Diversity of the Brazilian flora is very prominent. The land possesses over
50,000 different flowering plants species among native and non-native. Approximately
5,000 of them are edible. This richness, however, is far from being optimally utilized.
The term unconventional vegetables is applied to those that are consumed by a small
part of the population, mostly by communities restricted to highly specific areas. These
vegetables are frequently of high nutritional value and have good taste. Globalization
and the consequently increased use of processed foods, however, is having a negative
influence on the consumption and cultivation of these vegetables in all regions. This
trend is manifesting in both rural and urban areas. The final consequence is a
diminution of the consumption of foods from local and regional sources and,
consequently, a modification of eating habits of the Brazilians of all social classes. In
this chapter, attention was given to six unconventional native vegetables from Brazil
that are regionally consumed as food (baru, cubiu, jambu, ora-pro-nobis, pinhão, and
pequi), emphasizing on their nutritional characteristics and the health benefits resulting
from their consumption.
Keywords: Baru, Brazilian Biomes, Cubiu, Jambu, Ora-Pro-Nobis, Pequi,
Pinhão, Phytochemicals, Unconventional Vegetal.
