Wild leafy vegetables: A study of their subsistence dietetic support to the inhabitants of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India

Abstract

Consumption of greens is a major source of vitamins and micro-nutrients for people using only vegetarian diets rich in carbohydrates. In remote rural settlements where vegetable cultivation is not practiced and market supplies are not organized, local inhabitants depend on indigenous vegetables, both cultivated in kitchen gardens and wild, for enriching the diversity of food. Knowledge of such foods is part of traditional knowledge which is largely transmitted through participation of individuals of households. A total of 123 households in six villages of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve buffer zone was surveyed using a schedule to assess the knowledge, availability and consumption pattern of wild leafy vegetables. Quantity estimations were done using regular visits with informants from 30 sample households of the six study villages during the collections. Monetization was used to see the value of wild leafy vegetables harvested during a year. The diversity of wild leafy vegetables being use by the local inhabitants is 21 species belonging to 14 genera and 11 families. This is far less than that being reported to be used by the communities from Western Ghats in India and some parts of Africa. Irrespective of social or economic status all households in the study villages had the knowledge and used wild leafy vegetables. The number of households reported to consume these wild leafy vegetables is greater than the number of households reporting to harvest them for all species except for Diplazium esculentum and Phytolacca acinosa. The availability and use period varied for the species are listed by the users. The study indicated that the knowledge is eroding due to changing social values and non participation of younger generation in collection and processing of such wild leafy vegetables.

Ethnobotanical review of food uses of Polygonatum (Convallariaceae) in China

“…For example, in India, Polygonatum cirrifolium and P. verticillatum are considered to be wild tasty leafy vegetables [19]. Polygonatum biflorum is distributed in the eastern United States and south-central Canada.…”

Ethnobotanical study of wild vegetables used by rural communities of<br>Kannauj district, Uttar Pradesh, India

“…Specimens were brought to the laboratory and preserved in the form of herbarium (Jain and Rao, 1967) identified with the help of pertinent literatures (Kanjilal, 1933;Duthie, 1960) and deposited in herbarium maintained at department of Botany for future references. The acquired data were compared with relevant literatures (Haridarshan et al, 1990;Sundriyal and Sundriyal, 2001;Kar, 2004;Sinha and Valeria, 2005;Angami et al, 2006;Kala, 2007;Mishra et al, 2008;Binu, 2010;Bhogaonkar et al, 2010) to identify new claims.…”

“…Though plants have been used as a source of food, fodder, shelter, clothing, medicine and a verity of useful commodities from ancient time, the value of wild edible vegetables in food security has not been given sufficient attention in India (Reddy et al, 2007). In rural settlements where vegetable cultivation is not practiced and market supplies are not organized, local inhabitants depends on indigenous vegetables either cultivated by themselves or collected from wild (Mishra et al, 2008). The traditional knowledge about indigenous wild vegetables is largely transmitted by oral tradition from generation to generation without any written record.…”

“…The traditional knowledge about indigenous wild vegetables is largely transmitted by oral tradition from generation to generation without any written record. Such practices are still prevalent among rural and tribal communities in many parts of the world (Haridarshan et al, 1990;Samant and Dhar, 1997;Shackleton et al, 1998;Grivetti and Ogle, 2000;Sundriyal, 2001, 2003;Ogoye-Ndegwa and Aagard-Hensen, 2003;Kar, 2004;Jansen et al, 2004;Sinha and Lakara, 2005;Angami et al, 2006;Reddy et al, 2007;Kala, 2007;Narayanan and Kumar, 2007;Dovie et al, 2007;Odhav et al, 2007;Orech et al, 2007;Setalaphruk and Price, 2007;Mishra et al, 2008;Binu, 2010;Bhogaonkar et al, 2010). The primitive men, through trial and error, have selected many wild edible plants and subsequently domesticated them (Kar, 2004).…”

The Contribution of Forests and Trees to Sustainable Diets

“…Iron, zinc and vitamin B 12 deficiencies can impair growth, cognitive development and school performance, with life-long implications for health and socio-economic success [29]. The best dietary sources of these nutrients are animal source foods (bushmeat), leafy green vegetables commonly collected in forest areas [34][35][36], and legumes.…”