Bio prospecting and application strategies of annona muricata as functional food

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been widely used due to their natural origin, newlineefficacy and minimal side effects. Today s food production trends focus not newlineonly on the preservation of nutrients but also on fortified bioactive enriched newlinefood for its prohealth properties. The active ingredients from plants play a newlinevital role in medicine and have sparked considerable scientific interest in their newlinebiological activities. The bioactives helps to reduce many chronic and newlinedegenerative diseases. Considering the current market demands, natural newlineproducts are available as tablets, syrups, and plant extract concentrate, as well newlineas in fresh and dried forms. Traditionally, herbal medicine was thought as safe newlineand was taken without any proper prescriptions. However, some plants may newlinenot be effective or may interact negatively with other medicines. By taking newlinethe current situation in the consideration, it becomes essential to access the newlinequality of these herbal products and standardization of herbal plants becomes newlinenecessary. It ensures that the determined concentrations of the active newlineingredients are thoroughly maintained in it. newlineThe Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has recommended newlinemore consumption of fruits per day for a healthy diet. Fruits have the highest newlinenutrition density score and seasonal fruits were considered as one of the newlinerichest sources, owing to their abundant antioxidants. World Health newlineOrganization (WHO) has also recommended that a daily use of a minimum of newline400 g of vegetables and fruits (excluding potatoes andstarchy tubers) would newlinehelp to reduce oxidative stress and many chronic diseases. Annona muricata newlinestandsout as an exotic tropical fruit, prized for its very pleasant, sub acid, newlinearomatic and juicy pulp. newline