Herbs have been widely used for centuries to promote good health and treat disease in Asian countries. Indeed, the general population of both Eastern and Western countries are beginning to use herbs more frequently. International health organizations and governmental agencies such as WHO and the U.S. FDA, respectively, have recognized the consumer popularity of herbal products. In response, scientists must recognize the need to assure the efficacy and safety of traditional herbal remedies through modern research. Thus, herbal products should be continually researched as the basis for development of both high quality dietary supplements and new medicines. This book intends to address some of current developments in herbal research.

Table of Contents:
1. Botanical Quality Initiatives at the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Heath ; 2. Current Trends and Future Prospects of Traditional Chinese Medicines in the 21st Century ; 3. Bioactive Polyphenols from Foods and Dietary Supplements: Challenges and Opportunities ; 4. Instrumental Analysis of Popular Botanical Products in the US Market ; 5. Challenges in Assessing Bioactive Botanical Ingredients in Functional Beverages: An Update of Recent Development ; 6. Bioactive Natural Products from Chinese Tropical Marine Plants and Invertebrates ; 7. Curcumin: Potential Heath Benefits, Molecular Mechanism of Action, and Its Anticancer Properties In Vitro and In Vivo ; 8. Need for Analytical Methods and Fingerprinting: Total Quality Control of Phytomedicine Echinacea ; 9. Bioassay-guided Isolation, Identification and Quantification of the Estrogen-like Constituent from PC SPES ; 10. Intraspecific Variation in Quality Control Parameters, Polyphenol Profile and Antioxidant Activity in Wild Populations of Lippia Multiflora from Ghana ; 11. Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases 1B Inhibitors from Traditional Chinese Medicine ; 12. Thioglusidase-catalyzed Hydrolysis of the Major Glucosinolate of Maca (Lepidium meyenii) to Benzl Isothiocyanate: Mini Review of Simple Quantitative HPLC Method ; 13. Studies on Chemical Constituents of Jiaogulan (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum) ; 14. Chemical Components of Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) Root ; 15. Characterization of Chemical Components of Ixeris denticulata ; 16. Bioavailability, Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics of Glycosides in Chinese Herbs Pei-Dawn Lee Chao, Su-Lan Hsiu, Yu-Chi Hou ; 17. Moringa, A Novel Plant Rich in Antioxidants, Bioavailable Iron, and Nutrients ; 18. Stability and Transformation of Bioactive Polyphenolic Components of Herbs in Physiological pH ; 19. Bioavailability of Tea Catechins as Antioxidants in Human Diet ; 20. Targeting Inflammation Using Asian Herbs ; 21. Induction of Apoptosis by Ligusticum chuanxiong in HSC-T6 Stellate Cells ; 22. Effect of Combined Use of Isothiocyanate and Black Tea Extract on Dental Caries ; 23. Cytoxic Properties of Leaf Essential Oil and Component from Indigenous Cinnamon (Cinnimonum osmophloeum Kaneh)