UNTAPPED TROPICAL FRUIT PLANTS FOR MEDICINAL PLANTS INDUSTRY AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT

Abstract

Alarge numberoftropical fruits in India areused in Ayurvedic and
Unani medicines. Some of these have consistent demand in the country
and can be developed into bulksourceofraw materials for drugs and allied
industries. Byand large, these lesserknown fruit plants have not received
enough research support. Exploitation ofgenetic variability occurring in
natural populations and selective breeding could improve their yield and
quality. A wide adaptability of many of these. tropical fruit plants make
their raising on plantation scale more profitable over inhospitable landscape