FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND HERBS FOR HEALTH
Exploration to enhance the health giving attributes of fruit and vegetables and the
medicinal aspects of herbs have become major areas for collaborative research by
horticulturists and scientists from a number of fields. Raskin et al. (2002) provide a
review of the history, future, scientific background, and regulatory issues related to
botanical therapeutics. They discuss the impact that a change in premise from growing
crops for health rather than for food or fiber is having on changing plant biotechnology
and medicine. According to these authors, the rediscovery of the connection between
plants and health is responsible for many of the pursuits of plant biotechnology today.
The current research focuses on a new generation of botanical therapeutics including:
plant-derived pharmaceuticals, multi-component botanical drugs, dietary supplements,
functional foods, and plant-produced recombinant proteins. Not only will the products