Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Introduction: Wild weeds and grasses, often overlooked as unwanted plants, have recently gained recognition for their potential as nutraceuticals. This comprehensive review aims to explore the nutritional and medicinal properties of wild weeds and grasses, with a specific focus on their role as nutraceutical sources. Nutraceuticals, derived from natural sources, have gained significant interest for their potential health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Methods: We performed a thorough literature search on PubMed-MEDLINE and approximately 145 SCOPUS-indexed journals across the scientific databases, using keywords such as “Wild Weeds and Grasses,” “Health Benefits of Common Grasses,” “Botanical Nutraceuticals,” “Plant-based Nutraceu-ticals,” etc. All peer-reviewed journals were referenced in our review, from the inception to 2024. Results: The key finding of this review presents an in-depth analysis of the nutritional composition, bioactive compounds, health benefits, formulation, and applications of wild weeds and grasses as nutraceuticals. The review also addresses the challenges and future perspectives in utilizing these un-derutilized plants with an understanding that the potential of wild weeds and grasses as nutraceuticals can lead to innovative approaches to promoting human health and well-being through sustainable and natural resources. Discussion: This comprehensive review highlights the untapped potential of wild weeds and grasses as nutraceuticals and emphasizes their rich reservoir of bioactive compounds with therapeutic and health-promoting properties. Conclusion: This review concluded that wild weeds and grasses are used as potential nutraceutical sources and have rich nutritional composition, including macronutrients and micronutrients, highlight-ing their potential as alternative sources of essential nutrients. Additionally, the presence of secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids and polyphenols, in wild weeds and grasses indicates their potential for promoting health and preventing chronic diseases. Unlocking the nutraceutical potential of wild weeds and grasses presents a transformative opportunity to advance human health, sustainable devel-opment, and environmental stewardship.
Singh et al. (Wed,) studied this question.