eChapters

Food is composed of three main constituents viz; carbohydrates, proteins and fats and their derivatives. In addition to these constituents, inorganic mineral elements and diverse organic compounds like vitamins, pigments, flavouring compounds, enzymes, and acids are also present. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins are organic in nature. The percentage of water is large in certain foods. The variation in structure, texture, colour, flavour and nutritive value is because of the varying proportions and arrangements of these constituents.

Carbohydrates are important in foods as a major source of energy, to impart crucial textural properties, and as dietary fiber which influences physiological processes. Digestible carbohydrates, which are converted into monosaccharides, which are absorbed, provide metabolic energy. Carbohydrates account for more than 70% of the caloric value of the human diet. It is recommended that all persons should limit calories from fat to not more than 30% and that most of the carbohydrate calories should come from starch. Non-digestible polysaccharides (all other than starch) comprise the major portion of dietary fiber.

1. TERMS RELATED WITH BROWNING

1. INTRODUCTION

Quality, i.e. the degree of excellence or superiority, is a combination of attributes, properties, or characteristics that each commodity value in of human food. The relative importance of each quality component depends upon the commodity and its intended use (e.g. fresh or processed) and varies among producers, handlers, and consumers. Appearance of quality, firmness and shelf-life are important from the point of view of wholesale and retail marketers. Consumers judge quality of fresh fruits and vegetables on the basis of appearance and firmness, flavour (eating) quality of the product. Consumers are also concerned about the nutritional quality and safety of fresh fruit and vegetables.

1. FRUIT CROPS

1.1 Physiological Disorders

A wide variety of physiological disorders are found in apple fruit, but the susceptibility varies with variety, pre-harvest factors and post harvest conditions. Disorders can be considered in three categories:

1. Disorders that develop only on the tree: Most important is watercore in which intercellular air spaces in the core and cortical tissues become filled with liquid, Presence of watercore in fruit at harvest creates problems in certain varieties such as ‘Delicious’ because fruit with moderate or severe watercore can develop breakdown during storage.
2. Disorders that develop on the tree and during storage: Bitter pit is a disorder characterized by development of discrete pitting of the cortical flesh. Rapid cooling, CA storage and application of postharvest calcium drenches may be able to reduce its occurrence.
3. Disorders that develop during storage: Senescent breakdown disorders, chilling disorders and disorders associated with inappropriate atmospheres during storage are common disorders. The most common disorders associated with temperature and atmospheres are superficial scald, soft scald, low temperature breakdown, brown core, internal browning, low O2 injury, and high CO2 injury.

I. POST HARVEST DISEASES

A. Post-Harvest Diseases of Fruits

1. INTRODUCTION

Grading and packing of fruits ensure the safe transportation from the farm to the storage and consumer centre, while reducing the damage during transportation. The properly graded fruits should be packed in such a way that they do not collide with each other during transportation. Throughout the entire handling system, packaging can be both an aid and hindrance to obtaining maximum storage life and quality. Before the fruit is packed in a suitable container/package it is graded according to the standard grades accepted in the market. Packaging is one of the important components after grading during the handling of fruits. Packaging is meant to protect the commodity by immobilizing and cushioning it, but temperature management can be made more difficult if packing material block ventilation holes. Packing material can act as vapour barriers and helps in maintaining higher relative humidity within the package. Packaging material such as trays, cups, wraps, liners and pads may be added to help immobilize the produce. A wide variety of containers such as wooden boxes, plastic crates, corrugated fiberboard boxes are important package used in the transportation and distribution of fruits in most of the developing countries.

1. INTRODUCTION

Harvesting is the process of gathering the crops from the fields at maturity. The harvesting of a commodity means the end of the growing season for a particular crop. Harvesting is the most labour-intensive activity of the growing season. Harvesting in general includes an immediate post-harvest handling, the actions taken immediately after removing the crop are pre-cooling, sorting, cleaning, packaging and up to the point of on-farm processing or shipping to the wholesaler or consumer.

Harvest timing is a critical decision that balances the likely weather conditions with the degree of crop maturity. Weather conditions such as frost, rain and unseasonably warm or cold periods can affect yield and quality. These conditions can be avoided by harvesting the commodities earlier than the harvest date, but this may result in poor yield and quality. On the other hand, delayed harvesting also results in a better yield, but increases the risk of weather problems. Thus, proper harvesting timings of horticultural commodities often play an important role.

Assessment of harvesting time is a critical time for growers of fruit and vegetables to decide the accurate period of crop harvesting. Fresh produce is normally ready for harvest when it has developed to the ideal condition for consumption and the condition is usually referred to as harvest maturity. Harvest maturity thus refers to the time when the “fruit” is ready to harvest and the time required to reach market. The harvesting should be done earlier than its ideal maturity for proper marketing.

Most growers decide harvesting time for different commodities by looking and sampling. Judgments are based on colour, size and shape (Sight); texture, hardness or softness (Touch); odour/aroma (Smell); sweetness, sourness, bitterness (Taste) etc. Experience is the best guide for this kind of assessment. Harvest maturity can readily be observed in some fruit crops but it can be more difficult in case of some fruits like avocados remain unripe off the tree after maturity.

1. MATURITY INDICES

Maturity indices (right time of harvesting) are quality factors that give clues as to when a product should be harvested to allow marketing flexibility and ensure the attainment of minimum acceptable quality to the user. It also refers to the set of criteria used to determine the stage of maturity for harvesting the horticultural crops. Commodities harvested either pre-mature or too late are more susceptible to postharvest physiological disorders, diseases and have poor shelf life than harvested at right stage of maturity. The pickers/ handlers are trained in methods of identifying produce that is ready for harvest. However, optimum harvesting stages depends upon type of produce and their final use. Horticultural crops may be harvested at two main maturity levels i.e., physiological maturity and commercial or horticultural maturity. Therefore, the proper stage/maturity indices for harvesting of all horticultural crops should be identified for their implementation during harvesting. Horticultural maturity in relation to developmental stages of the plants is depicted in Fig 3.1.

I. INTRODUCTION

The fruits and vegetables we eat and flowers and ornamentals we enjoy are biological entities. They breath, produce heat, perspire, are easily damaged, get diseases and finally die. These carry on processes characteristics of all living things before or after harvest to perform the metabolic activities:

1. to maintain cellular organization
2. to transport metabolites around the tissue and
3. to maintain membrane permeability.

I. INTRODUCTION

Horticultural crops include fruits, vegetables, flowers, plantation crops, spices, and medicinal and aromatic plants have emerged as a major economic activity in India. It contributes 30% GDP from 11.73 % of its arable land area. Horticulture crops cover over 23.4 million hectares of area, which is approximately 12.7% of the total gross cropped area of the country and contributes 18-20% of the gross value of India’s agricultural output (NHB, 2013). India is the world’s second largest fruit and vegetable producing country accounting for 77.7 million metric tonnes of fruit and 159.5m M tonnes of vegetables (NHB, 2013). Besides, about 5.66 million tonnes of loose flowers, spices, mushroom and aromatic plants are also produced. The country produces 41% of world mangoes, 23% banana, 24% cashew nut, 36% green peas, 10% onion and 30% cauliflower and accounts for 12% of world fruit and 13.25% of vegetable production (NHB, 2013). Owing to wide diversity of agro climatic conditions, almost all types of temperate (apple, peach, plum, apricot, cherries and nuts), subtropical (mango, guava, papaya, etc), tropical (banana, pineapple etc), arid fruit (ber and aonla), plantation crops (coconut, cashewnut and arecanut) and diverse variety of vegetables are grown in India. The export of fresh fruit and vegetables from India in 2006-07 was estimated at 9.84 Lakh tonnes valued at Rs 2411.70 crores. Mango, grapes, apple, onion, potato, green vegetables like okra, bitter gourd and green chillies were the major items of export. Similarly, India exported 5.97 Lakh tonnes of processed foods comprising of mango pulp, juices, concentrates, dried and processed vegetables, pickle and chutney, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages worth Rs 2818.1 crores (APEDA, 2012) (Table 1 to 3).

Importance

Ajwain is an important seed spice and is also useful for its medicinal values. It is a traditional potential herb for curing many ailments in human and animals. It is usually used as a digestive aid, relieves abdominal discomfort due to indigestion and antiseptic. The seeds of ajwain is bitter, pungent and contain 2-4.4% brown coloured oil known as ajwain oil. The main component of this oil is Thymol, which is used as gastrointestinal ailment, lack of appetite and bronchial problems. Thymol is also used in toothpaste and perfumery (Joshi, 2000). Seeds are also used for curing abdominal pains, abdominal tumors and piles (Krishnamoorty and Madalgeri, 1999). In southern parts of India dry ajwain seeds are powdered and soaked in milk, which is then filtered and fed to babies as it relieves colic in babies. It can be used as digestive mixture in large animals.

Importance

It is one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, in many years second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to producing countries. Its cultivation, processing, trading, transportation and marketing provide employment for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Coffee is crucial to the economies and politics of many developing countries; for many of the world’s Least Developed Countries, exports of coffee account for more than 50 percent of their foreign exchange earnings. Coffee is a traded commodity on major futures and commodity exchanges, most importantly in London and New York.

Importance

It helps to cope with fever, cough and cold, stress, high blood pressure, excessive fats in body. It lowers the cholesterol level, cleanse the body by eliminating toxic substances, improve the digestive system, improve blood circulation, cleanses other organs of our body including kidney, pancreas, liver, bladder etc.and aid to deal with menstrual problems. The oil is distilled from leaves and flowering tops of Lemon grass. The oil has strong lemon-like odour, due to high percentage (over 75%) of citral in the oil. The characteristic smell of oil makes its use in scenting of soaps, detergents, insect repellent preparations. However, the major use of oil is as a source of citral, which goes in perfumery, cosmetics, beverages and is a starting material for manufacture of ion ones, which produces vitamin – A. The Citral rich oil has germicidal, medicinal and flavouring properties. An allied species called West Indian lemon grass (C.citratus) has low citral content in the oil and has meager trade in the country.

Importance

Ginger is a perennial herbaceous monocotyledon, usually grown as annual, and is known to human as spice as well as medicinal crop. The word Zingiber is thought to come from the Sanskrit word singabera meaning ‘shaped like a horn’. It probably got its name because the rhizomes look like deer’s antlers. It first appeared in the writings of Confucius in the 5^th century B.C.

The economic part is the underground rhizomes, which is pungent and aromatic. It is valued for its medicinal properties and is useful against gastritis, dyspepsia, cold and cough. It is widely used in food, beverages, confectionery, etc. Baby ginger or young ginger results from early harvesting and is a gourmet quality product with a tender, low-fiber texture and is mostly used for pickling. Rhizome contains proteins, fibre, starch, essential oil, Zingiberol, Glutamic acid, Aspartic acid, Glucose, Fructose, and Sucrose. Most ginger varieties have about 3-6% crude fibre, 1.5-3.0% volatile oil and 4-10% oleoresin. The major pungent principle in ginger oleoresin is gingerol. Among the gingerols 6-gingerol, 8gingerol and 10-gingerol are very important in contributing the pungency. Gingerol (Hydroxy methoxy phenyl decanone) on storage gets converted to another compound called shogaol. The age of ginger oleoresin can be assessed based on the shogaol content. Chemically, gingerol is a relative of capsaicin, the compound that gives chilli its spiciness. Cooking ginger transforms gingerol into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma.

Spices are non-leafy parts (e.g. bud, fruit, seed, bark, rhizome and bulb) of plants used as a flavoring or seasoning, although many can also be used as a herbal medicine. They are those plants, the products of which are made use as food adjuncts to add aroma and flavour or they are derived vegetable substances which are used for seasoning the food imparting distinctive flavour and fragrance that gives zest or piquancy for enjoyment. The term ‘spice’ originated from the Latin word ‘species’, meaning of specific kind. A closely related term, ‘herb’, is used to distinguish plant parts finding the same uses but derived from leafy or soft flowering parts. For example Black pepper, Ginger, Turmeric, Chilli, Cinnamon, Nutmeg etc. Spices are generally composed of fiber, carbohydrate, fat, sugar, protein, gum, ash, volatile (essential oils), and other nonvolatile components. All of these components impart each spice’s particular flavour, colour, nutritional, health, or preservative effects. The flavour components (volatile and nonvolatile) are protected within a matrix of carbohydrate, protein, fiber, and other cell components. When the spice is ground, cut, or crushed, this cell matrix breaks down and releases the volatile components (Raghavan, 2007).

1. INTRODUCTION

Landscaping is a branch of ornamental horticulture having aesthetic and beautifying value which freshens up the atmosphere, enhances the look of the environment and improves beauty of land. In the area of landscaping, it is beneficial to know about ground covers (grasses etc), hedging plants, and focus plants that will complement one another.

A garden by definition is a piece of land devoted to growing flowers, fruits, vegetables, shrubbery and turf. Gardens brighten their surroundings and they add to the beauty of the landscape. The types of flowers that can be grown in a garden depend on the size of the garden, its location and the amount of sunshine and shade it gets.

1. INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE

Flower arrangement is a very old art. In India, the flowers have been earlier arranged in temples and during festivities. The first rules of ikebana were laid down in Japan more than a thousand years ago. Flowers have been widely used for interior decoration, but they were cut from the garden and simply massed into water-filled containers to brighten the home. The beauty of the display relied upon the blooms themselves rather than the aesthetic appeal of the design. Even at homes and venues of festivals/functions/on auspicious occasions, flowers are used in a big way in the form of garlands, wall hangings, and floor decorations. Flower arrangements grace table tops, window sills, corners, fire places, and so on to suit the occasion.

Flower arrangement may be defined as the art of organizing and grouping together plant materials (flowers, foliage, fruits, twigs etc) to achieve harmony of form, colour and texture, thereby adding cheer, life and beauty to the surroundings.

Various types of arrangements are chosen, as appropriate to the area and occasion. Medium sized ‘round’ arrangements are often provided at the guest relations executives’ desk in the lobby and on coffee tables in the lounges. In most five-star hotels, one can see huge, spectacular arrangements in the loggies. Table arrangements for conferences must be low so that guests may see over them. At informal banquets, large arrangements may be seen. At wedding banquets, wall arrangements using gerberas are very popular, now a days. On special occasions and festivals, a large amount of flowers is required for making up various types of arrangements. The extent to which flowers are used in hotel interiors depends on the degree of luxury provided, the number of special functions held.

The housekeeper is responsible for all flower arrangements and their placement. Simple arrangements such as a bud in a vase can be done. Alternatively, flower arrangements may be provided on contract, in which case the arrangements are brought in and taken away at agreed times and little or no floral work is carried out on the premises. Arrangements like running water, containers, buckets, vases, scissors and flower pots are important.

1. INTRODUCTION

Annuals are the group of plants that complete their life cycle in one season or in one year during which they grow, flower and produce seed; and after this they wither out. A true annual (like zinnia) is a plant that will grow from seeds, flower, produce seeds and die in one season. Zinnias provide a succession of flowers for summer colour in any sunny location with good soil drainage

The term annual when applied to herbaceous ornamentals refers to plants that are grown for only one season. A true annual completes its life cycle (bears seed) in one season and has an extended bloom span lasting (in most cases) throughout the summer. Some plants that we use like annuals in the garden actually are herbaceous perennial plants that bloom the first season but are unable to survive the winter climate.

Some varieties will self-sow or naturally reseed themselves. This may be undesirable in many flowers because the parents of this seed are unknown and hybrid characteristics get lost. Plants will scatter everywhere instead of growing in their designated spot. Examples: Alyssum, Petunias and Impatiens. Impatiens flowers are currently the most popular annuals and are unsurpassed for abundant flowers in a shady garden. Some perennials, which are plants that live from year to year are classed with annuals because they are not winter-hardy and must be set out every year. Examples are begonias and snapdragons.

Typically, the annuals we think are as loving the heat of summer, but there are some popular annual plants that prefer the cool of spring and fall. Examples: pansies, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale. These plants actually grow more lush and vigorous when the weather is cool not hot and dry; therefore, they are often offered for sale in early spring.

1. INTRODUCTION

Medicinal plants constitute considerably a large component of natural vegetation. Several of these species are in great demand for domestic consumption as well as for commercial use by the herbal industry. About 800 species are estimated to be in trade with a turnover of Rs.4000 crores per year. This high demand by the herbal industry has put enormous pressure on the wild populations leading to destructive collection of the produce as maximum species of medicinal plants are wild.

A medicinal plant is as any plant which contains substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes or which are precursor for chemo- pharmaceutical synthesis. The medicinal plants are useful as a drug or therapeutic agent, having different medicinal values in form of active ingredient. Medicinal plants may therefore be defined as a group of plants that possess some special properties or virtues which make them important as drugs, therapeutic agents and for medicinal purposes.

Medicines from India are used by about 60 per cent of the world’s population. These are not only used for primary health care not just in rural areas in developing countries, but also in developed countries as well where modern medicines are predominantly used. While the traditional medicines are derived from medicinal plants, the herbal drugs are prepared from medicinal plants only. Use of plants as a source of medicine has been an ancient practice and is an important component of the health care system in India. There are about 45,000 medicinal plant species in India, with concentrated spots in the region of Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Island. India is the largest producer of medicinal herbs and is called the botanical garden of the world. In rural India, 70 per cent of the population depends on the traditional type of medicine, the Ayurveda. Ayurveda and Kabiraji (herbal medicine) are two important forms of alternative medicine that is widely available in India. It is estimated that about 80,000 species of plants are utilized in some form or other by the different systems of Indian medicine. Many herbs and spices are used in Indian cooking, such as onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, clove, cardamom, cinnamom, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, fennel, ajowan (ajwain), anise, amchur, bay leaf, hing (asafoetida) etc. Ayurvedic medicine uses all of these either in diet or as a medicine.

1. DEFINITIONS

Various definations of weed have been proposed. Weed is defined as a valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop. Weed means any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted. The weed have also been defined a plant considered undesirable. Weeds are commonly unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns and parks. A weed may be any plant that grows or reproduces aggressively, or is outside its native habitat. Some plants that often are considered to be weeds are Bermuda grass, creeping Charlie, dandelion, golden rod, poison ivy, ragweed, wild carrot, wood sorrel, nutsedge etc.

1. INTRODUCTION

Exotic means anything of foreign origin and something not of native growth. Exotic vegetables are those species introduced to a country or location. Broccoli, Brussels sprout, Knol- Khol, Red Cabbage, Lettuce, Asparagus, Baby Sweet Corn, Chive, Garden beet, Kale, Swiss chard, Parsley, Parsnip, Chinese cabbage and Leek are important exotic vegetables. These generally require cool temperature.

Due to increasing foreign culture and increasing living standards, the demand of exotic vegetables is continuously increasing in cosmopolitan cities and five star hotels. These are good in taste and have high nutritive value. Most of the exotic vegetables can be used in salad and soups. These crops are very remunerative.

In urban areas only few part time grower devote time to the production of exotic vegetable. Exotic vegetable farming is profitable venture that require little capital and become source of livelihood to the farmer. The increase in their output level and profit will contributing to food security in the country. About 50% world population living in the cities. The rapid urbanization poses new challenges for food security. It is hard for most of the cities in the developing countries to provide sufficient employment for rapid increasing population. Some district of Maharashtra like Pune, Nasik & Satara now growing exotic vegetables like asparagus and broccoli. Cherry tomato, leek, lettuce, red cabbage & baby corn are also important as exotic vegetables.

In HP cultivation of Exotic Vegetable like asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, leek, chinese cabbage, snow pea, and parsley start picking up in Theog, Matyana, Saproon Valley, Sirmour, Katrain, Manali, Narkanda & Sanj Valley. These vegetables are beneficial for health as they are rich in phyto-chemicals and neutraceuticals. India is endowed with a wide range of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate agroclimatic conditions, therefore almost all kinds of vegetable crops grown around the world can be cultivated in one or the other corner. There is a lot of potential for exotic vegetables for domestic and export market. Important one are:

1. INTRODUCTION

Vegetables differ widely from field crops in their requirements for land preparation and cultural practices because of their differences in their morphologies, growth habit, and socio-economic values. In preparing land for vegetable production, ecological location, mode of cropping, season, crop disposition and the type of vegetables to be grown are taken into consideration.

Clearing: It is often necessary to remove the vegetation cover when a piece of land is to be used for vegetable production. The land clearing methods may involve removing the remains of previous crops and undergrowth, cutting back the woody shrubs and trees and burning them.

Levelling: When the site has been cleared, uneven land may have to be leveled. This facilitates the process of ploughing, harrowing ridging and layout of the site.

Land preparation and layout depend on

1. INTRODUCTION

Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) has become a widely practiced Hi-tech horticulture practice. It refers to maintenance of soil fertility and plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity through optimization of the benefits from all possible sources of plant nutrients in an integrated manner. Another important aspect of INM is for enhancing of the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) by proper placement of fertilizer in close proximity to the rhizosphere of the highest root activity. Today, Integrated Nutrient Management has become one of the common practices among progressive horticulture producers.

INM involves proper combination of chemical fertilizers, organic manures, crop residues, nitrogen fixing crops and bio-fertilizers suitable to the system of land use under ecological, social and economic conditions. INM involves maintenance or adjustment of plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining the desired crop productivity.

1. INTRODUCTION

Leaf and soil analysis are the tools to estimate the fertilizer needs of fruit crops. Leaves are selected for analysis because:

• Leaf is the principal site of plant metabolism.
• The changes in nutrient supply are reflected in the leaf composition.
• The changes are more pronounced at certain stages of development.
• The concentration of nutrients in the leaf at specific growth stages are related to performance of the plant.

1. INTRODUCTION

Canopy management is the manipulation of tree canopy to optimize its production potential with excellent quality fruits. In many fruit crops, increase in production with enhanced fruit quality is obtained by managing canopies of short statured trees. Small trees capture and utilize the sunlight properly and results into better fruit production.

The fruit growers desire to regulate the growth and development of their trees in a scientific manner. This is because it is not always wise to allow a plant to develop naturally, since unwanted portions may develop which may affect the production. The removal of unwanted parts of plant is thus known as pruning. The practice of pruning as and when performed in an appropriate manner, keeps the plant in such shape and condition as to yield fruits of desired quality.

Canopy management depends on the nature and growth pattern of plant, number of plants /ha and pruning techniques used by the farmers in their fields. Pruning should be done when trees are young to establish their basic shapes and sizes, and continued as trees mature. Trees that grow too close together shade out the lower canopy portions and in turn decrease their fruit setting. These trees are required to be pruned to allow the light to reach the top and lower sides of trees. Pruning is done either to encourage the growth (thinning) or to reduce the tree size (heading back). Thinning of bearing trees encourages vegetative growth, and removes interior branches, encouraging the outward growth of plants. Heading back reduces the outward canopy growth through topping and hedging of branches.

1. DEFINITIONS

Propagation : Propagation of plants may be defined as the controlled reproduction of plants by man to perpetuate selected individual or groups of individual plants which have specific value to him or it is the perpetuation of plants as independent units by means of seeds, bulbs, layers, cuttings, or grafts.

• Seed: A seed has been defined as a young plant packed ready to start growing when required.
• Apomixis: Development of seeds without the complete sexual process is known as apomixes and seed produced in this manner is called apomictic seeds.
• Seed dormancy: The embryo of the seed remains in inactive stage from the time of its development to the time it germinates. This failure of the embryo is termed as dormancy of the seed.
• After-ripening: Some seeds germinate fully when freshly harvested, but they germinate after a period of dry storage. The change taking place in such seeds are known as after- ripening.
• Embryo dormancy: Conditions existing within the embryo.
• After-ripening dormancy: Seeds fail to germinate when freshly harvested, but they germinate after a period of dry storage. Such seeds are known as after-ripening dormant seeds. This is due to the physiological changes taking place in embryo.

1. INTRODUCTION

The demand for high quality planting material is steadily increasing due to interest in vegetable gardening. The need of setting up plant nurseries to meet the demands of the people has been felt by small and marginal farmers as well as by gardeners and farm house owners. In order to meet this demand, there is ample scope for introduction of small nurseries which will serve to augment the incomes of needy sections of rural society. Almost all vegetables crops are propagated by seeds, except sweet potatoes, asparagus, garlic, potato etc., which does better if propagated vegetatively. Among the vegetable crops which are propagated by seeds, cucurbits, beans, peas, radish, turnip, carrots and leafy vegetables seeds are sown directly in the fields. Other vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, onion, chilli etc. are first sown in nursery beds where seedlings are raised and then transplanted.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nursery management is the backbone of fruit industry. The nurseries will have to play vital role in planned work for increasing the area under orchard. They are indeed the hub on which the success of an orchard depends. It provides continuous supply of healthy and certified planting material. So, one should give utmost attention while raising fruit plants.

The fruit plants are the foundation on which an orchard is built. If the plants are reliable and of guaranted performance, they will be high yielding and will produce quality fruits. There are many nurserymen in several fruit belts of the country who multiply thousands of fruit plants vegetatively for sale. It is desirable to raise only reliable, true-to-type, disease resistant and vigorous and precocious plants in order to have success in the fruit development programme in the country. At present there are several research stations and progeny- cum-demonstration orchards, Govt nurseries and also private registered nurseries engaged in the propagation of fruit plants.

Stone fruits like peaches, plums, apricots, almonds and cherries liked by one and all throughout the world for its colour, taste and nutritional value and grown in all part of the temperate zone and lower hill area of the country. The common procedure to raise nursery trees is to grow rootstocks from seeds or cuttings and then to bud known suitable varieties upon them. The stone fruits do not come true- to-type when raised from seed and therefore, nursery plants are generally raised through vegetative methods of propagation either on their own roots by cuttings or layering techniques or on the roots of other plants (rootstocks) by budding and grafting techniques. Rootstocks play an important role in quality fruit production. The stone fruits are generally propagated on rootstocks rather than on their own roots to have an advantage of rootstocks, like growth control, precocity, cropping and resistance to insect-pest and diseases.

1. IMPORTANCE

Nutrients are known to influence each and every physiological process within plant system. A considerable amount of various nutrients has been reported to drain off every year with the yield, pruning wood and fallen leaves from the plant and soil system. Therefore, for successful fruit culture, assessment of nutritional status of an orchard assumes significance. The key to mineral nutrition of any orchard is the judicious application of fertilizers on the basis of leaf and soil analysis. The nutrients requirements of fruit trees may vary from crop to crop and includes the soil as well as foliar application of the required major and micro-nutrients. Low level of nutrient results in low yields which are much below the realizable potential. There are a number of reasons why better nutrient management in horticultural crops deserves serious attention. The nutrition management of fruit crops is important:

1. To obtain higher yields and higher returns.
2. To increase the returns from established orchards.
3. To help improving the nutritional standards of the people by providing adequate supply of fruits and vegetables at affordable prices.
4. To provide greater and better quality raw material for fruit and vegetable processing industries, and
5. To help earning foreign exchange through the export of high quality produce in fresh or processed form.

1. INTRODUCTION

Fruit production is not only the growing of fruit plants but it is an outcome of well planned orcharding system. The designing of an orchard for successful fruit production depends upon various physical as well as climatic conditions and resources which help in building up of fruit growing systems. An orchard is a long term investment, mistakes committed at initial stage of planning, selection of site and soil reduces the return greatly from investment, beside wastage of time and energy. Thus, a faultless planning with utmost care and attention become quite imperative while planning a new orchard.

2. PLANNING OF ORCHARD

Before undertaking the actual planting of fruit trees, it is advisable to plan the complete process/steps, which will enable the grower to provide not only the most economic orchard management, but also for the economic layout and location of roads, drains, irrigation channels, hedges and wind breaks. For establishing an orchard of fruits, the major consideration must be given to four important aspects like climate, site or location selection, soil condition and basic facilities (economic and market consideration).

1. IMPORTANCE

India is bestowed with a varied agro-climate, which is highly favourable for growing a large number of horticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, root tubers, ornamentals, aromatic plants, medicinal herbs, spices and plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, cashew and cocoa. It has emerged as an indispensable part of agriculture, offering a wide range of choices to the farmers for crop diversification. It also provides ample opportunities for sustaining large number of agro-industries which generate substantial employment opportunities. India has emerged as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables; with largest producer of coconut, arecanut, cashew, ginger, turmeric, black pepper and tea, among plantation crops.

The changing scenario encourages private investment, to go for Hi-tech Horticulture with micro-propagation, protected cultivation, drip irrigation, fertigation and integrated nutrient and pest management, besides making use of latest post harvest measures particularly in the case of perishable commodities. As a result, horticulture crop production has moved from rural confines to commercial ventures and has attracted youth since it has proved to be intellectually satisfying and economically rewarding. It is essential to appreciate the contribution of horticulture, landscaping and gardening in the hospitality industry. Aesthetic use of horticulture freshens up the atmosphere, enhances the look of the property and creates a lasting impression on guests. It also has a beneficial effect on the health.

Role of Biotechnological Approaches

In our fore-going chapters, we have studied variety of plant products such as alkaloids, glycosides, volatile or essential oils, gums and mucilage and oleoresins with varied role to play to the plants as well as to human.Knowledge of plants and knowledge of healing have been closely linked. It is well established that industries have many direct and indirect effects on human population. Increased stress is most evident at the same time health awareness goes parallel in the recent times. Most of the natural plant products are compounds biosynthetically derived from primary metabolites such as amino acids, carbohydrate metabolic intermediates and fatty acids. These secondary metabolites are the major sources of pharmaceuticals, food additives, fragrance and pesticides.

Application of biotechnology know how helps to synthesize the novel molecules and also could be beneficial to enhance the production of secondary metabolites. Classical definition of biotechnology states that it is “The use of living organisms or their products to enhance our lives and our environment.” The word Pharming is commonly use to describe genetically engineered plants or livestock to produce medically useful products –predominantly protein drugs. Plants or animals are genetically engineered to contain genes capable of producing a biologic or drug compound. Therapeutic proteins are designed to treat illness includes serum proteins, cytokines, growth regulators, anti coagulants, antbiotics, lysosomal enzymes and plant secondary metabolites.

Isolation and Purification of Secondary Metabolites

Isolation

The act of isolating something; setting something apart from others.

Purification

The process of making pure, free from anything that debases, pollutes, or contaminates, the process of removing impurities.

The term rare amino acid is misleading in some respects. It refers to all those amino acids that are not incorporated into proteins. We already got to know some of them like ornithine or citrulline that are rather common intermediates of the basic metabolism. Roughly 220 different structures are known, most of which occur in plant cells in a free state though glutamate-, oxalate- or acetyl- derivatives can also sometimes be found.

Plant oleoresins, often referred to as resins, are sticky plant secretions synthesized in large quantities by about 10 % of plant families. Resin is secreted when a plant is disturbed and the sticky substances produced contain many toxic compounds used to defend the plant from herbivores and pathogens. A major component of resin is the terpenoid compounds. Although terpenoid compounds can be quite complex, they are all composed of five-carbon units, with an isoprene unit as the base. The simplest of these terpenes are the monoterpenes that possess 10- carbon atoms derived from two fused isoprene units. Monoterpenes are an important component of the volatile portion of terpenes and often emit very strong odors.

The plant gums are the neutral salts and complex polysaccharide acids which contain methyl pentose, pentose, hexose and uronic acid residues joined glycosidically by linkages involving various carbon atoms within one molecule to form branched chain structure. Uronic acid is generally present in all cases. The sugars include L-fructose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-rhamnose, and D-galactose.

General Properties of Gums

They have high molecular weight. Some are linear while some are branched. They are generally viscous in nature. Some forms a gel also. They have tremendous commercial application in food industry. Gums may be an exudates gum produced by the plant or may be a seed gum, which is accumulated during the seed maturity. Gums of polysaccharide origin are obtained from Acacia spp. (gum Arabic), Cymopsis tetragonolobus (guar gum), Guggle gum, Ficus indica, chia gum etc (Table 7.1).

Glycosides are compounds containing a carbohydrate and a non carbohydrate residue in the same molecule. They are the complex polysaccharides which are chemically heterogeneous collection of substances, which have in common one property that the molecules are linked together and contain at least one sugar unit. The term glycoside represents a group of compound containing glucose and one or more basic or acidic organic compound in chemical combination. When the sugar other than glucose is present, it is called glycoside. Each sugar is linked through a glycosidic bond to either a non sugar component, aglycones, (aglycone or aglucone is the nonsugar molecule in glycosides).

The alkaloids represent yet another large group of secondary plant products. Many, but not all, exhibit important pharmacological properties & some of these have been known for hundred of years. For e.g. Cinchona alkaloids, present in bark of Cinchona spp. have quinine as their main constituent, has been known since 1639 as an effective antimalarial agent.

An alkaloid contains nitrogen, frequently as a part of a heterocyclic ring, and most are as the general name implies, basic. Alkaloids are the naturally occurring basic, nitrogenous, organic, heterocyclic ring compounds mostly of plant origin with physiological and pharmacological properties. At present, the definition is much more pragmatic and includes all nitrogen containing natural products which are not otherwise classified as peptides, amines, non-protein amino acids, cyanogenic glycosides, glucosinolates, cofactors, phytohormones or primary metabolites (such as purines and pyrimidines bases). Even a number of antibiotics produced by bacteria or fungi are therefore included as alkaloids. Alkaloids evolved early in evolution and were already present (200 million years ago) when the angiosperms began to radiate. Today, more than 12,000 alkaloids are known to occur from more than 4000 species of Angiosperms. Ladenberg defined alkaloid as :

“Naturally occurring basic, complex, nitrogenous organic, heterocyclic ring compound of plant origin with physiological and pharmacological properties.”

The functional diversity of chemicals within plants is best demonstrated by terpenoids. More than 30,000 terpenoids have been identified, each one composed of 5-carbon (prenyl diphosphate) building blocks added together to make 10-carbon, 15-carbon, and even 2000–500,000-carbon chains, as is the case for rubber. Terpenes are functionally diverse, and many are integral to primary metabolism, e.g., hormones such as gibberellins and abscisic acid, electron carriers such as plastoquinone and ubiquinone, terpene-derived compounds that form structural parts of membranes such as phytosterols, and photosynthetic pigments such as carotenoids.

Plant terpenes are also available as essential oil or ethereal oil. Essential oil is defined as the volatile oil obtained by the steam distillation of plants. There is a distinction between fixed or fatty oils and volatile oils. Their volatility (boiling point) and plant origin are characteristic properties of these oils.

Plant cells contain far more compounds than are produced by the basic metabolism. Terpenes, waxes, alkaloids and pigments are just some key words that illustrate what is meant. The term basic metabolism comprises all pathways necessary for the survival of the cells, while secondary plant products are such that occur usually only in special, differentiated cells and are not necessary for the cells themselves but may be useful for the plant as a whole. Examples are flower pigments and scents or stabilizing elements. Both metabolisms are overlapping since it is often not understood why a certain compound is produced. Furthermore, no typical cell exists so that some compounds may be necessary for the survival of some cells but not for that of others.

Arguments in support of important functions for plant secondary products are underlined by the organizational complexity and specificity which characterizes many aspects of their biosynthesis. Furthermore – with the very important exception of substances produced in response to stress or pathogen attack – much of secondary metabolism is reproducible from one individual of a species to another and, to a remarkable degree, produces the same principal compounds in broadly the same relative proportions. For example, an Atropa plant extracted for alkaloids can confidently be predicted to contain predominantly atropine, rather than its immediate precursor, tropine, or a more distantly-related alkaloid, nicotine – just as the passenger boarding a train for Mumbai at Anand can be reassured that his train will not terminate prematurely at a “precursor station” (Surat), or even adopt an “alternative pathway” (to Poona). On the other hand, the evolutionary circumstances leading to the development of atropine formation in Atropa, rather than to the formation of other alkaloids with comparable activity (for example, nicotine) remain substantially unknown. A similar question has been discussed regarding two families of plant pigments with apparently similar functions, the anthocyanins and the betalains. With regard to defense (and similarly but perhaps less obviously protection against ionizing radiation), a general hypothesis argues that plants evolved a broad defensive strategy based upon a diversity of antimicrobial and anti feedant substances from which, as a result of chance mutation, more potent substances conferring additional selective advantage from time to time arose. It is conceivable that in some cases enzymes evolved or became adapted to catalyse reactions of benefit which could already occur to some extent (though in a non-stereospecific manner) non-enzymically. Mutation will then have led to the development of modified enzymes able to catalyse reactions with new or different substrates, or to catalyse alternative reactions with existing substrates.

Nowhere in the plant kingdom do ecology, evolution, and human affairs come together as intricately as phenomena involving secondary metabolites. The importance of these compounds is apparent in some of the earliest annals of human history. For example, Papaver somniferum, the original source of morphine and codeine, was known to the Sumerians in 4000 B.C. as hul gil (joy-plant). These two alkaloids, so important in human affairs for many years, probably evolved within the genus Papaver originally as protective compounds against herbivores. As a testament to the importance of secondary metabolites,

P. somniferum was one the first plants to be cultivated for a reason other than its caloric or nutritive value. Sadly, its importance has only increased over the time. Organic chemists of the nineteenth century were among the first to recognize and study the diversity of plant secondary metabolites and to analyze them both in terms of structure and function. The German organic chemists developed techniques to acetylate morphine and produce what they claimed at the time to be a non addictive version of the drug. However, acetylation product of morphine trade name Heroin, was vastly more addictive. The economies of several developing nations in Asia still depend on the acetylation of this plant secondary metabolite, and tens of thousands of lives each year are destroyed by its commercial importance. In another striking example of profitable secondary metabolites, acetylation techniques to salicylic acid, derived originally from the bark of willows, Salix, to create aspirin. The modern appreciation of these secondary metabolites from ecological and evolutionary perspectives had its spread outside of the plant-insect ecology community. The overwhelming array of chemicals found in plants was more than simply by-products of primary metabolism that served as waste products for these organisms that lacked excretory systems.

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists soon took up the cudgels, and the past 60 years have seen the development, testing, refinement, and, in some cases, rejection of models that describe the ecology and evolution of these “secondary” substances. With the functional roles of these compounds broadly acknowledged, several challenges presented themselves to scientists interested in their ecological and evolutionary dynamics. Most obviously, the details of the processes underlying the interactions between each of these compounds and their target pest or pathogen became one of the most vibrant topics in ecological and physiological research.

Plants are used for many purposes apart from food such as industrial products like perfumes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, food additives, cosmetics and also for rectifying the side effects of allopathic medicines, etc. Interest was taken in the chemical constituents of plants in the very early days of modern science. Plants were used for very many purposes besides providing food, such as for treating medical ailments and for dyeing in textiles.

To the agricultural chemists, any biological organism is ultimately constituted from the elements like C, H, O, N, P, Ca, Mg, S etc. Two or more elements combine to form complex organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, enzymes, alkaloids, glycosides, organic acids and many more complex compounds. These biomolecules can be classified into two main major metabolites. (1) Primary metabolites and (2) Secondary metabolites.

1. Introduction

Present day botanic gardens have their origins from medicinal plant gardens established during the middle of the 16^th century meant for the cultivation of medicinal plants. Therefore, the roots of botany are traced from the medicine. The modern botanic gardens are considered as an ordered collection of plants, assembled primarily for scientific and educative purposes. They serve as the living repositories and offer excellent opportunities for ex-situ conservation, taxonomy, and studies on various other botanical aspects as mentioned below:

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants play an important role in human life to combat various diseases. The rural folks and tribals in India even now depend largely on the surrounding plants/forests for their day-to-day needs. Majority of the medicinal and aromatic plants are still collected from wild for preparation of herbal drugs and perfumes/cosmetics. Rapid population growth and rising popularity of herbal drugs and natural essential oils have brought into focus the acute scarcity in availability of some of the plants due to indiscriminate and unregulated collection, habitat destruction through expanding agricultural lands, deforestation and urbanization. Fall in the supply of good quality, genuine raw material has resulted in price rise and deterioration in the quality of formulations. With growing demand and use of medicinal and aromatic plants, the important species have to be introduced into commercial agriculture.

The Indian annual turnover of herbal material has crossed Rs. 4000 crores mark, of which Rs. 300 to 400 crores worth is being the export market. The share of Indian trade in medicinal and aromatic plants is only 1.5 percent of the world market. India is one of the major exporters of crude drugs mainly to the developed countries like the USA, the UK, Germany, Japan, France, Switzerland, etc. The main crude drugs having good export opportunities are Aconite, Aloe, Dioscorea, Ephedra, Digitalis, Bach, Belladona, Cincona, Ergot, Isabgol, Opium, Vinca, Senna, Sarpagandha, etc. Of these senna leaves, isabgol husk/seed, and Cassia tora seeds are in maximum demand. China is the major producer of herbal plant material in the world. China earns US$ 5 billion per year from herbal trade besides meeting its domestic requirements. Though India has more potential of production of number of medicinal and aromatic plants than China, the contribution of India in the world market is very low because of the production of poor quality produce (Chadha and Gupta 2005).

1. Introduction

Ornamentals include plants which have either attractive foliage or flowers. They are used for various purposes like bedding plants in the garden or as cut-flowers and have huge commercial importance in terms of nursery business. New cultivars of ornamentals, which have been developed by various plant improvement techniques (hybridization, mutation breeding and colchiploidy) are always an added attraction to the plant lovers and a highly prized commodity for commercialization.

New cultivars of ornamentals usually inherit characters of both the parents singly or in combination and produce an entirely new trait. The progenies, thus, express a range of phenotypic characters. One has to screen these plants and identify elite plant(s) having desired phenotypic characters.

Second part of this process is characterization of the selected plants. Various characters of these plants are studied as per laid down procedures, which include vegetative, floral, seed and rhizome characters. The recorded observations are then compared with the parental characters to establish their distinctiveness. Subsequently, these plants are subjected to field trials for studying their uniformity and stability of the desired phenotypic characters.

New cultivars of ornamentals have enough potential for commercialization and good source of earning on the part of breeders who may be farmers, nurseryman, and researchers. However, for claiming right over the new cultivars developed, it is now mandatory to get those new varieties registered with appropriate agencies. The registration authorities ask for every morphological details as well as parental history. Therefore, characterization is a must for the newly developed cultivars/varieties.

1. Introduction

In the last few decades there has been worldwide revival on the use of herbal drugs/phytochemical for diverse purposes including medicinal, nutritional and as cosmetic. The revival of interest in natural drugs and the herbal products was due to the widespread belief that ‘green’ medicine is healthier than synthetic products. This has led to the rapid spurt of demand for health products like herbal tea, ginseng and such products of traditional medicine during the 1980s. The health promotion and disease prevention strategy in treatment is widely prevalent in oriental systems, especially the Indian (‘Ayurveda’, ‘Siddha’, ‘Unani and ‘Amchi’) and the Chinese systems of medicine, which are finding increasing popularity and acceptance in the world over. Because of this sweeping ‘greenwave’ a large number of herbal drugs and the plant derived herbal products are sold in the health food shops all over the developed countries. Export– Import Bank reports revealed that the global trade of plant-derived and plant originated products is around US $60 billion (with growth of 7% per annum) where India holds stake of US $1 billion which is expected to reach 3 trillion US$ by the end of 2015 (Pandey et al. 2008). These targets can be achieved by providing scientifically validated, safe and standardized herbal products in domestic and international markets.

Standardization is an important step for the establishment of a consistent biological activity, a consistent chemical profile, or simply a quality assurance programme for production and manufacturing of herbal drugs. It is now well known that the pharmacological activity of a medicinal plants is due to the presence of certain bioactive phytochemicals, which are either primary or secondary metabolites. Amount of these compounds are controlled and conditioned by a variety of factors such as its genetic predisposition, habitat of the plant agro climatic conditions, season and also the stage of growth and development of the plant etc. Therefore, it is desirable to study the effect of these on secondary metabolites to get the right/optimum amount of secondary metabolites in the plant part/raw drug. The formation of herbal drug based on the traditional knowledge using modern tools is the requirement of the present day. WHO’s specific guidelines for the assessment of the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal medicines as a prerequisite for global harmonization are of utmost importance. Considering the importance of the herbal drugs/products, quality assurance of raw drug/formulation and developing botanical and chemical parameters for assuring their quality, have become major riders on the pharma or drug research and industry.

1. Introduction

Plant diversity is vital for the survival and well-being of humanity. A number of domesticated plant species are critical to food security. In addition to the cultivated species, many wild plants also play an important role in meeting local needs for food, fuel, medicine and construction materials; crop wild relatives are also of special interest for crop breeding programmes. There are currently hundreds of underutilized plant species and varieties displaying traits of interest to meet present and future needs, while the value of many other plant species is yet to be discovered (Stohlgren et al. 1997). Researchers have confirmed the importance of the contributions and interdisciplinary understanding in relation to taxonomy, physiology, reproductive biology, conservation biology, hydrology, soils, as well as socioeconomic and climate change for holistic understanding of biodiversity patterns (Dale 1999; Myers et al. 2000). It is thus necessary that the professionals studying plant diversity require a synoptic view on the regulators of biodiversity and the tools through which the processes could be understood.

Spatial analysis can contribute significantly for improved understanding and monitoring of plant diversity. Results obtained from spatial analysis make it possible to formulate and implement targeted conservation strategies, which can be more effective (Escudero et al. 2003; Dale 1999). Outputs from spatial studies can provide critical information like evaluation of the current status of plant species and prioritize areas for conservation on the plant diversity, in particular geographic region. Spatial information, combined with available characterization and/or evaluation data, is very useful for effective genebank management (e.g. definition of core collections, identification of collection gaps, etc.). This type of analysis is conducted using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, which allows one to carry out complex analyses combining different (spatial) data sources and generate maps, to facilitate the development and implementation of conservation policies (Goodchild 1992; Crosetto et al. 2000; McCarthy 2001).