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Coronaviruses are the well-known cause of severe respiratory, enteric and systemic infections in a wide range of animal hosts including man. The scientific interest on coronaviruses has increased since the outbreak of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) that initiated in Wuhan, China. This was soon declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ by World Health Organisation (WHO). Presently, the best strategy against this pandemic is prevention through regular hand and face washes, use of masks, gloves and personal protective equipment and social distancing. At the government level, the task is to perform as many tests as possible to identify coronavirus infected people and to isolate them to avoid the uncontrollable spread of the virus. The ongoing and future strategies against coronavirus ensue that huge quantity of masks, plastic products (personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, face shields, etc.) and chemicals (chloroxylenol, chlorine, H 2 O 2 , etc.) would be generated as waste in near future. Further, the amount of water consumption per person shall also increase. These effects can have unforeseen impacts on the environment. Apart from this, the ecological impacts on human–animal interactions can also be seen, such as people avoiding pets in coming future as a health and safety measure. The present review gives an overview of coronavirus, its current state of spread and environmental and ecological risks ensuing from the pandemic.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

The Indian Kudzu (Pueraria tuberosa DC.) is an important medicinal plant widely used in Indian and Chinese traditional systems of medicine. The present study is an attempt to evaluate effect of its tubers on blood pressure, coagulation parameters and antioxidant status in patients with stage 1 (primary) hypertension. In a long-term, single blinded, placebo controlled study; 15 patients with stage 1 hypertension (group 1), were administered 3 g P. tuberosa in two divided doses while another 15 patients (group II) were administered matched placebo for a period of twelve weeks. A significant fall of 25, 11 and 16 mmHg was observed in systolic (p < 0.001), diastolic (p < 0.05) and mean (p < 0.001) blood pressure, respectively at the end of the study. Along with blood pressure reduction, there was a significant (p < 0.01) reduction in plasma fibrinogen and significant enhancement of plasma fibrinolytic activity (p < 0.001) and serum total antioxidant status (p < 0.05). It was tolerated well without any untoward side effects.

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Background: Food as medicine has been part of ancient civilizations and shared among generations as dietary health practices. Sweets are one of the important constituents of meals in India. Many plants are used to prepare sweets. In Udaipur city, Rajasthan, India, some specific sweets are consumed during winter season prepared from plants. No scientific study has been carried out to document the traditional botanical knowledge associated with winter sweets in Udaipur city. Hence, the present study was undertaken.Methods: Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out at 11 most popular sweet shops of Udaipur city from October to January, 2018. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with shopkeepers about ingredients, preparation technique of sweets etc. and with the consumers about reasons of purchasing winter sweets.Results: In total, 36 plants belonging to 21 angiosperm families were found to be used in preparation of winter sweets. The major traditional winter sweets consumed for health benefits were various kinds of Laddu, Halwa and Milk sweets. These were different from each other in shape, taste, shelf life and plant ingredients. All the consumers unanimously affirmed role of some of the winter sweets as traditional medicine.Conclusions: The present study has first time documented different plant species used to prepare winter sweets in Udaipur city. Nutritional and pharmacological potential of some of the plants indirectly supports traditional wisdom behind their use in winter sweets for increasing immunity, treatment of joint pain, arthritis, asthma etc. However, clinical studies are required to recommend the winter sweets as dietary nutraceutical products for the claimed health benefits.

Many chemical compounds have been isolated from different parts of B. ceiba worldwide. These belong mostly to phenolics, flavonoids, sesquiterpenoids, steroids, naphthoquinones and neolignans. Totally 16 compounds have been isolated from root, 8 from root bark, 3 from stem bark, 3 from heart wood, 2 from leaves, 78 from flowers, 19 from seeds and 11 from gum. Several of these compounds are novel and isolated for the first time. Compounds isolated from this plant possess very important biological activities including immunomodulatory, cytotoxic, antineoplastic, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, hypolipidemic, antihyperglycemic and antioxidant.