Underexploited Vegetables of Coastal India for Nutrition and Entrepreneurship

A healthy living primarily depends on the food we consume, and it should be capable of providing the proportionate nutrients for supporting a balanced diet. Nowadays, food consumption of people is showing a changing pattern from the traditional nutrient-rich diets to processed, energy-dense and micronutrient-poor foods, which are the main reasons behind obesity and diet-related chronic diseases, and this leads to the 'triple burden' of malnutrition-undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. Micronutrient deficiencies are referred to as 'hidden hunger', and vegetables are considered foremost to combat these deficiencies as it is capable of providing ample vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres and phytochemicals. The per capita net availability of vegetables is estimated as 272 g/day as compared to the daily recommendation of 350 g by the Indian Council of Medical Research, which shows a wide gap between the availability and requirement. This nutritional insecurity may be minimized by the exploitation of lesser known indigenous vegetables otherwise known as underutilized vegetable crops, which are a rich pack of nutrients and bioactive principles.