Abstract
Underutilized vegetable crops represent a vital yet often neglected segment of agro-biodiversity, offering considerable potential to enhance nutritional security, sustainable agriculture, and resilience to climate change. Tamil Nadu, with its varied agro-climatic zones spanning coastal plains, dry regions, and hilly terrains, supports a rich array of indigenous and lesser-known vegetables adapted to local conditions. This review critically explores the potential of underexploited vegetable crops in the region, focusing on their nutritional and medicinal attributes. It covers leguminous vegetables, cucurbits, tubers, leafy greens, and fruit vegetables, emphasizing their protein, essential mineral, vitamin, antioxidant, and bioactive compound content. These crops exhibit multiple health-promoting properties, including antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cardioprotective effects. Despite their demonstrated benefits, these vegetables remain marginal due to limited research, weak seed systems, low market integration, and poor consumer awareness. The review also highlights significant constraints and proposes strategies for conservation, crop improvement, value addition, and policy support. Enhancing their cultivation and utilization can strengthen dietary diversity, conserve genetic resources, and promote sustainable nutrition and livelihoods in Tamil Nadu.