CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants is a unique catalog that includes more than 15,000 phytochemical constituents from over 1,000 higher plant species. This volume covers all of the generally-recognized-as-safe (GRAS) herbs and at least 250 important food and medicinal plants. Each entry features the scientific name, one or more common names, a listing of phytochemical constituents, a single datum or range of quantitative data (wet-weight to dry-weight in parts per million), two-letter abbreviation identifying the plant part, and three-letter abbreviation(s) indicating the source(s) of the data. The extraordinary amount of data compiled into an easy-to-use tabular format makes the CRC Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants a volume useful to all pharmacologists, toxicologists, nutritionists, pharmacognicists, and food scientists.

Handbook of phytochemical constituents of GRAS herbs and other economic plants

Dietary phytosterols: A review of metabolism, benefits and side effects

Phytosterols (plant sterols), abundant in fat-soluble fractions of plants, are consumed at levels of 200-400 mg/day in Western diets. Chemically resembling cholesterol, phytosterols inhibit the absorption of cholesterol. Phytosterol consumption in human subjects under a wide range of study conditions has been shown to reduce plasma total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels; however, the response varies widely. Greater cholesterol-lowering efficacy occurs with consumption of the saturated phytosterol sitostanol versus sitosterol or campesterol. Most studies report no effect of phytosterol administration in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol or triglyceride levels, although certain evidence exists for an HDL cholesterol raising effect of sitostanol. Phytosterol absorption is limited, although serum phytosterol levels have proven to be important indicators of both cholesterol absorption and synthesis. Serum phytosterols correlate with HDL cholesterol level. In addition, higher phytosterol/cholesterol ratios appear in HDL versus LDL particles, suggesting the existence of an intrinsic phytosterol action, in addition to the extrinsic effect on cholesterol absorption. In conclusion, addition to diet of the phytosterol sitostanol represents an effective means of improving circulating lipid profiles to reduce risk of coronary heart disease.

Dietary phytosterols as cholesterol-lowering agents in humans.

Phytosterols—health benefits and potential concerns: a review

Dietary fiber is a topic that has burgeoned from an esoteric interest of a few research laboratories to a subject of international interest This growth has been helped by the intense public interest in the potential benefits of adding fiber to the diet The general popularity of fiber may have been helped by the perception that, for once, medicine was saying "do" instead of "don't " There has been a proliferation of excellent scientific books on dietary fiber Why another? The Spring Symposium on Dietary Fiber in Health and Disease was an outgrowth of our belief that informal discussion among peers-a discussion in which fact is freely interlaced with speculation-was the most effective way to organize our knowledge and direct our thinking The normal growth progression of a discipline inc1udes its branching into many areas Soon the expertise, which was once general, is broken into many specialties Intercommunication becoIlles increasingly difficult It was our intent to provide a forum that would expose its participants to developments in areas related to their research interest Free exchange under these conditions could not help but broaden everyone's knowl edge and expand his horizons We feel that this symposium was singularly successful in achieving its goals It resulted in a free and friendly exchange of knowledge and ideas It helped to establish seeds for future collaborations based on mutual interest and friendship The proceedings of this conference will serve as yet another basic resource in the fiber field"

T. Malini

Papers

Rat toxicity studies with β-sitosterol