Vegetables

Abstract

Most population of the Indian Subcontinent is predominantly vegetarian. The local tribes and communities have domesticated a large amount of plant species as vegetables and/or use them as alternative food, involving several genera, such as Cucumis, Coccinia, Luffa, Momordica, Trichosanthes, Solanum, Abelmoschus, Amorphophallus, etc. Additionally, wild species diversity of certain exotic crops has either been extended or introduced to the subcontinent, such as Amaranthus, Dioscorea, etc. Predominant wild species diversity in the Indian Subcontinent occurs for tropical cucurbitaceous, solanaceous, and leguminous vegetable crops and some others, like okra. In addition, wild species diversity is also found in several leafy and rooty, tuberous, and bulbous vegetable crop species, many of whom are directly harvested from the natural habitat by local tribal communities. The complexity of species diversity using different plant parts as vegetables justifies the classification of vegetable crops into three groups, fruity vegetable, leafy vegetable, and root and tuber crops.