This is an archived article. For the latest news, go to the Advance Homepage . Many epidemiological and clinical studies have established the benefits of vegetables and fruits in the human diet in prevention of major diseases, including cancer and heart disease.
Phytochemicals occur naturally in plants.
My studies show that concentrations of these chemicals can be altered by environmental conditions such as plant nutritional balance, temperature and light intensity. Palaniswamy studied two potential salad crops, purslane and watercress, which could become major sources of preventive medicine in the future. Perhaps it is time to broaden our food base and look for alternative and better sources of the phytonutrients. Purslane, rated as the eighth most common plant in the world, is a common vegetable in the Middle East and Asia. It is an excellent source of vitamin E, beta-carotene, ascorbic acid, glutathione, pectin and the essential amino acids.