Tropical Agriculture - Plant Defenses

Plant Defenses

A particularly good description of plant defenses can be found at How and why do plants defend themselves? that states in part:

"Plants are faced with a dilemma; while they need to attract beneficial pollinators and seed dispensers, they must also minimize the damage caused by the marauding army of herbivores. Without some form of protection the trees would be stripped bare and smaller plants would be completely devastated, and because plants stand still, they cannot run away. This is as true in Amazonian rainforest as it is in Northern coniferous forest." - Marcus Wischik.

Many (tropical) plants use toxins to protect themselves. Cassava, one of the most important tropical food crops, produces cyanide upon ingestion if improperly processed. Other plants are high in oxalates (the agent that binds calcium to form kidney stones); castor beans are the source of ricin, one of the most powerful poisons in existence; and velvet beans contain 7-10% L-DOPA. The list of toxic plants is long, but toxicity does not always mean a particular plant should be avoided, the knowledge needed to render toxic plants safe to use already exists in most communities.