ABSTRACT
Fruit vegetables, almost 50% of the plants originate from Cucurbitaceae and are commonly known as cucumbers, gourds, melons, squashes, zucchinis, pumpkins, and luffa. Twenty five percent are from the plants of Solanaceae, including tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. Several are from the plants of Fabaceae, which include peas and green beans. The fruit vegetables are tightly connected with human dietary life and nutritional intake. Many fruit vegetables also act as functional foods as their consumption is linked to physiological roles as antioxidant, anticarcinogenesis, antimutagenesis, anti-inflammation, and antidiabetes—not to mention several other health-improving benefits that a diet has, including fruit yields. Chapter 2 selects 5 fruit vegetables and extensively discusses their potential in cancer prevention and body safe-guarding benefits. As the flower vegetables are a small group with only six or seven types, three of them are covered in this chapter regarding their body-protective and cancer-preventive functions. In both fruit and flower vegetables, the role of bioactive molecules such as glycoalkaloids, carotenoids, polyphenolics (including proanthocyanidin, flavonoids, catechin, and anthocyanidin), fatty acid ketodienes, glycoglycerolipids, saponins, and ribosome-inactivating proteins are highlighted to demonstrate their advantages for cancer prevention.
