Background: Plants are the primary source of various types of edible products, of which
fruits form a major class. Several fruits are being used all over the world for edible as well as medicinal
purposes. Based on the place of origin and preferred climatic conditions, fruits are being classified
broadly to temperate and tropical fruits. Kerala, a southern state in India, which is also known
as “god’s own country” because of its peculiar climatic and geographical conditions, have been using
a wide variety of fruits traditionally.
Objective: The present review attempts to provide a summary of traditionally used fruits in Kerala
and a brief outline of their bioactive components emphasizing its health promoting effects.
Method: The data were collected from PubMed and Google scholar that are available till date.
Results: Compared to the other parts of India, tropical fruits are produced in Kerala. This includes
jackfruit, mango, papaya, banana, guava etc. They are used widely for edible purposes as well as in
traditional and folk medicine. Most of these fruits are sources of several bioactive compounds including
phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanin etc. Studies have reported a wide array of health benefits
including lipid lowering, hypoglycemic and anticancer effects.
Conclusion: The tropical fruits contain a variety of bioactive compounds with promising health
promoting activities. However, there are many more to be explored for their applications, hence the
review recommends extensive research in the area of tropical fruits.