Table 9.1.

Benefits Envisaged in Plant-Derived Edible Vaccines

Benefit	Characteristics
Oral delivery	The plant cell wall, consisting essentially of cellulose and sugars, provides protection in the stomach and gradual release of the antigen in the gut
Use as raw food or dry powder	The vaccinogenic plant tissue may be used as raw food or, alternatively, proteins may be partially or fully purified and administered in capsules as dry powder
No need for “cold chain”	The vaccinogenic plant parts or plant extracts can be stored and shipped at room temperature
Mucosal and serum immune response	Plant-derived vaccines are primarily designed to trigger the mucosal immune system (IgA)
Cost efficiency	Production cost will be reduced 100–1000 times as compared with that of traditional vaccines
Optimized expression system	Plants may be engineered to accumulate the antigen in convenient intracellular compartments (endoplasmic reticulum, chloroplast)
Ease of genetic manipulation	Procedures essentially rely on established molecular and genetic manipulation protocols; these are already available
Ease of production and scale-up	GM plants can be stored as seeds. Unlimited vaccine quantity can be produced from these in limited time; production and management are suitable for developing countries
Safer than conventional vaccines	Lack of contamination with mammalian pathogens
Ideal to face bioweapons	Safety and cost efficiency plant-derived vaccines act as an ideal tool to face bioterrorism
Ideal for veterinary use	Cost affordable and ready for use as food additive