specific Plant Nutrients and Vitamins that Fortify Human

Immune System................................................................................. 363

Kirubel Teshome Tadele and Gebeyanesh Worku Zerssa

Chapter 13 Role of Specific Spices in Fortifying the Human

Immune System.................................................................................397

Yashdeep Srivastava, Swati Upadhyay, Mohd Ahmad,

Deepak Kumar Verma, and Vinod Kumar Mishra

Chapter 14 Specific Fruits and Berries for a Strong Human Immune System.......411

Rakesh Kumar

Chapter 15 Natural Immunity Boosters and Anticancer Medicinal Plants......... 431

Swati Agarwal, Sonu Kumari, and Amrendra Kumar

Chapter 16 Potential of Medicinal Plants as Immunity Booster

against COVID-19............................................................................. 455

Saumya Pandey

Index....................................................................................................................... 475

Azamal Husen served as Professor & Head, Department of Biology, University of Gondar, Ethiopia and is a Foreign Delegate at Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita, Ethiopia. He specializes in biogenic nanomaterial fabrication and application, plant responses to environmental stresses and nanomaterials at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels, herbal medicine, and clonal propagation for improvement of tree species, and has published over 200 research articles. He is contributed to R&D projects of World Bank, ICAR, ICFRE, JBIC etc. He is on the advisory board of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK. Husen has been on the Editorial Board and the panel of reviewers of several reputed journals. He is a Fellow of the Plantae group of the American Society of Plant Biologists, and a Member of the International Society of Root Research, Asian Council of Science Editors, and INPST. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Plant Physiology, and a Series Editor of Exploring Medicinal Plants (Taylor & Francis Group, USA); Plant Biology, Sustainability, and Climate Change (Elsevier, USA); and Smart Nanomaterials Technology (Springer Nature, Singapore).