The product. Fruit juices have attained an important place in themodern diets of people belonging to different communities and classes world over. It isthe unfermented but fermentable liquid obtained from the edible part of sound,appropriately mature and fresh fruit. Bioactive compounds. Fruit juicescontain nutrients like vitamins, minerals, trace elements, energy and phytochemicalsincluding flavonoids, polyphenols and antioxidants that have been shown to have variedhealth benefits. Medicinal properties. The mode of action of these fruitjuice compounds in most cases seems to be by modulating gene activities. Fruit juice aspart of a balanced diet offers both good health and profound disease risk reductionproperties. As a result, there is high demand as alternative medicine for different kindsof illnesses such as chronic inflammation, arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure,muscle aches and pains, menstrual difficulties, headaches, heart disease, AIDS, cancers,gastric ulcers, sprains, mental depression, poor digestion, arteriosclerosis, blood vesselproblems, and drug addiction. Furthermore, to identify fruit juices as non-consumable inthe context of obesity and dental health would deprive the consumer of a perfectly healthyand nutritious food, and would be completely contrary to the evidence noted in thescientific community. Discussion and conclusion. Fruit juices are anexcellent choice of drink when consumed moderately as per recommendations.

Lichen-forming fungi are unique organisms, producing biologically active metabolites with a great variety of effects, including antibiotic, antimycobacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities. However, only very limited numbers of lichen substances have been screened for their biological activities and their therapeutic potential in medicine. This is certainly due to the difficulties encountered in identification of the species, collection of bulk quantities, and the isolation of pure substances for structure determination and testing activity. Recently, possibilities for bypassing some of these former difficulties have arisen by the introduction of new techniques. This includes axenic cultivation for production of the genuine compounds or new ones, extraction of focused compounds, or synthesis of natural products or their derivatives for testing. Utilizing these new opportunities, the discovery of novel active metabolites, which could serve as lead compounds, is significantly facilitated. At the same time, the evolution of secondary metabolite patterns is studied using phylogenetic approaches. Yet, the genetic background of the complex chemical patterns is poorly understood. The scattered occurrence of some compounds suggests that their production evolved either in parallel or that ancient biosynthetic pathways are abandoned in many lineages. At least, studies on polyketide synthase genes from different lichen groups suggest a high level of gene paralogy. In this context, clades of orthologous polyketide synthase genes, which are often shared with distantly related non-lichenized fungi, can roughly be identified by their sequence similarity and their similar patterns of substitution rates. The functional assignment of paralogs is nevertheless difficult and reasonable only in a few cases. A global approach of the lichen metabolomic features appears to be essential in developing new and viable biotechnological processes which could afford suitable amounts of unique lichen compounds.

Information is presented on the phenology, herbivory, phytochemistry and production of the tree species Polylepis quadrijuga. Leaf production was lower during the dry season than during the wet season, when minimum temperatures also occurred. Flower and fruit phenology were also seasonal. Herbivory was significantly higher for leaves expanded during the wet season (20%) than during the dry season (1%), and was also higher for younger leaves. Flavonoids, compounds known as UV-B protectors, were found in high concentration in leaves of P. quadrijuga. There was a significant positive relationship between monthly rainfall, monthly minimum temperatures and flavonoid concentration, but no relationship was found with leaf age. The annual fine litterfall for the Polylepis forest was estimated to be 3.9 t ha−1 y−1, a high value when compared to other paramo and upper montane rain forests in tropical mountains. High production was associated with high leaf nitrogen concentration (3.0–3.5%), high rates of nitrogen retranslocation (80% dry weight), and relatively low leaf longevity (8.4 mo). High production in P. quadrijuga is probably a key factor in explaining the existence of this large woody species in a paramo environment otherwise dominated by bunch grasses, cushion plants and giant rosettes of the genus Espeletia.