This book offers an up-to-date account of important crops grown worldwide. It provides detailed discussion on the history of plant exploration, migration, domestication and distribution, and crop improvement. The text starts with the origin and diversification of cultivated plants, followed by discussion on tropical, subtropical and temperate crops that are sources of food, beverages, spices and medicines, as well as plant insecticides, timber plants and essential oil-yielding plants. The genetic and evolutionary aspects of different plants and their health benefits are highlighted. The book covers topics dealing with biodiversity conservation, petro-crops, ethnobotanical studies, and important sub-tropical and temperate plants that have commercial importance. The significance of major plant species under each category is described in detail. Illustrated with numerous well-labelled line diagrams and pictures, this book will be useful for students of botany, food and nutrition, forestry, agriculture, horticulture, plant breeding and environmental science.

Discusses the breeding programs of crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, sugarcane, potato, tea and rubber
Discusses crops that are a source of food, beverages, spices and medicines, as well as plant insecticides, timber plants and essential oil-yielding plants
Emphasizes the health benefits of food plants with antioxidant properties
Contains interesting, real-life pictures of plant species

Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of tables
List of figures
1. Introduction
2. Fibre and fibre-yielding plants
3. Cereal crops
4. Sugars, starches, and cellulose products
5. Legumes or pulses
6. Vegetable oils and fats
7. Fruits and nuts
8. Vegetables
9. Spices, condiments and other flavourings
10. Fumitory and masticatory materials
11. Beverages
12. Wood and its uses
13. Vegetable tannins and dyestuffs
14. Rubber
15. Medicinal plants
16. Insecticides and herbicides
17. Essential oil-yielding plants
18. Plant diversity and its conservation
19. Petrocrops: our future fuels
20. Ethnobotany
General references
Suggested supplementary readings
Index.