Arvind Subbaraj

1 Introduction There is increasing global interest in alternative food ingredients, including flavors generated from indigenous herbs and spices (León-Lobos et al. 2022; Smyth et al. 2012). Herbs generally refer to plant parts obtained from the leaves, whereas spices encompass all other plant-derived tissues, excluding leaves (Ravindran and Kallupurackal 2012).

1 Introduction In response to growing concerns about the environmental impacts of contemporary food systems, there is evidence that segments of consumers are actively seeking foods they perceive as more sustainable (von Meyer-Höfer et al. 2015), and market demand for products carrying sustainability-related attributes continues to increase (Lucas et al. 2021; Nes et al. 2024).

1 INTRODUCTION The world's food supply comes from a remarkably small number of species. Globally, around 75% of the world's food comes from only 12 plant species and five animal species, and only three species (rice, wheat, and maize) contribute to 60% of total calories and proteins consumed. Furthermore, while there are around 250,000–300,000 known edible plant species worldwide, only 150–200 are regularly consumed by people (FAO, 1999).