Introduction

There are an estimated 350,000 species of plants in the world, of which only 1500 or so are of economic importance. Of these, about 150 are of major importance, but only 15 provide most of the world’s food. The banana and coconut are the only fruit in the top-15 species. The other fruit, including the blueberry, fall some­ where in the top 15-1500 in importance as food.