Ben Somtoo

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION From ancient times, plants have been used for treatment of human diseases. Since the time of early Neanderthal man, medicinal plants are the source of health care management (Farnsworth et al., 1985). The exploration of the chemical constituency from plants and pharmacological screening will provide the basis for developing new molecules in strategic favour of natural product of drug discovery. Vegetables are important in rational nutrition, thanks to a rich content of nutrients and energy, especially as a favourable influence on the functions of the physiologic human organism. Most vegetables taste like, with different shades of one variety to another, some of which are rich in essential oils, glycosides, pigments etc. which stimulates appetite. The large number of species, varieties and varieties of vegetables are raw material for preparing a variety of foods, thus improving range enriching food. The chemical composition of vegetables shows high water co