1st Edition
High-Value Plants Novel Insights and Biotechnological Advances
High-value crops are non-staple plants that give much higher return per unit area than staple crops. Diversification and investing towards high-value crops can potentially increase farm incomes, making them more attractive to new and small-scale agricultural farmers. This new volume explores the biotechnological applications for the unique high-value crops in response to the impending high-value agriculture revolution. The book discusses traditional knowledge, nutritional value, phytochemical activity, value addition quality, and postharvest management of some select unique high-value crops, including black ginger, bastard oleaster, Swertia chirayita, Garcinia, Parkia timoriana (or tree bean), king chili, Chenopodium (or goosefoot), sea buckthorn, broom grass, lichens, and others.
High-Value Plants: Novel Insights and Biotechnological Advances provides important information for small-scale farmers and agricultural and horticultural professionals to consider diversifying into non-traditional, high-value, agricultural crops, an important area of potential income growth in rural areas.
1. Kaempferia parviflora: A Black Ginger with Promising Ornamental and Medicinal Value
Lhaineichong Khongsai and Chingakham Brajakishor Singh
2. Elaeagnus latifolia L. (Elaeagnaceae): A Promising and Emerging High-Value Bioresource with Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical Prospects
Evanylla Kharlyngdoh, Longing Basuk Langstieh, Jitendra Kumar Shukla, Pardeep Kumar Bhardwaj, and Pulok Kumar Mukherjee
3. Swertia chirayita, A Critically Endangered High-Value Medicinal Plant of the Himalayan Region
Jitendra Kumar Shukla, Bharti Kashyap, Kishor Basor, Preeti Dhakal. Evanylla Kharlyngdoh, Pardeep Kumar Bhardwaj, and Pulok Kumar Mukherjee
4. Genus Garcinia in Northeast India: Folklore Applications, Scope, and Opportunities
Bora J. C. and Joshi D. D.
5. Parkia timoriana (DC.) Merr.: An Important Economic Plant
Maibam Beebina Chanu and Ch. Brajakishor Singh
6. King Chili: A Future Potential Source of Pharmacological Applications
Wahengbam Kabita Chanu and Chingakham Brajakishor Singh
7. Chenopodium: Future Smart Crop from Indian Himalaya
Rajkumari Jashmi Devi, Nikhil Kumar Chrungoo, and Biseshwori Thongam
8. Unearthing of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae spp) In India
Thangjam Anand Singh, Prakash K. Sarangi, and Ng. Joykumar Singh
9. Perspectives and Potential of Indian Organic Basmati Rice
Ankur Saxena and Ashutosh Singh
10. High-Value Plant Resources in Riparian Areas
Poppy Rajbongshi and Tapati Das
11. Processing and Potential of Broom Grass (Thysanolaena latifolia)
Achintya Kumar Sinha, Mihir Kumar Reang, and Sourabh Deb
12. Lichens in the Himalayan Region: Present and Future Perspectives
Awadhesh Kumar, Nurpen Meitei Thangjam, TBC Laldingliani, and Ch. Brajakishor Singh
Biography
Thangjam Anand Singh, PhD, is a Scientist at the Directorate of Research at Central Agricultural University in Imphal, India. He has worked with many renowned institutes in the Northeastern Hill Region (NEH) of India, including the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology; Indian Council of Agricultural Research, NEH region; and Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, gaining firsthand knowledge from his many field trips. He has more than 15 years of teaching and research experience and published more than 35 research articles in international and national journals, authored several book chapters, and reviewed articles for many international journals.
Prakash Kumar Sarangi, PhD, is a scientist specializing in microbiology at the Central Agricultural University Imphal, India. His expertise is in bioconversion of biomass into biofuels, biochemicals, and nutraceuticals, as well as environmental waste remediation. He has taken leading roles as the principal investigator in different R&D projects on biomass conversion and microbial biodegradation into value-added products. He has more than 12 years of teaching and research experience and is serves as editorial board member and guest editor for many international journals. He has published research articles and book chapters as well as books on biomass conversion and value addition.
Ch. Brajakishor Singh, PhD, is currently working as a Scientist at the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Imphal, India. He has supervised several PhD and postdoctoral students. He has published more than 90 articles in peer-reviewed journals and filed one patent. His research areas of interest are medicinal plants, natural product chemistry, and synthesis of small heterocyclic molecules. He earlier worked as a research associate at the Manipur University Chemistry Department and the Chemistry Department of the Indian Institute of Technology, Assam, India. He has worked at the National Center for Natural Research at the University of Mississippi, USA, as a visiting fellow.