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Medicinally Important Trees pp 211–233Cite as

Leguminous Trees and Their Medicinal Properties

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Abstract

This chapter gives an account of important legumes, their morphological characteristics, and compounds of medicinal value. Leguminosae comprises of over 17,000 species which constitute 1/12th of the world’s flowering plants, with a diversity of herbaceous plants like peas, sweet peas, chick peas, and lentils to tall trees like golden shower and rosewood. Many of them are sources of food, fodder, and fuel, and some are medicinally important trees due to their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, and anti-carcinogenic properties, which are mostly due to the presence of flavonoids (isoflavones), furanocoumarins, terpenoids, quinones, and xanthones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Forman Christian College University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Aisha Saleem Khan

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  1. Aisha Saleem Khan
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Khan, A.S. (2017). Leguminous Trees and Their Medicinal Properties. In: Medicinally Important Trees. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56777-8_9

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