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Contents: 1. Foliar anatomy of Indian Kaempferia (Zingiberaceae) - a taxonomic approach/Aishwarya K. 2. Pollination studies of Zingiberaceae in India/Aswani K. 3. Chemotaxonomic studies on the genus Boesenbergia (Zingiberaceae) in India/Aswathi P and K. V. Radhakrishnan. 4. Beyond bamboos and rattans: Utility of ginger and banana for basketry in Taiwan and the Philippines/Celine E. Kerfant. 5. Application of microrhizomes and minirhizomes in Zingiberaceous species as a means of pathogen free planting material production/Geetha S. Pillai, S. Sadheeshna Kumari, P.R Rahul and Indira Balachandran. 6. Screening of Musa balbisiana (Musaceae) seeds for antidiabetic properties and isolation of apiforol, a potential antidiabetic lead/Greeshma Gopalan, B. Prabha, Alfred Joe and K.V. Radhakrishnan. 7. Curcuma angustifolia as a non-conventional source of starch and phytochemicals-a review/Khumukcham Nongalleima and C B Singh. 8. Taxonomic history of Hornstedtia lophophore (Zingiberaceae: Alpinieae): an imperfectly known Philippine endemic species/Mark Arebal K. Naïve, Sam Dominic A. Binag And Grecebio Jonathan D. Alejandro. 9. Search for edible starch in Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) from southern India, with special reference to C. Haritha/Mathewe Dan and Anu S. 10. Gingers as food and spice/Mohanan K.V. and V. V. Radhakrishnan….

Plants in the order Zingiberales of Monocotyledons are very much interwoven with human civilization, with its versatile potentials. Many of them played a role in food security and economic security as sources of food, spice, medicine, cosmetics, perfume, dye, fibre, cut flowers, garden plants and so on. Any attempt to study this group of plants will be a contribution to the society, directly or indirectly. The book ‘Asian Zingiberales: Resume and Prospects’ is a kaleidoscope with diverse observations on Zingiberales from 6 countries by around 50 researchers. The added beauty of this volume is, it is in honour of India’s ‘Ginger Man’, Prof. M. Sabu. The book is blessed with the foreword of renowned botanist Dr. W. John Kress, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; and the felicitations by Dr. A. Ashiho Mao, Director, Botanical Survey of India and Dr. Jana L. Skornickova, Principal Researcher, Singapore Botanic Gardens.