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Grafting is a horticultural technique. It is used commercially for many woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The purposes of grafting include asexual propagation, obtaining resistance to soil borne diseases, nematodes and unfavorable conditions, and improving fruit quality. Although there are advantages to grafting, graft incompatibility often prevents its practical use. Graft incompatibility occurs when the combination of scion and rootstock is inappropriate. The enormous range of genotype varieties used in grafting results in a wide range of physiological, biochemical and anatomical interactions between graft partners. Therefore, the causes and mechanisms of graft incompatibility vary according to graft combinations. Garner (1979) defined graft incompatibility as the failure to unite into a strong union, the failure to grow in a healthy manner, or premature death, when such failures could be attributed to differences between rootstock and scion.
 
The purpose of this review is to understand graft incompatibility as an aid to solving graft incompatibility problems. The symptoms and types of graft incompatibility are described, the causes and mechanisms of graft incompatibility are explored, and directions for future research are identified.

India produces 9.2% of world’s vegetables and fruits, nearly 109 million tons of vegetables and 57.69 million tons of fruits. The production of horticultural commodities is expected to grow to 300 million tons in near future (Kaur, 2008). India accounts for 18.2% of global trade in vegetables and 0.5% in fruits. The overall food wastages are very high amounting to around Rs. 10.4 lakh million. India wastes more fruits and vegetables than what U.K consumes. It is estimated that cumulative wastage of fruits and vegetables, on the farm, during procurement, storage and at the retail outlets, is worth about Rs.422250 million. 

In general terms, dormancy can be defined as a period during the biological cycle of the plant in which growth of the whole organism (seed) or a plant organ (bud, tuber, corm etc.) is suspended eventhough the environmental conditions for growth may be favourable. More specifically, dormancy refers to a condition in which growth is inhibited by a restriction of essential metabolic processes, such as water uptake, gas exchange and cell division, either as a result of endogenous dormancy-controlling factors or in response to exogenous factors such as changes in the environment. It is distinct from a transient state of quiescence or rest imposed by an unfavourable environment in that dormancy persists even when the environment becomes favourable for growth whereas quiescence ceases.

For wild plants, dormancy has evolved as a means of enabling the plant to endure periods of stress due to drought or low temperatures and is therefore critical for the survival of the species. In cultivated arable or vegetable crops, breeding has generally led to a loss of dormancy or a reduction in the length of the dormant period. In arboreal crops of temperate climates, however, bud dormancy is still an essential feature of the annual growth cycle of the tree.

Reasons for serious concern for food security in developing countries are, increasing food demand for the rapidly growing population, decline in productivity in high productive areas due to ‘Green revolution’ fatigue, and increasing vulnerability of agriculture to potential climate change. Climate scientists predict that global warming will make arable land in many developing countries less productive or unusable. Of all the parameters, abiotic environmental stresses contribute significantly to reduction in potential yield (Flowers and Yeo, 1995). Abiotic stresses arise from extremes of climate. The stress factors especially drought and salinity negatively effect plant growth and development, salt stress being one of the most serious environmental factors limiting productivity of crop plants (Ashraf, 1999). Therefore, extensive research into plant salt tolerance was carried out, with the aim of improving resistance of crop plants. With a large majority of the world’s population relying on crops like barley, maize and rice to survive, crop salt tolerance is globally important.

Very little is known about the basic principles governing the chemistry of flavour or fragrance. In English, the term aroma chemicals is used for both fragrance and flavour compounds. Any compound with a sufficiently high vapour pressure will have an odour and this is normally of the molecular weight of around 300, a relatively low polarity granted (Frater et al., 1998). Generally only compounds with pleasant smell are considered to fall under the realm of fragrance chemistry, but purified individual components from a mixture may have a malodour. Almost all ancient civilizations had their tradition of making fragrances from natural materials, mostly of plant origin, but also of animal origin – these are mostly essential oils, exudates, balsam and resins (Arctander, 1969).
 
It was in the latter half of the 19th century that synthetic fragrance chemicals were experimented upon and brought into the market, examples being coumarin (Fig. 1) (in the year 1866), salicylaldehyde (Fig. 2) (1876), vanillin (Fig. 3) (1876), phenylacetaldehyde (Fig. 4) (1883), piperonal (Fig. 5) (1890), musk xylol (Fig. 6) (1891) and b-ionone (Fig. 8) (1893) (Frater et al., 1998).

Biology, the science of living organisms, is linked with microscopes, test tubes and Petri dishes, but these conventional methods are changing with the advent of Bioinformatics. Due to the advancement in molecular biology and genome sequencing techniques, there is an overflow of biological information. This flood of information has led to a requirement for computerized databases to store and organize the data and to design specialized computational tools to view and analyze the data. Accordingly Bioinformatics can be defined as conceptualizing biology in terms of macromolecules (in the sense of physical-chemistry) and then applying “informatics” techniques (derived from disciplines such as applied maths, computer science and statistics) to understand and organize the information associated with these molecules on a large-scale (Tramontano, 2007).

The term Geographical Indications (GIs) attained significant status in trade agreement negotiations after the establishment of World Trade Organization (WTO).Under WTO, Agreement on the Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) sets forth standards to regulate international intellectual property protection and enforcement and establishes international minimum standards for GIs. Geographical Indications identify goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess a quality, reputation or other characteristics which are due to that place of origin. Geographical Indications are now widely accepted as valuable marketing tools in the global economy and are useful to protect rights of communities. Geographical Indications are not granted to individuals but are granted to the group/association of producers as the symbol of collective ownership.

Seabuckthorn or Siberian pineapple or Leh Berry is an emerging new horticultural crop of temperate region in the world. In India, its importance was realized in 1992 when the author found its wild abundance in cold desert of Leh /Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir State and named it as Leh Berry. Perhaps Chinese were the first to use this plant as medicine even before 8th century. In traditional Chinese medicines, seabuckthorn products are used as health drinks, for cardiovascular and digestive diseases and ailments related to lungs and skin. Chinese Olympic athletes were served seabuckthorn based health drinks to improve their physical performance and endurance. Seabuckthorn figures in folklore medicines of China, Mongolia, Tibet, India ,Russia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ancient Greeks were taken by surprise before 12th century to find their horses, strong and energetic again with a shine on their hair, which were let loose to die a natural death. These horses used seabuckthorn wild growth as their fodder.

Use of medicinal plants is as old as human civilization. India has a glorious tradition of health care system based on plants, which dates back to vedic era. Rig Veda , the oldest known repository of human knowledge and wisdom (4500-2500 B.C.) mentions about several medicinal plants used by the Aryans while in Atharva veda (2500-2000 B.C.) elaborates description of medicinal plants is given. Later, in Samhita period, the science of medicine systematically organized with clear concept and theories based on the treatises like Charak Samhita – 2000 B.C. and Sushruta Samhita – 1000-800 B.C (Maiti, 2008). Traditionally medicinal plant communities depended on plants to meet their basic needs over centuries. The pharmaceutical industry views plant wealth as a source of income. The modern medicine world perceives plants as a panacea for many ills. Despite this, there is no consolidated strategy to conserve medicinal plants for their use (Purohit and Vyas, 2005).

We present in this paper the data about the popular uses of elder (Sambucus nigra) obtained in ethnobotanical studies carried out in the districts (“comarques”) of Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà, Cerdanya, Conflent, Capcir, Ripollès and Alt Empordà (Pyrenees) and in the Montseny massif (Catalan Prelittoral Range), complemented with others from different Catalan regions (also investigated by our group), and compared with those from other Iberian and Mediterranean territories. This bush or small tree is one of the most reported and used plants (for medicinal and other purposes), not only in the regions studied, but in all Catalonia and in many other areas as well. It is one of the most versatile plants, since its uses embrace many different fields like medicinal, food, ornamental, craft industry and games among others. It is, in addition, aremarkable fact that almost every part of the plant (bark, root, leaves, flowers, fruits) has some uses.

The genus Sambucus L. is widely distributed in temperate and subtropical zones (Mabberley 1990). According to a few authors, it constitutes about 20-25 species (Mabberley 1990, Bolòs and Vigo 1995), whereas a more synthetic treatment (Bolli 1994) considers only nine species with 10 subspecies. The only three European species of this genus (Ferguson 1976) are S. ebulus L.

Jasmine

Jasmine oil and its synthetic substitutes are extensively used in high grade perfumes in the western countries, the main buyers being USA, France, UK, Japan, Holland and Russia. Essential oil production is an export oriented agro industry in Egypt, France, Morocco, Belgium, Germany, Tunisia, Italy, Algeria, China and India. It is also used for perfuming expensive soaps and cosmetics, mouthwashes and dentifrices. 

Jasmine oil is unique and the odour of jasmine cannot be imitated by any known synthetic chemicals. There is hardly any perfume of floral origin which does not contain at least a small quantity of jasmine concrete or absolute. The world production of jasmine concrete is approximately 20 tones/year and India’s production is 2 tones.

Cleome gynandra is one of the most underutilised crops in the world. It is the best known by rural and urban communities of Africa. The plant is well distributed in parts of South Africa, C. gynandra is indigenous to the country and evenly spread throughout Africa. Many people use it in their daily diets but it is not yet found on formal commercial markets. It is still regarded as a weed by commercial farmers. The nutritional value of the leaves is totally underestimated. The plant is known for the treatment of various ailments originated from epilepsy to headaches. The crop is harvested mainly from the wild and only cultivated in certain areas. The germination of the seeds can be a problem especially if the seeds are harvested simultaneously. The seeds must be harvested as it gets matured not all at once. Most consumers harvest the plant as needed. The more the leaves are picked the more growth is stimulated. A general harvesting method is not worked out yet, as this will differ from area to area.

The jackfruit tree or jack or simply known as jak (Artocarpus heterophyllus) belongs to the mulberry family (Moraceae) and its fruit, jackfruit, is known as the “poor-man's food” (Bose, 1985; Haq, 2006; Ramanani and Rao, 2001; Rowe-Dutton, 1976; Sonwalkar, 1951; Verheji and Coronel, 1992). It is believed to be native to Southwestern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka (Answers.com, 2009). It is possibly also native to the Philippines and also East to the Malay Peninsula. The fruit is large, oval and covered with a thick rind that has hexagonal protrusions. Inside the fruit, we find the yellow, fleshy and banana-flavoured carpel or large "bulbs" (which are botanically the perianths) massed among narrow ribbons of thin, tough undeveloped perianths (or perigones), around a central, pithy core. Each bulb encloses a smooth, oval, light-brown coloured "seed" (endocarp) covered by a thin white membrane (exocarp).

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn.) is one of the most important traditional but underutilized fruits of Indian origin, having immense potentiality of cultivation on marginal and waste lands. It belongs to  family Euphorbiaceae and sub-family Phyllanthoidae. Aonla tree thrives well throughout the tropical and sub-tropical parts of India either found growing wild or cultivated. Aonla is a quite hardy, prolific bearer and highly remunerative even without much care. It can be grown easily on calcareous and slightly saline as well as alkaline soils where common fruit crops do not thrive.
 
Aonla is regarded as sacred by Hindus and has great mythological significance. According to Hindu mythology, one day meal is arranged beneath an aonla tree during Kartik (October) when trees are laden with fruits. Hindu religion also prescribes that ripe fruits of aonla be eaten for forty days after fast  to restore health and vitality known as Kaya Kalp (Benthal, 1946).

Persimmons are mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The genus contains nearly 400 species including the horticulturally important, Diospyros kaki, D. virginiana and D. lotus. The persimmon cultivated mainly for fruit is D. kaki, which is called the Japanese persimmon, Oriental persimmon, or simply Kaki. The generic name is derived from the Greek ‘dios’ (meaning divine) and ‘pyros’ (meaning grain of wheat), referring to the excellent fruit of the genus. The specific name kaki is from the Japanese common name given by Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828), a Swedish naturalist and medical doctor, and a pupil of Linnaeus. He stayed in Japan from 1775 to 1776 and published “Flora Japonica” in 1784 introducing many Japanese plants.

The pecan is one of the important nut crops of the world occupying fifth position among the tree nuts. It is one of the most valuable nuts and a gift of North America to the whole world. In USA, it is considered as “Queen of nuts” because of its value as wild and cultivated crop. Besides USA, pecan cultivation is being done in Australia, Canada, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Turkey and South Africa. Pecan is under cultivation only for the last about 100 years but gained enormous popularity as compared to other nut fruits which are growing since time immemorial.

In India, pecan cultivation was introduced in  1935 at Government Fruit Farm, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Some of the pecan plants also exist at Jardari orchard, Kandaghat, Distt. Solan and this plant material was probably introduced from California during 1950 by the erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala. It’s introduction to Uttrakhand dates back to mid fifties when Dr. Boshisen, the founder of Vivekanand Laboratory planted a few saplings of pecan at Hawalbagh in Almora hills.

A nectarine (Prunus persica var. nectarina) is a fuzz less variety of peach. The word nectarine means as sweet as nectar and this is very likely the obvious origin of the name. Though peaches and nectarines are commonly regarded as different fruits with nectarines often erroneously believed to be crossbred between peaches and plums or peach with plum skin. But it is not a cross between a peach and plum. They belong to same species as peaches. The smooth skin of peaches is a minor genetic variation. Fuzziness is a dominant trait of peaches. Occasionally when peach trees are crossed or self pollinated they produce some fruit whose seeds will grow into nectarine trees and others which will be peach trees. Nectarines will some time appear on peach trees, and peaches sometime appear on nectarine trees. It is impossible to tell which seeds from nectarine trees produce nectarine bearing trees, so commercial growers take branches which produce nectarines and graft them on to peach trees. These branches continue to produce nectarine.
 
In appearance, nectarine trees are same as peach trees, and are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Tree size and shape, leaves, and even buds look the same. Nectarines, however, are smaller and smooth skinned (ripe fruits look the same as unripe- the colour does not change significantly,

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) belongs to family Moraceae. The Latin name is derived from Greek words (artos = bread, karpos = fruit), and altilis meaning ‘fat’. Baked or roasted in a fire, the fruit has a starchy texture and fragrance, reminiscent of fresh baked food.

Breadfruit is an important staple crop and component of traditional agro-forestry systems in the Pacific for more than 3,000 years. This species originated in the South Pacific and spread throughout Oceania by intrepid islanders settling the numerous islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Due to efforts of Captain Bligh and French voyagers, a few seedless varieties from Polynesia were introduced to the Caribbean in the late 1700s. These gradually spread to other tropical regions. Breadfruit is now grown in close to 90 countries.

The North East region represents eight states namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim consisting 7.79% of the Indian national geographical area. The altitude difference (50m-7000m) coupled with varied physio- geographic and agroclimatic conditions; varying intensity of rainfall (800-12000 mm) and topography harbour various vegetation types of tropical, temperate and alpines zones. In India, there are about 800 plant species used as food plants chiefly  by the tribal population (Singh and Arora, 1978). Out of these about 300 species are prevalent in the northeastern region (Khrasati, 1973, Joseph and Murti, 1981, Singh et al. 1981).

Tribals of various ethnic groups like Khasi, Garo, Monpas, Karbis, Jaintia, Naga, Kuki, Manipuri, Mizo, Chakma, Dafla, Adi, Mishing, Apatani and others are predominant in the various habitats of hilly regions also used to practice “Jhumming” or shifting cultivation. Most of wild fruits are used  in day to day diets of tribal people of the region and are often sold in the local markets.

Among the temperate fruits, nuts have occupied an important position and can be grown in cold arid conditions on marginal lands of Indian hills without much care. In many countries, nut fruits are cultivated in marginal lands, hill slopes under rain fed conditions following the non intensive cultural practices by using cultivars selected to different environments using low quality ecotypes with poor yield. Although; these crops showed much potential to produce more yield provided cultivation in suitable environment condition along with high tech orchard management practices. The major nut fruits grown in world are almond, walnut, pecan, pistachio, hazelnut or filbert, chestnut and macadamia nut. In India, the full potential of almond and walnut has been exploited to great extent. The potential of other nuts are yet to be utilized and need special attention.

In India, nut fruits have not been given due importance in hills compared to pome and stone fruits although much potential exists. Amongst the nut fruits, the potentials of almond and walnut have been exploited to some extent but others are still in the underutilized condition. The main almond and walnut growing states of India are Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North-Eastern states.

Mature seed samples of Vigna dalzelliana (O.Kuntze) Verdc. were analysed for proximate composition, total (true) seed protein fractions, amino acid composition, fatty acids profiles, mineral and antinutritional factors. The investigated seed samples contained higher amount of crude protein, crude fat, ash and nitrogen free extractives and constitute 27.33,7.48,6.71 and 50.12g/100g. seed powder respectively. The calorific value of seed material was 377.12  K.cal / 100 g Dm. The essential amino acids, isoleucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine, were present in relatively large quantities. The fatty acid profiles revealed that the seed lipids contained higher concentrations of palmitic and linoleic acids. The seeds are rich in sodium, phosphorous, calcium, zinc, manganese and iron. Anti-nutritional factors, such as total free phenols (8.26%), tannins (6.1875 %), L-DOPA (0.96%), hydrogen cyanide (1.94 %) and phytic acid (7.32%) are present in variable quantities. This paper presents the analytical data on the chemical composition and nutritional potential of Vigna dalzelliana seeds with regard to its suitability as a regular component in human diet.

White yams are food plants belonging to genus Dioscorea and family Dioscoreaceae with about 600 species. White yams are among the 10 species of edible yam and belong to species rotundata (D. rotundata Poir). It originated in West Africa.

White yams are herbaceous annual climbers. Its vine arises from large underground stem that is technically called tuber rather than root (Armstrong, 1996). The underground stem thickens to produce one or more tubers which vary in size and shape. The plant bears green flowers that turn brown on maturity and when dry. The aerial stem may be smooth or thorny which could be round/cylindrical (O’ Hair, 1984). Vines can grow to sizeable lengths if provided with a rigid support. Vine length varies within and among species. The leaves could be alternate or opposite, usually heart shaped and may be smooth or hairy. In some varieties, bulbils are formed but this is real in white yam.

India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world. Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi recommends intake of 125g leaf vegetables, 100g roots and 75g other vegetables/ day / adult for a balanced diet. Green leaf vegetables occupy an important place among the food crops as these provide adequate amounts of many vitamins and minerals for humans. Besides this, leaf vegetables are easy to grow and readily fit in any cropping system owing to its short duration. They are rich sources of carotene, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, folic acid and minerals like calcium, iron and phosphorus (Ramdasmurthy and Mohanram, 1984).
 
In nature, there are many greens of promising nutritive value, which can nourish the ever increasing human population. In spite of their nutritional importance, in India, leaf vegetable production is limited to kitchen gardens and market gardens due to various reasons. Although they can be raised comparatively at lower management costs even on poor marginal lands, they have remained underutilized due to lack of awareness and popularization of technologies for utilization.

Greens and salad crops are grown for their foliage and are used since antiquity in soups, boiled, pickled or eaten raw and are recognized as important ingredients in the diet. Stephen Switzer, in Practical Kitchen Gardner (1727) identified 30-40 species as raw salads. Plants like Purslane, Burdock, Orache, Borage, Salad Burnet, Sea Kale, Dandelion, French Sorrel, Alexanders and many other plants are used as greens.
 
Greens and salads are very well represented in the garden works of John Randolph and Joseph Prentis in Williamsburg who  described that markets carried a wide selection of greens making available to the general public. But the salad greens were not mentioned in local diaries as often as common vegetables like cauliflowers, artichokes or melons, because they were used more as a garnish than as a main dish.
 
The popularity of individual varieties of greens changed over time. Many of the minor greens, like Purslane and Alexanders were common in the 17th century and before, but largely disappeared by the 18th century. Rocket, or Arugula, was listed by all authors in 16th and 17th century works but fell out of favor in England by the middle of  18th century.

In spite of late introduction, different forms of chilli (Capsicum spp.) did spread throughout the length and breadth of India. Diverse soil and climatic conditions prevailing in different parts of Kerala have contributed to the development of different ecotypes in chilli. Warm humid climate in the coastal belts, dry and arid climate in the central eastern parts and mild subtropical to temperate climate in the high ranges provide ideal condition for development, maintenance and spread of different ecotypes in the crop. Plethora of chilli varieties capturing the markets of Kerala comprise of different species.

Capsicum chinense commonly known as Ney Mulaku, Karanampotti Mulaku is gaining popularity in the state due to increasing demand from Maldives during Ramzan period. Hence the crop is also known in yet another name Mali Mulaku. This species is characterized by perennial and spreading nature with medium sized oblong to round, fleshy and highly pungent fruits. It  yields substantially higher under shaded condition and there is less incidence of diseases like bacterial wilt and collar rot. Hence the species is ideal for homestead cultivation. Due to its tolerance to shade, the species can be successfully grown as an inter crop in coconut, rubber, pepper and banana plantations.

Energy remains the mainstay of civilized world. The priorities may lay in cost economics, environment friendliness, import substitution, or self-sufficiency as strategic objectives.  By the year 2050, worldwide energy demand is projected to be at least twice today’s level. Energy and environment are sectors that are of concern for policy makers and scientists.  Indian scenario is unique and different from other developed or developing countries. It has vast areas that lay waste and are not being utilized for cultivation since these are unfertile, dry, sodic, saline, or alkaline. Majority of its population lives in villages.
 
Energy supply must be sustainable and diverse and energy needs to be used more efficiently. Sustainable energy supply, both in the short- and the long-term, is needed for promoting both economic development and people’s quality of life, as well as protecting the environment. We also need a greater diversification of energy resources to ensure against risk of price rises and supply disruptions.

Yam bean (Pachyrhizus erosus) is a leguminous tuber crop of immense production potential. The crop has high rate of dry matter production / day / unit area and is known for its high degree of photosynthetic efficiency. Besides contributing significantly as a source of food to  weaker sections, the crop has immense industrial value for extraction of starch and production of animal feed. Yam bean is well suited to small and marginal holdings and has the capacity to withstand adverse biotic and abiotic stresses. It comes up well in comparatively marginal lands and does not require intensive care. It has  great potential in developing and underdeveloped countries where most of the farmers are small and marginal . This crop is very important in the context of food and nutrition security and assumes great significance due to ever-increasing human population. Still the importance of this crop is underestimated and unlike most staples, the crop fails to attract attention of  agricultural researchers throughout the tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The crop is still largely under-exploited and is subjected to little selection pressure. A large degree of variability exists for several agronomic characteristics in the existing germplasm. With a little attention from the scientists ,this crop could usefully be exploited by genetic improvement and development of crop ideotypes which would meet a wide range of needs in developing countries.

The seed spices are aromatic vegetable products mostly used in whole or ground form for imparting flavour, aroma and pungency to food. The seed spices possess industrial importance and are used in cosmetics, perfumery and pharmaceutical preparations.  The major seed spices , coriander, cumin, fennel and fenugreek are cultivated in larger areas in arid to semi-arid regions covering major parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Besides these four crops, a minor group of under exploited seed spices crops has tremendous scope for their cultivation in arid to semi-arid parts of the country. Such under exploited seed spice crops are ajowan, dill, celery, anise, caraway, black caraway, parsley and nigella.

India produces currently 8.4 lakh t. of seed spices from an area of  5.7 lakh ha. Owing to large domestic demand and stringent export regulations only 10% of total production is exported and earns a foreign exchange of Rs. 225 crores annually. The global demand of seed spices is 1,50000 t. and India  exports only 60750 t. annually. It is suggested that if wide range of seed spice crops are grown across the country, present level of production and export can be doubled. Therefore in addition to major group of seed spices, the minor seed spices, so called under exploited crops should be given emphasis and promoted amongst farmers for earning more profit through  export.

Strobilanthes (of Acanthaceae) is a morphologically diverse and species rich genus extensively distributed in South and Southeast Asia (Carine,1997 and Moylan et al 2004). Approximately 74 species are found along the Western Ghats of Southern India - Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot (Carine, 1997). The mass flowering of Strobilanthes with blue coloured flower makes them promising plants for gardens.  The genus is subjected to several systematic revisions recently (Bennett and Scotland 2003, Carine et al. 2000, 2004 Carine and Scotland 1998, 2000, 2002 and Venu 2007). The most distinguishing character of the genera (Strobilanthes) is its monocarpic nature, i.e., flowers after a long period of vegetative growth ranging 1-15 years and in a few cases flowers after 35 years. Bremekamp (1944) used the term ‘plietesials’ for such monocarpic plants that take several years to reach maturity before flowering.

Wood apple (Feronia limonia (L) Swingle) is a thorny tree commonly found in dry deciduous forests. In India, it is known by several common names like elephant apple, curd apple, monkey fruit, kavat, curd fruit and kath bel. In Malaysia, it is known as gelinggai or belinggai; in Thailand, ma-khwit; in Cambodia, kramsang; in Laos, ma-fit; in French, pommed’ elephant, pomme de bois or citron des mois. The tree is very hardy and has tolerance to drought and salinity. Its cultivation as a fruit tree is rare, but fruits of naturally occurring trees in community lands, forests and on roadsides are  used for chutney and pickle making. Fruits being rich in pectin, minerals and vitamins offer unique opportunity to utilize them extensively for processing. Extensive root system and synchronization of its reproductive phase with high moisture availability make it a suitable crop for arid zones.

Origin and Distribution
The wood-apple is native and common in  wild in dry plains of India and SriLanka and cultivated along roads and edges of fields and occasionally in orchards. It is also grown throughout Southeast Asia, in Northern Malaysia and on Penang Island. In India, the fruit was traditionally a “poor man’s food” until processing techniques were developed in the mid-1950’s. It is one of the very hardy trees  growing all over the plains of India, especially in the semi-arid and arid regions. It is more common in Deccan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Iit also occurs in the Western Himalayas upto an elevation of about 500 m amol.

Dragon fruit  (Hylocereus undatus (Haw.) Britton and Rose) is a climbing vine cactus species which has received worldwide recognition, first, as an ornamental plant and then as a fruit crop. Its fruit is the most beautiful in the family Cactaceae with a bright red skin studded with green scales and white or red flesh with tiny black seeds.  The flower is so beautiful that it is nicknamed as Noble Woman or Queen of the Night.  The juicy flesh of the fruit is delicious in taste. It is well established as a new crop in Australia, China, Israel, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Taiwan and Vietnam. In Vietnam, it has become a major export crop, which fetches higher prices than even Durian, the King of Fruits in south East Asia.  The main constraint is that the establishment cost is high due to use of trellises for climbing. The cost of establishment will depend on the type of trellises used, and experience in Sri Lanka shows that relatively cheap trellising is sufficient. The other agronomic practices are easy and less expensive; maintenance cost is low and aftercare is minimal due to fewer pest and disease attacks. Further, the biggest advantage of this crop is that once planted, it grows for about 20 years, and one hectare could accommodate about 800 Dragon fruit plants.

Wild fruits were an important source of food for mankind before dawn of civilization and domestication of present day fruits. Cavemen in forests also depended on these fruits and passed on valuable information on utility and choice of wild species of fruits from generation to generation.Thus the present day horticulture came into existence. Also, wild varieties of plants, yielding edible fruits growing throughout the Himalayas, contributed directly to cultural heritage of India. Even today, these fruits are eaten in plenty by local people, as they are commonly available in abundance in their habitats. Fruit crops, which are neither grown commercially on large scale nor traded widely are called underutilized fruit crops. These are cultivated, traded and consumed locally. Underutilized fruit crops have many advantages in terms of easiness to grow, hardy in nature and  production of good crop even under adverse conditions. Most of them are rich sources of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Underutilized fruit crops play crucial role in successful running of processing industry round the year in the region. A large proportion of rural population depends on locally available fruits to meet their dietary requirements

Tree-borne vegetables spring out from woody perennial plants. There are too many trees in nature across the globe which offer edible fruits, a few of them are exploited for vegetable purpose. Of course, in popular parlance, vegetable gives the connotation of the product of herbaceous crop, but there are vegetables which are the product of woody perennials. In the present agri-horti-scenario, where diversity in product range is the most sought after aspect, attempts are underway to popularize culture of such vegetables which have not yet found commercial momentum at the grower’s field. Tree-borne vegetables are one such group which needs proper popularization to really help to percolate their farming. These vegetables being vested with woody nature, tap root system, bark covering and stress tolerance mechanism are worth exploitation under diverse farming systems prevalent across the country. Further many tree-borne vegetables are rich in nutrients also and as such add to their plus identity.

Teasle gourd, Momordica subangulata Blume ssp. renigera (G. Don) de Wilde (Cucurbitaceae), is a semidomesticate or a wild vegetable native to Assam-Myanmar region. As in  other dioecious Momordica species, it’s taxonomy and nomenclature were confused with M. dioica Roxb. (spine gourd=kartoli) and M. cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng. (sweet gourd=kakrol) (Joseph et al.2006). It is known by many vernacular names like kaksa (Bihar), lamkarote (Manipur), meeta chotela (Sikkim), kakrol (Bengal, Tripura), kakrul (Mizoram), bhat karela (Assam) and gantola (Bangalore). Allied to M. dioica, M. cochinchinensis and M. sahyadrica Joseph and Antony, in general morphology it is distinct from these species in its branched tuberous roots, cordate dentate unlobed leaves, prominently networked leaf veins, large creamy flowers with bull’s eye mark in three inner petals (also in M. cochinchinensis), reniform male bracts, very long female flower stalks and medium sized softly echinate dome shaped fruits with remnant ridges (Fig.1). A few workers reported it as tetraploid form of M. dioica (Misra and Sahoo 1983). It is referred to as M. cochinchinensis by Patnaik and Patnaik (1976), Shadeque and Baruah (1984) and Ram et al. (2002) and M. dioica by Maurya (1976) and Ali et al. (1991), whereas a recent revision of the genus in Malaysia and SE Asia by De Wilde and Duyfjes (2002) proved its botanical identity as Momordica subangulata ssp. renigera  (G. Don) de Wilde.

Sweet gourd, (Momordica cochinchinensis) (Cucurbitaceae),  called as ‘spiny gourd’,  ‘crow cucumber’, ‘spike fruited crow cucumber’ or ‘elephant bitter gourd’ and ‘gac fruit’ is a wild vegetable, native to East and South East Asia comprising India, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia and New Guinea (de Wilde and Duyfjes, 2002). It is by far the most extensively distributed and more variable species among the genus Momordica L. Even though, it is restricted to Andaman Islands and Assam in India, it occurs as a natural component of coastal scrub jungles and partially opened forests especially stream banks in South, Middle and North Andaman Islands (Joseph 2005). It is cultivated in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam by tribal people in their homegardens. It is grown as a vegetable in China and Japan (Jeffrey 2001). It is known by various vernacular names as ‘Adavi kakrol’ (Telugu), ‘Hathiya kankad’, ‘Gol kakra’ (Bengali) and ‘Jangli Kakrol’ (Andaman Islands).

Snapmelon [Cucumis melo L. var. momordica (Roxb.) Duthie * Fuller] originated  in India. It was intensively cultivated in the 19th century in Northern India (Duthie 1905) where it is commonly called as ‘Phut’ which means to split or crack. Immature fruits are cooked or pickled and the low sugared mature fruits are eaten raw. The mature fruits crack or burst. Fruit cracking is  either longitudinal or random starting in middle of fruit (Fig.1).

Ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt), a climbing, herbaceous perennial plant in family Cucurbitaceae, grows well under hot-humid conditions. The genus name is derived from the Latin coccineus, which means scarlet in reference to the fruit color. Thus, it is also called scarlet-fruited gourd. Other vernacular names are: little gourd in English, courge écarlate in French, pepino cimarrón in Spanish, tam leung or phak tam leung in Thai, kundree or kundru in Hindi, pepasan in Malay, hong-gua in Chinese, and tindori in East Africa (Schippers, 2002; MMPND, 2007; USDA, 2007). The plant is often collected wild or cultivated in home gardens in tropical Asia, and its tender shoots are consumed as potherb (Wasantwisut and Viriyapanich, 2003). Bundled tender shoots of ivy gourd in the village market setting are common scenes in Southeast Asia (Boonkerd et al., 1993; Engle et al., 1998). The fruit of its sweet type cultivar is also used widely as a vegetable in India (Ramachandran and Subramaniam, 1983; Sarnaik et al., 2001; Bharathi, 2007). Ivy gourd has a potential to be a valuable vegetable in the tropics to diversify cropping system in peri-urban and urban agriculture, and to improve diet and health, especially where vitamin A deficiency is of developing concern.

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii Spreng. Syn. Bergera koenigii Koen (N.O Aurantiaceae), Chaleas koenigii Curz ex. Swingle) is a perennial leaf vegetable. It belongs to family Rutaceae. Its genus name ‘Murraya’commemorates John Adam Murray, Professor of Botany at Gottingen and editor of many of Linnaeus’s works. (Fyson, 1977).

Origin and Distribution

The crop originated in the tarai tract of Uttar Pradesh (India), in the foothills of the Himalayas. Wild forms with less pungent leaves are seen along the plains and hills of Himalayas extending from Kumaon to Sikkim, in Bengal, Assam, Deccan plateau and in Western Ghats. At present, it is cultivated in Myanmar, SriLanka, China, Australia and Pacific Islands. The curry leaf grows throughout India including the Andaman Islands up to an altitude of 1500 m amol (Wealth of India, 1962). Dastur (1970) recorded its wild form in Garhwal hills in Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Bengal, Assam, Central India, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.  Used as a flavourant and as a leaf vegetable by the early inhabitants, Dravidians, curry leaf was introduced to Southern India when the Dravidians moved southward after the arrival of Aryans from Persia. It is a backyard crop in many of the South Indian homesteads.  The spicy leaves of plants are used extensively for seasoning and flavouring dishes.

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] popularly known as guar is a drought hardy, deep-rooted, summer annual legume, grown as feed, fodder, green manure, vegetable and seed in the dry habitats of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab and to a limited extent in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In addition to its major cultivation in India, the crop is grown as a cash crop in different countries like Australia, Brazil and South Africa. The crop is exceptionally known for its higher adaptation towards poor and erratic rains, low inputs and less care. Its other multi uses are soil enrichment in cropping systems, industrial uses, social and dietary uses. These qualities have made it as the most favoured crop of marginal farmers in the arid areas. Being a leguminous annual, its primary use is soil health enrichment through atmospheric nitrogen fixation; on an average basis it is estimated to be  30 kg N ha-1. The young pods of Cluster bean are a source of delicious vegetable from late summer to middle of rainy season. The pods are sweet and can often be cooked as those of Phaseolus bean pods and are a very good source of vitamin A, calcium, iron, phosphorus and ascorbic acid with enriched nutritional value.

Clove bean is christened so because of the resemblance of its thickened pedicel to the cloves of spice grown in isolated pockets of Kerala. This crop is neglected so long and remained unexploited though it has good potential for development. The tender and swollen pedicel of the fruit is used as a delicious vegetable vernacularly known as michi in Hindi and Bengali, garyo in Gujarati, kattuthali in Tamil, gariya in Marathi and nithya vazhuthana in Malayalam.

This vegetable grows from sea level as in Western Coasts of Kerala to an altitude of 1700 m amol in the Himalayas (Kirthikar and Basu 1935). The crop grows in the Gangetic plains and in Deccan hills. It is distributed in warmer parts of South and South East Asia including Upper Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China and Japan. (Raizada and Saxena 1978).

Drumstick or Moringa is one of the world’s most useful crops and  is a tropical tree with multiple uses and its main feature is that it  is hardy with tremendous capacity to withstand drought. It is indigenous to the sub-Himalayan track extending from river Chenab to Sharda. It is grown  in  arid to humid areas of the tropical region  as a  human food crop mainly as a vegetable, animal forage crop, medicine, dye and oil yielding crop and for water purification. Among the 13 species known in the family Moringaceae, Moringa oleifera Lam is particularly easy to reproduce and its growth is very fast. The species is characterized by its long, drum stick shaped pods which contain  seeds. Within this species, utilizing its fast growing nature  and bearing fruits or pods selections are made to release varieties which can be grown as annual crop.During the very first year of growth, moringa  grows up to 4 meters and  bears fruit within the same first year (Folkard and Sutherland, 1996). The plant sheds its leaves with  onset of winter, stops producing flowers and virtually fruit set will not be there.

The numerous economic uses of Moringa oleifera together with its easy propagation have raised growing international interest for this tree which originated from India and  found in most tropical countries (Africa, Asia and America). Presently its cultivation on large scale  is seen in  India, Israel, Thailand, South Asian Countries, Africa and Pacific Islands. Presently in India, it occupies an  area of about 40,000 ha with  major growing areas in  Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which account for  more than 80 % of the area and production in India.

Capsicum species are members of family Solanaceae, which include tomato, potato, tobacco and petunia.  Pepper, chile, chili, aji, paprika and capsicum are used interchangeably for plants in the genus Capsicum.  The word Capsicum is reserved for taxonomic discussion (Bosland, 1992). The indigenous people of Americas evolved pepper through breeding and domestication of Capsicum species. Global diversification was facilitated by age of exploration, and subsequent establishment of land races and farmers selections.  Classical genetic and cytogenetic exploitation of Capsicum species began in 1940s and continued throughout the century (Poulos, 1994). Data on crossability and hybrid sterility are developed to reinforce or revise views on the rank of morphologically distinguishable taxa, while studies on chromosomes and isozymes aided in understanding the relationships between domesticated and wild species and the course of evolution within the domesticated species.

Amaranth is one of the oldest food crops in the new world, with evidence of cultivation reaching back as far as 6-700 BC. This is probably due to the ability of these plants to adapt to new environments, an extremely broad climatic adaptability and their competitive ability, which permits culture with minimum crop management, thus making it an easy crop to cultivate and domesticate.

The adaptability of Amaranths could lead to cropping systems in these semi-arid regions of South Africa, so providing a very nutritious vegetable dish to the people’s diet.  Careful attention should be paid to the variety planted if it is to be successfully grown as a commercial crop so as to choose one which is palatable. The economic viability of growing amaranths should also be considered against its background as a food, particularly in areas of low rainfall, as it will still produce a yield, even under low rainfall and high temperature regimes.

It is clear that this crop has the potential to address malnutrition problems, earn money for farmers, decrease environmental damage, reduce poverty in communities and increase supply of food. Our fresh water supplies are decreasing, climatic change is increasing occurrence and severity of drought and heat. There is no doubt that these underutilised crops have the sufficient untapped potential to address a number of agricultural challenges, we are facing in the world today.

African leaf vegetables (ALVs) are vegetable species utilized for their leaves and have become a part of the African tradition. This is a dynamic concept that is changing with the African culture and the term ALV embraces not only indigenous, but also indigenised species. These species are very nutritious, and contain high levels of pro-vitamin A and iron. ALVs are often more hardy than the introduced “modern” vegetables. The important role that ALVs have played in African livelihood strategies has been ignored, especially in the last half of the twentieth century. This led to ALVs being seen as a low-status crop, but this perception  started to change during the last two decades. ALVs are entering the commercial market and regaining its equal status in many African countries. ALVs are mostly used as an ingredient in relishes and soups to accompany starchy staples and sometimes meat.

ALVs include species cultivated in farmer fields and home gardens, like  pumpkins and cowpeas, and species harvested from  wild and fallow lands, like eru and cleome. Certain cultivated species have only recently been domesticated after a long history of wild harvesting.  Currently, ALVs are mainly cultivated using traditional farm practices with almost no African countries having formal seed systems. After years of neglect by formal research, more and more research institutions are initiating research on ALVs. Amaranth, cleome, corchorus, cowpea, pumpkins, nightshades, african eggplant, moringa, ethiopian kale, roselle, bitterleaf, taro, slenderleaf and water spinach are listed as the most prominent ALVs in Africa.

This chapter demonstrates that modern advances in horticultural crop development may benefit from not only knowledge derived from extant ethnographic groups but extinct peoples as well. More than 18,000 archaeological sites were identified, and a dozen rock shelter sites investigated in the Zeekoe Valley, Upper Karoo, South Africa. A baseline for understanding potential contribution of plants to the Zeekoe Valley diet is crucial for developing models of land use and mobility patterns for Late Stone Age (LSA) inhabitants, particularly since  ethnographically known foragers in Botswana, some 800 km to the North, are as much as 80 % depend on plant foods for their survival.  Since native foraging groups are long extinct in this semi-arid region with abundant natural springs, a rigorous investigation of botanical and ethnohistoric literature forms the groundwork for field investigations where direct ethnographic observation is no longer an option. First, edible species in the study area are identified in the literature. They are then sought on the ground with the aid of local informants whose families reside in the valley for generations. It appears as though some knowledge of local plants gained from native foragers 150 years ago or more have remained in Afrikaans families passed down from landowning parent to child. On the ground, collection and middle range experimentation were followed by basic nutritional analysis.  These measures were then used to compare foraging efficiency to measures from extant foraging groups.

Palms are monocot species, belonging to the family Palmae (Arecaceae). They are perennial and distinguished by having woody stems. Coconut, Arecanut and Oil palm are the major crops coming under this group. Palmyra is a naturally occurring palm in many parts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal States. Palmyrah is utilized by the locals for tapping inflorescence sap and for fruit. Palms of India are represented by 20 genera and about 96 species among which 24 species belonging to nine genera are endemic to India. The largest genus, Calamus with 44 species is followed by Phoenix seven, Pinanga five and the rest with less than five species each. The genera Borassus, Salaca, Livistona, Nypa, Hyphaene and Ptychoraphis are represented by a single species each. In addition, C. nucifera and A. catechu are extensively cultivated as plantation crops. They have almost naturalized in parts of Kerala and Andaman Nicobar Islands. Except P. sylvestris, C. urens and B. flabellifer which are widespread in peninsular India, the rest are of restricted distribution in specialized eco-geographical regions of the country. The forests of Andaman–Nicobar islands (13 genera, 24 species), northeastern and eastern Himalayan region (12 genera, 36 species) and the Western Ghats (7 genera, 30 species) are major centres of palm concentration. Nypa fruticans and Phoenix paludosa are fringe mangrove species occurring in salt marshes of Sundar-bans and Andaman–Nicobar islands. P. paludosa is also found in Orissa.

Tree tomato belongs to the family solanaceae, genus Cyphomandra and species betacea. The Cyphomandra genus is made up of about 30 species. Shaw (1996) has reported that Cyphomandra genus consists of 35 species confined to the New World tropics. They were earlier described under the genus Solanum. They can be separated from Solanum  by several characters, the most important being anther characters. In Cyphomandra in the anther the connective is thickened and expanded dorsally. As a result, it is clearly differentiated from the anther thecae, which is thin walled and papillose.

Economically important plant in this genus is Cyphomandra betacea. Other important related species are Cyphomandra casana (Casana), C. craccifolia (Mountain tomato) and C. fragrans (Guava tamarillo). It has got distant affinity with Lycopersicon esculentum (Tomato), Physalis ixocarpa (Tomatillo), P. peruviana (Cape gooseberry), Solanum muricatum (Pepino Dulce) and S. sessiliflorum (Cocona).

Kangkong also known as water spinach, water convolvulus and swamp cabbage is an important leaf vegetable in South East Asia including Taiwan and Malaysia. It is a semi aquatic herbaceous plant having trailing or floating habit; sometimes it is biennial or perennial. Normally the main shoot of this plant trails horizontally and lateral shoots bear leaves and flowers and trail like the main shoot. Stem is hollow and leaves are arranged alternate. The succulent foliage is light green and leaves are elliptic or ovate oblong and cordate at the base. Flowers are 2.5 to 5 cm long, white or pale purple with dark purple eye, solitary or in five flowered cyme. Fruit is a capsule, ovoid and smooth with 2 to 4 seeds. This crop is ideally suited to areas where water stagnation is a problem and is found trailing on moist soil or mud along margins of stagnant ponds, streams, marshes and wet rice fields. It is sometimes found floating on water surface. At every node, it produces a number of adventitious roots.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. With approximately 100 species and 10,000 cultivated hybrids, they are very important as ornamental plants.A few reports describe Begonia as edible; the highest number of these species is found in America, some in Asia, and we have only one report of an edible Begonia in Africa.

The Begonia family has a tropical and subtropical distribution in America, Asia and Africa. There are approximately 600 species in America, and the same number in Asia.

Africa, including Madagascar and the Mascarenes, has 158 reported species, one third of which are endemic to Madagascar and associated Isles (Mascarenes, Seychelles and Comoros). Only ones species, B. grandis Dryander, is widely distributed in temperate regions, extending northwards near Beijing (Forrest & Hollingsworth, 2003; Plana, 2003).

My first experience with Colocasia gigantea (Blume) Hook. f. (Araceae) was one of personal cultural food use. I recently came to Hawai‘i for my Ph.D. studies, and although I am Vietnamese, it was in Hawai‘i that I began experiencing many Vietnamese foods I never knew as a child growing up in the northeastern U.S. I thank the Vietnamese immigrants in Hawai‘i that became my aunties and uncles from whom I learned a great deal about my roots and the food of Vietnam. I listened to their stories and teachings while we ate together at holiday and community events, reflecting on my childhood, and considering the effects of globalization on the movement of people and plants, I have come to understand the extraordinary significance of that seemingly mundane first experience of eating C. gigantea. In this paper, I describe the botany, ethnobotany,  including a case study of C. gigantea usage in Hawai‘i and the implications for biocultural diversity, and examples for increased utilization of C. gigantea.