Book Review pubs.acs.org/jnp
Review of Figs. The Genus Ficus Figs. The Genus Ficus. By E. P. Lansky (Rimonest Ltd., Haifa, Israel) and H. M. Paavilainen (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL, USA. 2011. xxiii + 383 pp. 16 × 24 cm. $125.95. ISBN 9781-4200-8966-0.
reproduction quality of many of those pictures makes them of little value. Better attention to production values would have improved this otherwise excellent book, which is interesting and informative, and written in an easily read and absorbed style.
John H. Cardellina, II
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his book is the ninth volume in the series Traditional Medicines for Modern Times and appears to be the first to focus on a single plant genus. Since Ficus is one of the largest plant genera (≥750 species) and has a long history of use by humans for food and medicine, this focus is certainly justified. There are 10 chapters, each with its own reference list. The first two chapters provide a general introduction and overview of the genus Ficus. Here the emphasis of the book the medicinal value and use of the genusis outlined, and botanical aspects of the genus are reviewed, including origin, distribution, coevolution with certain wasps, and ethnography. Chapters 3−7 are the heart of the book, providing detailed information on the fruits, leaves, latex, bark/wood/stems, and roots, respectively. The medicinal uses of the various parts are discussed, and the known chemistry is summarized. Chapter 8 focuses on the fig wasps and their life cycle relationship with figs Chapter 9, entitled Figs and Humans, introduces the terms terradiagnostics and terratherapeutics, the former indicating the plant’s ability to serve as an indicator of environmental conditions through accumulation of pollutant metals and anions and the latter relating to the plant’s ability to serve as a remediator of environmental damage by accumulation of toxic metals and organics. The nutritional and medicinal benefits of figs are also revisited in this chapter. Chapter 10 is really an addendum of research published after the manuscript was written and before the book went to press, extending the literature coverage of the book through April 2010, with tables on the chemistry and pharmacology reported in that interim period. That said, there are two drawbacks to the book that consume unnecessary space and distract readers. First are the chemical structures of the various constituents of Ficus, all copied from other publications or from Internet sources. This approach results in different structural drawing styles being used. Sometimes stereochemistry is represented, other times not; substituents are represented in different ways in different drawings: the renderings on page 302 are a good comparative example. Some structures are not presented in their conventional fashion; for example, the triterpene lupeol is “upside down” in Figure 6.20. Further, each compound is placed in a separate figure, with a legend indicating the drawing’s source, consuming a lot of page space. Other compounds are so simple that any reader with a modest scientific background should know the structures, e.g., ozone, formaldehyde, formic acid, butanol. Second are the pictures and drawings that occur throughout the text. With the exception of a few color plates in the center of the book, the illustrations are black and white; this is not problematic in and of itself, but the resolution or © XXXX American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy
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ReevesGroup Walkersville, Maryland
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/np3007974 | J. Nat. Prod. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
