Plant Alkaloids: A Guide to Their Discovery and Distribution serves as a record of both the positive and negative results obtained in the screening of more than 20,000 plant species for alkaloids in a forty-year search for new medicinal agents and other pharmacological substances. Designed to increase general knowledge of the Plant Kingdom, this book equips present and future generations of phytochemists with the skills and knowledge necessary for developing new alkaloid compounds. Recording the results of screening tests from approximately 400 genera of plants found primarily in zones beneath 45? N Latitude, Plant Alkaloids contributes to the efforts to calculate and safeguard the resources of the rainforests of the world.

By offering results `from the field,’Plant Alkaloids surpasses the tradition of books on alkaloid chemistry that only emphasize the chemical and physical properties of known compounds, their established structures, biogenetic origins, taxonomic usefulness, and pharmacological actions. These results, in many cases, constitute the first record of the probable presence of alkaloids in the species under study. By documenting both positive and negative results, Plant Alkaloids directs the search for potentially new and useful compounds, while alleviating much of the time and expense of screening plants where results have already been obtained.

An invaluable reference book for scientists in any of the life sciences, Plant Alkaloids provides a general index containing references to standard works on alkaloid chemistry and the subject?s vast literature. In addition to offering a description of the size of each plant family and its economic importance, this book also lists the genera and species of each plant tested according to accepted taxonomic names and notes disagreement over taxonomic assignment where it exists.