Forgotten and Future Vegetable Phytoceuticals

INTRODUCTION Plants are the foundation for a significant part of human medicine and for many of the most widely used drugs designed to prevent, treat, and cure disease. A number of our cultivated crop plants, including many vegetable crops, were domesticated for medicinal purposes prior to their current use as food. Folkloric transmission of plant-based cures represents a fundamental and formidable reservoir of information for most human cultures. While such remedies are still widely practiced throughout the world, recent scientific developments in the US and other developed countries ushered in a new era of synthetic medicine. During the 20 century, modern medical science introduced monomolecular drugs, many of which have achieved great success and improved public health. However, along with this revolution has come a realization that many traditional plant-based remedies, which generally contain a wide variety of secondary compounds, have been forgotten or obscured. Beginning with the discovery of the vitamins in the early part of the 20 century, key elements of the health functionality of specific crop plants were elucidated. This information led to a greater understanding of the importance of vegetable crops in the human diet. In the past decade, great strides have been made to improve our understanding of how plant secondary compounds in vegetable crops influence human health. Since many of our vegetable crops were originally domesticated for the dual purpose of food and medicine, it should not be surprising that we find significant efficacy for this latter use today. And, the current emphasis on food functionality in the marketplace has highlighted the importance of nutritional components in vegetable crops. While a few vegetable crops have been substantially modified in this regard, much of the research in this area has focused on gaining a better understanding of how secondary compounds that are already present may impact human health, or be influenced by the horticultural environment.