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Biotechnological Approaches to Aphrodisiac Plants of Rajasthan, India

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Abstract

The human quest for sexual enhancers from natural substances is as old as civilisation itself. Ancient history in most cultures helped society in its desire to improve the sexual experience as evident by writings in holy texts and sculptures in Hindu temples. Many so-called aphrodisiac plants or herbal formulations are currently in use in different countries worldwide. In Asian countries, this is a lucrative, multi-million dollar business fuelled by the desire for enhanced performance, the secretive approach of patients, and exploitation by herbalists. As erectile dysfunction can result from many causes, there is no single panacea; the problem and its solution vary from person to person. Although many herbal drugs have been used traditionally for sexual enhancement, almost nothing is known about their side effects, and their efficacy has seldom been proved scientifically and/or clinically. The recent surge of interest in the clinical evaluation of herbal drugs has strengthened the folklore usage of herbal medicines. This chapter presents an introduction to the aphrodisiac plants of Rajasthan, describing the bioactive molecules known in these plants and their pharmacological evaluation by modern tests, herbal formulations containing extracts of these plants available on the market, and biotechnological approaches towards amelioration of such 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. Financial assistance in the form of JRF and RA from UGC (N.J.) and CSIR (S.G.) is also acknowledged.

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

    Neelam Jain, Shaily Goyal & Kishan Gopal Ramawat

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  1. Neelam Jain
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Correspondence to Kishan Gopal Ramawat .

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    K.G. Ramawat

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Jain, N., Goyal, S., Ramawat, K.G. (2010). Biotechnological Approaches to Aphrodisiac Plants of Rajasthan, India. In: Ramawat, K. (eds) Desert Plants. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02550-1_22

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