DOI: 10.36347/sajp

Pages: 227-232

Vaccines are most widely used in the world. They have reduced the mortality rate caused by various infectious organisms. Prevention of diseases is the most appropriate approach to health. Vaccines trigger and prepare our body’s defense mechanisms so that the system is able to fight and eliminate the pathogens when encountered due to natural infection. But a mind disturbing reality unrecognized is the ever growing no of individuals suffering from adverse reactions to vaccines. Each year, millions of children in underdeveloped countries have no access to immunization. The traditional vaccines are expensive and, require special conditions for storage, distribution and & dispensing. Edible vaccines can be one of the alternatives of the traditional vaccines. Edible vaccines are cheaper, easy-to-administer and store, readily acceptable socially; especially for the poor and developing countries. The technique for production of edible vaccines involves introduction of selected desired genes of immunogenic proteins from various pathogens into plants and animals and then inducing these altered organisms to manufacture the encoded proteins. Edible vaccines are targeted to provide mucosal as well as systemic immunity. The future of edible vaccines depends on acceptability for genetically modified foods. Successful implementation of edible vaccines relies on how well we overcome various technical obstacles, regulatory issues and non-scientific challenges. This paper reviews the method of preparation, mode of action, advantages, limitations, applications, clinical trails related to edible vaccines which can create significant impact on promotion of global health