RESUMO:O presente estudo analisou a diversidade e equitabilidade de plantas alimentícias não convencionais (PANCs) na zona rural de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil. A pesquisa foi conduzida utilizando a amostragem Bola de Neve com entrevistas semiestruturadas aplicadas à 20 moradores de nove comunidades rurais. Avaliou-se a frequência relativa de citação das espécies (Fr); a diversidade e equitabilidade das mesmas, utilizando os índices de ShannonWiener (H') e de Pielou (J'), respectivamente. As espécies foram listadas pela família, nome científico, nomes populares, ambiente de propagação, hábito de crescimento, formas de consumo, estado de domesticação, ciclo de produção e registro por meio de consultas em herbários do bioma Mata Atlântica. Foram encontradas 59 espécies de PANCs, distribuídas em 30 famílias botânicas e 48 gêneros. As famílias asteraceae e myrtaceae se destacaram pela riqueza florística, contribuindo com 11 e 7 espécies, respectivamente. Espécies da família asteraceae obtiveram as maiores frequências relativas (32,2). Obteve-se índice de diversidade Shannon-Wiener de 1,65 (Base 10), e de equitabilidade de Pielou de 0,93. Os resultados encontrados estão similares à de outros estudos desenvolvidos no bioma Mata Atlântica, observou-se ampla diversidade de PANCs na área de estudo, e o conhecimento sobre estas encontra-se distribuído uniformemente entre os moradores. Palavras-chave:PANCs, etnobotânica, conhecimento popular, prospecção de plantas alimentícias, recursos alimentares vegetais.ABSTRACT: Diversity and equivalence of unconventional food plants in rural zone of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This study analyzed the diversity and the equity of unconventional food plants (UFPs) in the rural area of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The research was performed using the Snowball sampling with semi-structured interviews, applied to 20 residents from nine rural communities. We evaluated the relative frequency of citation of the species (Fr); the diversity and equity of the same species, using the Shannon-Wiener (H') and Pielou (J') indexes, respectively. The species were listed by its family, scientific name, common denominations, propagation environment, growth habit, application methods, domestication state, production cycle and finally registration through consultation in herbaria in the Atlantic Forest biome. We found 59 species of UFPs, distributed in 30 botanical families and 48 genera. The Asteraceae family and the Myrtaceae one stood out for their floristic richness, contributing to 11 and 7 species, respectively. Species from the Asteraceae family got the highest relative frequencies (32.2). It was obtained the Shannon-Wiener diversity index of 1.65 (Base 10), and the Pielou equity index of 0.93. The results are similar to other studies developed in the Atlantic Forest biome, where there was a wide diversity of UFPs in the study area, and the knowledge of these plants is evenly distributed among the residents.

Wild mustard plant (Sinapis arvensis), Brassicaceae, is a wild vegetable found in forest area, domestic orchards and it is consumed by rural population. This study aimed to evaluate chemical composition (moisture, total dietary fiber, lipids, proteins, ash, carbohydrates and total energetic value), concentration of carotenoids, vitamins (C and E) and minerals (K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Na, Cr, Se and Mo) and the contribution by this vegetable to the recommendations of daily consumption of nutrients for adult individuals. Concentrations of provitamin A (252.21 RAE/100 g), Se (0.04 mg/100 g) and Fe (5.91 mg/100 g) stood out, in which this vegetable was considered as an excellent source for these nutrients. In addition, wild mustard was considered a good source of K (435.65 mg/100 g), Ca (123.25 mg/100 g) and Mn (0.40 mg/100 g) and source of Total Dietary Fiber (TDF) (3.20 mg/100 g), Mg (26.82 mg/100 g) and Cu (0.07 mg/100 g). Wild mustard stood out as source, good source or excellent source of the evaluated nutrients, and they may contribute to reduce nutritional deficiency of those nutrients in the populations living in the region where this vegetable occurs.