Organized in a classical alphabetical format, this two-volume reference covers 1000 carefully screened natural product structures. For each compound or compund class, a basic chemical characterization is given, followed by a description of the biological source and a discussion of their pharmaceutical potential as lead molecules for new drugs. The letter takes into account the documented uses of many of these compounds in Asian traditional medicine. By way of its clearly structured articles, and with the aid of classification tables in the appendix, this dictionary is easy to use and provides quick and reliable information for researchers as well for scholars and student.

Compounds have been selected from the following chemical classes:

- Alkaloids - Phenolics
- Antibiotics - Polyketides
- Carbohydrates - Proteins
- Chalcones - Steroids
- Coumarins - Terpenoids
- Flavonoids - Xanthonoids
- Peptides

In zwei Bänden beschreibt dieses Werk über 1000 wichtige Naturstoffe von Abacopterin bis Zinolol. Zu jeder Substanz finden Sie Strukturdaten, biologische Quellen und dokumentierte pharmazeutische Einsatzgebiete (unter anderem in der traditionellen asiatischen Medizin).