The book provides a comprehensive discussion about the extraction process and details the recent significant research advances into various products obtained from lichens.

Naturally derived products and their derivatives have had a strong influence since ancient times and continue to dominate nearly every field of application today, ranging from food, medicine, agriculture, textiles, healthcare, etc., due to their enthusiastic performance. To meet the demands of the current era, scientists need to communicate the relevance of their work in the field with specific arguments for eco-friendly alternatives. With increased awareness of product safety and closer attention being paid to the possible adverse impacts of synthetic ready-to-use products on the ecosystem, during the last few decades research has continued to be conducted on more and more new alternatives based on naturally derived functional materials. Since a sustainable world requires the utilization of renewable materials or resources for use in a wide range of applications, there needs to be a multidisciplinary effort from a technological perspective to perform further research toward new opportunities to develop new sustainable products.

The purpose of this handbook is to provide reference material that includes current developments along with a future outlook on the topic. The book is divided into two sections: "Morphological Overview and Extraction Prospects" and "Trends and Applications". Part I contains four chapters that provide an overview and systematically discuss the physical morphology, suitability, and extraction aspects of lichens and their secondary metabolites. Part II includes eight chapters that give in-depth insights on recent and valuable applications of lichen and their obtained products in several applied sectors, including ethnopharmacology, therapeutics, paper and dye, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, herbal industries, etc.

Audience

The book will be read by botanists, chemists, phytochemists, pharmacologists, both in academia and industry, as well as graduate students in these fields.