Speciality non-food crops

Abstract

Potential markets for non-food crops are both large and diverse, ranging from biofuels to performance chemicals and pharmaceuticals. If current consumer demand, high oil prices, and political support are maintained, we can expect to see significant increase in their cultivation. There are hundreds of crops in use or under development for non-food applications around the world. Speciality non-food crops are generally cultivated for specific natural products. They provide an invaluable source of therapeutic agents and high value ingredients including anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids for use in performance chemicals, cosmetics, functional foods, and pharmaceuticals. This chapter looks at the markets for renewable materials from speciality non-food crops and gives examples of crops currently under cultivation.