Different genera plants produce a wide range of secondary metabolites, aromatic principles and essential oils. These components are bioactive in nature and are used in variety of purposes like as phyto-medicine, preservative, antioxidant, fragrance and flavoring agent. Apart from routine uses, still many plants are not been fully explored and defined for bioactive role of their secondary metabolites. Similarly plant extracts of wide variety of taxa, have been reported to contain antifungal secondary metabolites and thus, natural products can certainly substitute harmful synthetic fungicides...

Fungal infection on plants, directly affect the yield. Moreover, they affect the quality of produce and often make it unhealthy by producing harmful mycotoxins. In this context, ready-to-market commodity fruits and vegetables are highly susceptible to microbiological infestations, even during production with available most advanced. Improper post-harvest handling too results in over 20% fungal decay post-harvest losses. As International agencies monitoring world food resources have acknowledged to reduce plant diseases and post-harvest losses to match future food needs. Thus, in order to...

Predominately used synthetic chemical fungicides due to their non-degradable nature, entail serious issues to human health and also to the environment. This has also imposed the issue of drug resistant pathogens against traditionally used synthetic chemical fungicides. To combat this issue several in vitro and in vivo research reports have been generated on post-harvest treatment using plant extracts and essential oils to control fungal spoilage and thereby enhancing the self-life of fruits and vegetables. Plant based antifungal components have a target specific effect and are bio-degradable...

Antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation process and protects the cells against reactive free radicals and chelating metals in the body. In long term antioxidants play important role in the prevention and onset of various degenerative diseases like arthrosclerosis, heart attack, ageing, cancer etc. Antioxidants are naturally found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and other plant parts. Nowadays restrictions on the use of synthetic antioxidants are being imposed because of their toxic properties. Thus many researches are trying to find newer and newer...

During the normal metabolism in our body, hydroxyl and reactive oxygen radicals also referred as "Free radicals" are produced. They are unstable and extremely reactive in nature and responsible to damage almost every molecule found in living cells. Thereby free radicals affect human health and lead to several degenerative diseases like atherosclerosis, hypertension, heart attack, diabetes, arthritis, immunosuppression, neurodegenerative diseases, parkinsons and alzheimers diseases, cancer and premature body aging. While "Antioxidants" are the compounds which can reverse the damage. Medicinal...