Pharmacognosy and medicinal value of some exotic fruits and vegetables consumed in India

Abstract

Plants have always been a vital source of medicines and other essential products that have been a part of human life ever since time immemorial. Pharmacognosy and its associated aspects have been going through constant evolution and investigation with every generation revealing different and new pharmaceutical properties of plants and their products. The horticulture sector of India has witnessed a great demand of exotic fruits and vegetables in the last decade. These are either imported or artificially introduced in an exotic and non-indigenous habitat. A large number of these exotic plants which are consumed as fruits and vegetables possess a variety of bioactive phytochemical compounds. These bioactive compounds impart them some really important medicinal and pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, anticarcinogenic, antiulcerogenic, analgesics etc. This review article is an attempt to briefly address such exotic fruits and vegetables, the bioactive compounds associated with them and their medicinal properties useful to mankind.