Chapter 6: Plants and People

This final chapter addresses the vital roles that plants have in our lives. The chapter sections describe select, important human uses of plants and point out the compounds that are responsible for the plants’ significance. Aside from providing oxygen to breathe, plants are sources of essential sugars, fats, amino acids, and vitamins in our food. Plants also provide flavorful herbs and spices. Most medicines originally came from plant sources. Moreover, a large number of modern pharmaceuticals have been derived from plant compounds and plants continue to inspire the search for new drugs. Psychoactive plants have been used by humans since ancient times. Plants provide fibers for clothing, and plant materials were the origins of dyes to color these fibers. Furthermore, the perfume and cosmetics industry would not exist without scents and oils from plants. Much human history is connected with the way people have used plants through the ages and some of these uses and how they led to contemporary applications are described in this chapter. In recent decades, research has made it possible to alter the genetic material of plants in order to obtain crops with desirable properties. An introduction to genetically modified plants concludes the chapter.