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Viscaceae
Viscaceae, the Christmas mistletoe family (Batsch 1802), is a Santalales group of parasitic shrubs including Viscum, Phoradendron, and Arceuthobium; now usually merged into Santalaceae.
Viscum
Viscum is a genus of about 70 to 120 Old World hemiparasitic shrubs in Santalaceae, the true mistletoes, including European mistletoe (Viscum album); species attach to host branches via haustoria and are dispersed by birds.
Viscum album
Viscum album, European mistletoe, an evergreen hemiparasitic shrub of Santalaceae attaching to tree branches via haustoria; wide host range (452 host taxa), bird-dispersed sticky seeds, five subspecies, toxic lectins and viscotoxins used in herbal medicine.
Vitaceae
Vitaceae, the grape family, is a family of about 16 genera and 950 species of tropical lianas with leaf-opposed tendrils, in the order Vitales; it includes Vitis vinifera, the wine grape.
Vitales
Vitales, the grape order, is an order of eudicot flowering plants in the rosids containing Vitaceae (and sometimes Leeaceae), with about 950 species, leaf-opposed tendrils, and the economically central grape Vitis vinifera.
Vitellaria paradoxa
Vitellaria paradoxa, the shea tree (karité), sole species of Vitellaria in Sapotaceae, is a Vulnerable African savanna tree from Senegal to Uganda whose kernels yield shea butter used in chocolate, cosmetics, and local cooking.
Vitex
Vitex (chaste tree genus) is a genus of about 250 species of trees and shrubs in Lamiaceae, pantropical and warm temperate, with palmate compound leaves and drupaceous fruits; type species Vitex agnus-castus, used for timber and herbal medicine.
Vitex agnus-castus
Vitex agnus-castus (chaste tree, chasteberry, monk's pepper) is a Lamiaceae shrub of the Mediterranean to Central Asia whose dried fruit (agni casti fructus) is an EU-approved herbal medicine for premenstrual syndrome, acting via dopaminergic prolactin reduction.
Vitex negundo
Vitex negundo (huang jing, nirgundi, lagundi) is an Asian Lamiaceae shrub used in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine; 120 compounds isolated, and Philippine lagundi leaf preparations are FDA-approved for cough and asthma.
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera, the Eurasian grapevine (subsp. vinifera/sativa and wild sylvestris), is the species behind over 90% of world grapes; domesticated in the South Caucasus around 6000 BC, with ~10,000 varieties.
Vochysiaceae
Vochysiaceae A.St.-Hil., a family of Myrtales trees and shrubs, sister to Myrtaceae, with zygomorphic one-stamen flowers and spurred sepal; Neotropical with a few West African species, about 200 species in 7-9 genera.
Voltziales
Voltziales, an extinct order of transitional conifers (walchian and voltzian types) ranging from the Pennsylvanian to the Late Cretaceous, intermediate between Cordaitales and modern conifers.
Vomitoxin
Vomitoxin, or deoxynivalenol (DON), is a type B trichothecene mycotoxin from Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum that contaminates cereals, binds the 60S ribosome, and causes vomiting and feed refusal in swine.
Walnut
Walnut (Juglans regia, Persian or English walnut): a long-lived wind-pollinated tree native from Xinjiang to the Caucasus, spread by humans since the Bronze Age; major nut crop (2.67 M MT in-shell 2023/24, China 51%) rich in polyunsaturated fats.
Waltheria indica
Waltheria indica (syn. W. americana), sleepy morning or 'uhaloa, a Malvaceae subshrub native to tropical America, pantropical weed used in traditional medicine for asthma, inflammation, and pain.
Wasabi (山葵)
Wasabi (山葵, Eutrema japonicum) is a Japanese Brassicaceae herb grown for its grated rhizome's isothiocyanate pungency; cultivation began in Keicho-era Shizuoka, whose terraced spring-water fields are a FAO heritage site.
Water caltrop
Water caltrop (Trapa natans), also called water chestnut or singhara, is an annual floating-leaved aquatic plant with horned edible fruits, native to Eurasia and Africa, a protected crop in Asia and Europe but a noxious invasive weed in North America and Australia.
Watercress
Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a perennial aquatic plant in the cabbage family grown for its peppery leaves, native to Eurasia and spread worldwide by European settlement.
Weigela
Weigela, a genus of about ten deciduous shrub species in Caprifoliaceae native from China to the Russian Far East and Japan, named for C.E. von Weigel; famous for W. florida, over 130 garden cultivars in eight Hoffmann Groups, and spring trumpet flowers on old wood.
Welwitschia
Welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis, tree tumbo, tweeblaarkanniedood) is the sole species of Welwitschiaceae, a Namib Desert gymnosperm with two lifelong leaves, ages over 1,500 years, XY sex chromosomes, and high northern-Namib extinction risk.
Wheat
Wheat (Triticum), including bread wheat (T. aestivum) and durum (T. durum), is the world's most widely grown and traded food grain, a hexaploid cereal supplying ~20% of human calories and protein, domesticated in the Fertile Crescent.
Wheat fiber extract
Wheat fiber extract, a brown powder from wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) rich in arabinoxylan and xylo-oligosaccharides, is a dietary fiber ingredient notified as GRAS in FDA GRN 001266 by Comet Biorefining, distinct from wheat bran extract.
Wheat flour
Wheat flour: powder milled from wheat grain, refined or whole wheat, used for bread, pasta, and baked goods. Defined by grain hardness, 8-17% protein, and gluten, its viscoelastic glutenin-gliadin complex.
Wheat gluten
Wheat gluten is the natural protein of wheat, essentially flour with the starch removed, used by bakers to make bread more uniform and known as the trigger of celiac disease.
Wheat protein isolate
Wheat protein isolate (WPI) is a flour-derived ingredient of at least 90% wheat protein, mainly gluten, used to strengthen dough and fortify baked goods, pastas, and meat analogues; lysine-limited and unsuitable for celiac diets.
Wheat research and breeding programs
Wheat research and breeding programs are the public institutes, international centers like CIMMYT and ICARDA, universities, and grower-funded bodies that develop and release new wheat varieties.
Wheat seed polar lipids
Wheat seed polar lipids (WSPL), sold as Ceramosides Powder Neutra by SEPPIC, are a wheat (Triticum aestivum) seed extract of ≥90% polar lipids (≥50% sphingolipids, ≥40% DGDG) judged GRAS by FDA under GRN 906 (August 24, 2020) for fruit and vegetable juice drinks at 0.1 mg/g.
Wheat weevil
The wheat weevil (Sitophilus granarius), also called the granary or grain weevil, is a flightless 3–5 mm snout beetle and major pest of stored grain.
Wheatgrass
Wheatgrass: young grass of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) consumed as juice, powder, or tablets; nutrient-rich but perishable, with thin clinical evidence and FDA limits on disease claims.
White rice
White rice (milled or polished rice) is rice with hull and bran removed, a staple for over half the world's population; GI 73±4, US-enriched with iron, niacin, thiamin, folic acid, stores 25–30 years.