Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Medical Marvels -- Nutrition- Ancient and modern miracles -- Beverages -- Euphorics -- Exotic potions, lotions and oils -- Colorful chemistry, a natural palette of plant dyes and pigments -- Plant materials -- Plants and the natural environment

"Human benefit from the organic chemistry of plants is incalculable in terms of health, food, comfort and security. Indeed, the future well-being of humanity rests in significant measure upon a responsible relationship with the plant kingdom in order to re-establish balance in the Earth's natural environmental systems. In a highly readable volume, Organic Chemistry: Miracles from Plants presents many fascinating points of entry to the organic chemistry of a wide range of crucially-important, naturally-occurring, chemical substances which are derived from plants"--