Wild Edible Vegetables Used for Health Benefit by Rural People of Gondia District in Maharashtra State, India

Shri Laxmanrao Mankar Institute of Pharmacy, Amgaom Gondia, Maharashtra, India - 441902

*Corresponding author: Tulsidas Nimbekar, Shri Laxmanrao Mankar Institute of Pharmacy, Amgaom Gondia, Maharashtra, India – 441902, Tel: 9326861962; Email: [email protected]

Citation: Nimbekar T, et al. (2022). Wild Edible Vegetables Used for Health Benefit by Rural People of Gondia District in Maharashtra State, India. Traditional Medicine. 3(1):9.

Received: April 21, 2022

Published: August 13, 2022

ABSTRACT

The population outburst resulted into an inadequate accessibility of food resources such as cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits to the individual. Documentation and spreading responsiveness of utilization of wild edible plants in the regular family diet may be a solution to overcome this alarming problem. Wild edible vegetables play an important contribution to the livelihood of the households who gather and consume them. As per the traditional knowledge, these wild edible vegetables or plants play a significant task in the sustenance of forest people residing in forested areas. A scientific study of edible wild plants is important for pin pointing the potential sources which could be even utilized at the time of scarcity and cultivated as well as a source of food for the budding population. In respect of this, the present work was undertaken which documents as many as 50 plant species that easily found in the surveyed area. The area for wild edible vegetables having some medicinal potential has been carried out in 12 villages of Gondia district, Maharashtra, India. The study showed that the plants used are either eaten raw, cooked by boiling in water, frying in oil or baked to be served as dishes such as stew, salad as hot drink and as nutraceuticals.

Keywords: Wild edible plant, Gondia, Forest dwellers and Traditional knowledge

INTRODUCTION

Domesticated vegetables have been selectively bred for look, production quality, taste, length of storage, and qualities other than nutrition and these vegetables sold in the market are exposed to various pesticides, herbicides, and range of other chemicals and they have been genetically modified or irradiated. At this context safety of eating is a general concern; wild foods don’t have these problems.

Wild plants are reported to be edible and easily available even during adverse conditions like drought and scarcity. Such wild species are accepted like other cultivated species and they play an important role in solving the various food troubles of the world. India is in the second position in population as well as vegetable production as per the requirements [1]. Forest resources, mainly plants and plant products, have an important place in the daily life of tribals and other forest dwellers. Forest provides food as Forest products (NTFPS) that are necessary not only for meeting their own requirements, but these are also a potential source of their income for livelihood [2].

Though plants have been used as a source of food, fodder, shelter, clothing, medicine and a verity of helpful commodities from earliest time, the value of wild edible plants in food security has not been given adequate attention in India [3]. Wild edible plants are the precious gift from our nature and most of the ethnic communities strongly depend on it for their day to day life. Wild vegetables are available locally and therefore inexpensive for low income sectors of the economy. They are good sources of important nutrients, which play significant roles in nutrition, food security and serve as supplements for the management of nutrition related illnesses. Foods plants are not only supplement to the food quality, but also an important option during starvation for survival and thus makes significant contribution to the human nutrition throughout the year [4,5].

Gondia district of Maharashtra state is well-known for the forest resources with abundant amount of flora and fauna. During the year 2020-21, an estimated 2833 sq. km of area was under forest which constituted 50.22% of the total area. Forest resources contribute significantly to the economy of the district. Nagzira, 152 sq. km and Navegaon National park, 133 sq. km, Nawegaon Wildlife Sanctuary (123 sq km), New Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary (151 sq km) and Koka Wildlife Sanctuary (97 sq km) are the national reserve forests [6,7]. These local people are still depending on wild food resources throughout monsoon season and consume with conventional way. During the first spell of rain in June –July leafy vegetables are available on a large scale.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study Area

Gondia is an eastern district of Maharashtra and lies between 20.39 to 21.380 North and 79.27 to 82.420 East having total forest area of 2151.15 sq.km. The district is divided into eight talukas where most of the residents depends upon agriculture amongst fifteen villages were preferred from district which are in association with the dense forest. The vegetation of the district is interestingly diverse, as on north eastern part of district Satpuda hilly ranges are running, apart from this district has protected areas like Navegaon National Park and Nagzira Wild life Sanctuary which has been declared as Tiger Reserve by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and 46^th of the country on the date of 7^th September 2013 [8,9].

Field Survey

The detailed field survey was carried out by four members from our Institute during the period of May 2020 to April 2021. During this period field tours were conducted in different seasons of the year. During the survey, data on local name, edible parts, available period, habit and habitat, phenology and fruiting period and nature of uses were collected and recorded. The data had been collected from the local people who have a strong connection with traditional agriculture for their day-to-day needs. The Primary data was collected through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), group discussion, semi-structured interviews and household survey. The collected plant parts were identified using relevant scientific literature [10,11].

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The present study focuses mainly on some of the plants reported from forest areas of Gondia district for their alternative uses as nutritionally useful plants and reveals the data obtained during the study. A total of 50 plant species belonging to 28 families have been recorded in the present study (Table 1).

Table 1. Nutritionally important plant with their family and vernacular name. (11-15)

Most of these plants are seasonal and available in specific duration of the year. Remaining plants which are perennial and available throughout the year are also utilized in particular month of the year due to the plant part which is used in diet available for few months only. Many plants have been consumed for dual purpose i.e. as a food and for medicinal purposes. Out of total plant parts, around 54 % leaves, which are followed by 24 % of fruits, 4 % flowers, 4 % Rhizome, 4 % mushroom, 6% whole shrub and 4% stems of plant are used by the people of Gondia district. The details of plant parts used are presented in graphical form in Figure 1 and table 2.

Figure 1: Analysis of usable parts of edible wild plants of the studied area

Table 2: Usable parts of edible wild plants of the studied area

Most of the tribal communities has good knowledge of edible plants available in surrounding forest and know how to eat the edible part and discard the other parts. This traditional knowledge of consuming wild plants is passed on orally from one generation to another and need to be safeguarded. Thus, wild edible plants can act as a link between habitat, season of availability, local people and culture associated with tribal people [12].

All the plants are very important for nutrition’s purpose and improvement of health. Among these plants species most of the plants are used for medicine purposes, like, Diabetics, Malaria, Jaundice, Stomach disorder, Cough, Piles, Amebic stool, Gastritis, Arthritis, blood purification, Cyst, Worm, etc. Different dishes prepared by them having medicinal properties [13,14].

CONCLUSION

The final conclusion of the present study is that, there are plenty of plants are available in the forest of Gondia district which could be utilized in the diet as an alternative food having medicinal and nutritional value. However, there is lack of scientific studies on these plants especially their nutrients and anti-nutrients composition. Hence it is essential to conduct a detailed nutritional and cultivation related investigation of some of potential plants. It has been also observed that traditional knowledge of wild food is a sharply declining due to rapid depletion of forest cover and our education system. It is not focus on the traditional knowledge which has been established in our social and cultural system. It is essential to educate teachers on this platform to teach the students. The new generation will be interested to study the plants and local resources.

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