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Epidemiological studies have demonstrated the protective effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on human health. A total of 150 edible plants representing 127 species were evaluated for Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and superoxide scavenging (SOS) activity. Distributions of vegetables for TEAC and SOS were not continuous but highly skewed. TEAC values on a dry weight basis ranged from 0 to 2105 µmol TE g −1 and SOS values ranged from 0 to 6206 µmol ascorbate equivalent (AE) g −1 . The majority of vegetables clustered within 200 µmol TE g −1 and 400 µmol AE g −1 . Vegetable species were grouped into six classes after natural logarithm transformation of TEAC and SOS values. Most highly consumed vegetables fell in the very low to medium classes. Species in the very high class for both TEAC and SOS included leaves of Cedrela sinensis (Chinese cedar),Oroxylum indicum (Damocles tree), Cassia siamea (cassod tree) and Cassia tora (sickle senna). Edible plants high in antioxidant activity (AOA) were mostly perennial and underutilised crops, while commonly consumed vegetables were generally low in AOA. There is great potential to increase dietary antioxidants and improve human health through consumption of diverse vegetable species, especially those high in AOA.

Chromolaena odorata, a neotropical plant, has spread throughout humid tropical Asia, Africa, the Western Pacific and a small area in northern Australia. A Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control project in 1966 identified over 200 arthropod natural enemies of this weed. Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata was one of the first natural enemies identified in this project. It was introduced to Ghana, Nigeria, India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia in the 1970s and early 1980s, but it established only in Sri Lanka. In the mid l980s it was confirmed that P. pseudoinsulata had established in Malaysia from the earlier introductions and had fortuitously spread to Brunei and the Philippines. Introductions after the mid 1980s resulted in its establishment in Guam,

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