Famine Foods - Plant Genetic Resources for Crops for the Future

Fanine food plants are a little-known category of underutilized species. These plants are sought out, in times of famine and other conditions of food scarcity. Because they are adapted to some of the most extreme weather conditions Nature can create, they represent a valuable source of plant genetic material, for the development of new, affordable, staple crops for the future, in environmentally at-risk ecozones, In addition, some of the few famine food plants which have been analyzed, show unexpectedly high nutrient values.As nutritional value is a base-line criterion, for identifying candidates for selection, growth trials and breeding, further work is needed, to analyze the nutrient composition, of these little-known plants. This paper reviews the history, use, scientific study and agricultural potential of these neglected and underutilized species