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Desert Plants pp 3–36Cite as

Biodiversity, Biology and Conservation of Medicinal Plants of the Thar Desert

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Abstract

The Great Indian Desert known as the Thar Desert occupies about 60% of the area of Rajasthan – the largest state of India. It is one of the most heavily populated (in terms of both people and cattle) deserts of the world. The animal and human populations exert tremendous pressure on the scant vegetation of the region, making several plants vulnerable to becoming endangered. Inherent biological problems associated with these plants make their survival difficult and have forced adaptation to the harsh environment. The biological activities of these plants range from analgesic, antifungal, antimicrobial, hypolipidemic to hepatoprotective and anticancerous. This chapter reviews the biological problems faced by the medicinal plants of this region, their bioactive molecules, as well as biotechnological approaches aimed at improving and conserving these plants.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by financial assistance from UGC-DRS under the special assistance programme for medicinal plant research and the DST-FIST programme for infrastructure development to K.G.R. J.A. and S.G. thank CSIR, New Delhi for granting of a JRF and RA fellowship, respectively.

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  1. Laboratory of Bio-Molecular Technology, Department of Botany, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 313001, India

    Jaya Arora, Shaily Goyal & Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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  1. Jaya Arora
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  2. Shaily Goyal
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Correspondence to Kishan Gopal Ramawat .

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  1. Botany Dept., M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 313002, India

    K.G. Ramawat

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Arora, J., Goyal, S., Ramawat, K.G. (2010). Biodiversity, Biology and Conservation of Medicinal Plants of the Thar Desert. In: Ramawat, K. (eds) Desert Plants. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02550-1_1

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