Global Challenges and Opportunities for Tropical Fruits and Vegetables As Functional Foods

Peace and national security require efforts to reduce the burden of nutritional insecurity. Recent efforts by different stakeholders to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables have not yielded the expected favorable outcomes. The current poor nutritional dietary regimen of certain sectors of the population, in both developed and developing nations worldwide, has led to an alarming increase in chronic diseases. These circumstances require a renewed focus and constructive action plan involving education, research, and promotion of healthy eating. Accumulating evidence suggests that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including optimum daily intake of fruits and vegetables, can prevent chronic diseases. Tropical fruits and vegetables, with their high nutritional values and excellent flavor, offer an excellent means to achieve this goal. Exploring under-studied and unexplored tropical fruits and vegetables will enable us to unravel the potential benefits of nutritional components that may help to reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases. Consequently, the research community must provide valid scientific evidence on the role of these fruits and vegetables in maintaining health. Additionally, providing the consumers with knowledge and easy access to these fruits and vegetables, as functional foods, needs to be addressed. Research at the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center has focused on using a system-wide approach to explore tropical fruits and vegetables with functional properties. Our current research exploring the potential health benefits of tropical and subtropical species, such as certain types of citrus, carrot, pepper and turmeric, have provided a valid justification of their wide range of biological properties. Case studies of tropical fruits and vegetables will be presented, to demonstrate their potential uses to maintain health, and thus promote human well-being, decrease health care costs, and improve national security.