Forest Foods of Northern Western Ghats: Mode of Consumption, Nutrition, and Availability
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Full-length paper Asian Agri-History Vol. 19, No. 4, 2015 (293–316) 293 Forest Foods of Northern Western Ghats: Mode of Consumption, Nutrition, and Availability Rohini Jadhav, Mandar N Datar, and AS Upadhye Biodiversity and Paleobiology Group, Agharkar Research Institute, GG Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India (email: [email protected]) Abstract Forest foods or wild edible plants are a traditional source of daily nutrition in addition to regular diet. Local people and tribals of northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India utilize large number of wild edible plants sustainably. A comprehensive checklist of 159 wild edible plants belonging to 70 families was prepared to document this traditional knowledge. Data gathered indicate that leaves, fruits, seeds, tubers, and stems are an integral and essential element in the diet of the local people. Plants are consumed either raw or cooked as vegetable, or stored in dried or other form. Trees are consumed most when compared to other habit groups. Several studies conducted earlier on wild edible plants of small regions of Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra suggest that these plants play an important role in the livelihoods of rural and local communities of the region. Plants are the gift to humans by nature and in comparison to introduced or exotic plant have been used as an important source of species. The knowledge of consumption food. Many plant species are domesticated of wild edible plants by rural and tribal by humans for their daily requirement communities has been transferred from one of food. In addition to several of these generation to another traditionally. This domesticated crops, many wild plants not traditional knowledge is useful to widen cultivated by humans have been used as food sources. The use of wild edible plants a source of food. Wild edible plants can as food is an integral part of the culture and be defi ned as those plants which grow in tradition of many indigenous communities the wild and various parts of these plants of India in various regions. can be safely consumed. Wild edible plants serve not only as an alternative to The Western Ghats or the Sahyadri are staple food defi cit but also as a valuable a mountain range along the western side supplement for nutritionally balanced of India. The area is one of the thirty- diet of rural and tribal communities. Such four biodiversity hotspots of the world plants are naturally resistant and adaptive (Roach, 2005; Synge, 2005) owing to to microclimate change such as low high levels of species endemism and rainfall, high temperature, etc. especially anthropocentric pressures on them. There 294 Consumption and nutrition of forest foods is topographic and climatic heterogeneity only the wild edible legumes from Pune in the Western Ghats which support diverse district. Vartak and Kulkarni (1987) and vegetation types and distinct fauna. The Salave and Reddy (2012) concentrated on complex topography, high rainfall, relative some less known wild leafy vegetables inaccessibility, and biogeographic isolation of Pune and Ahmednagar districts have been responsible for the Western respectively. Deshmukh and Shinde Ghats to retain their rich biodiversity (2010) and Kshirsagar et al. (2012) listed (Gadgil et al., 2011). Although the total wild edible fruits which are underutilized area is less than 6% of the land area of from Kalsubai-Harishchandragad India, the Western Ghats contain more than wildlife sanctuary and North Maharashtra 30% of all plant species found in India. The respectively while Chothe et al. (2014) region has numerous medicinal plants and described the processing of unconventional important genetic resources such as the wild fruits of tribal areas of Thane district. wild relatives of grain crops. Mahadkar and Jadhav (2013) enumerated traditional uses of wild edible plants of The northern sector of the Western Ghats Kolhapur district. Vartak and Ghate (1994) of Maharashtra lies between 15° and 21° focused only on Meyna laxifl ora, which is N latitude. It is about one-third of the total a promising wild edible fruit from tribal length of Western Ghats and covers an areas of Western Maharashtra. area of 52,000 km2 (Gadgil et al., 2011). The northern ranges of Western Ghats All these works are restricted to smaller comprise the districts Nandurbar, Dhule, geographical areas and there is no document Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara, Sangli, available giving wild edible plants of Kolhapur, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Northern Western Ghats as a single unit and Sindhudurg. The local and rural with details of botanical name, important communities of these districts utilize synonym, vernacular name, family, habit, wild edible plants in their day-to-day edible part, mode of consumption, fl owering consumption. Several studies have been and fruiting season, nutritional analysis, and done on exploring the consumption of habitat. This present checklist is an attempt wild edible plants by local people in the to bridge the gap between wild edible plants Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra enumerated and those consumed by the (Datar and Vartak, 1975; Vartak, 1981; local and rural communities of Northern Gunjatkar and Vartak, 1982; Gunjatkar, Western Ghats of Maharashtra. 1985; Vartak and Suryanarayana, 1995; Patil and Patil, 2000; Khyade et al., 2009; Methodology Kshirsagar et al., 2012; Mahadkar and Jadhav, 2013; Chothe et al., 2014; Mulay A checklist of 159 wild edible plant and Sharma, 2014). Datar and Vartak species from Northern Western Ghats (1975) enumerated wild edible plants from of Maharashtra was compiled based Karnala Bird Sanctuary in Maharashtra. on literature survey and herbarium Gunjatkar and Vartak (1982) documented consultation at the Herbarium of Agharkar Asian Agri-History Vol. 19, No. 4, 2015 295 Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra. Literature of various sources including Wild edible plants can be defi ned as Datar and Vartak (1975), Gunjatkar those plants which grow in the wild (1985), Nilegoankar et al. (1985), Vartak and various parts of these plants can and Kulkarni (1987), Khyade et al. (2009), be safely consumed. Wild edible plants Kshirsagar et al. (2012), Salave and Reddy serve not only as an alternative to (2012), Mahadkar and Jadhav (2013), and staple food defi cit but also as a valuable Mulay and Sharma (2014) was consulted supplement for nutritionally balanced for checklist of wild edible plants. In diet of rural and tribal communities. addition to literature survey, herbarium specimens deposited in the Herbarium of Agharkar Research Institute were parts of plants than the other edible parts consulted for additional data. Information like fl owers, seeds, tubers, roots, shoots, on herbarium sheets was referred and the stem, infl orescence, and rhizome (Table 1). utility of the plant species was listed with Leaves are available throughout the year botanical name, important synonym, if but mostly consumed when they are tender; any, vernacular names, habit, edible parts, other parts are consumed seasonally. mode of consumption, flowering and fruiting season, and nutritional content. Synonyms were updated as given in The Table 1. Edible parts of wild plant Plant List (2014), Version 1.1 (http:// species. www.theplantlist.org/). Flowering and No. of plant fruiting season was compiled by using Edible part species state fl oras (Sharma et al., 1996; Almeida, Flowers 10 1996–2009; Singh et al., 2000, 2001). Fruits 77 Nutritional composition was compiled Leaves 60 using “Glossary of Indian Medicinal Seeds 17 Plants with Active Principles” (Asolkar Roots 6 et al., 1981). Tubers 10 Thalamus 1 Results and discussion Peduncle 1 A comprehensive checklist of all the 159 Shoots 10 plant species of wild edible plants from Rhizome 1 Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra Infl orescence 1 belonging to 70 families was prepared. Stem 4 Amongst dominant families of wild edible Whole plant 4 plants, Apocynaceae (12 species) followed Kernel 1 by Leguminosae (10 species), Vitaceae (7 Gum 1 species), and Asteraceae (6 species) topped Fleshy receptacle of fruits 1 the list. Fruits and leaves are the most edible 296 Consumption and nutrition of forest foods Plants are consumed either raw or as various preparations such as vegetable, pickle, etc. The Western Ghats or the Sahyadri are Parts of 90 plant species are cooked as a mountain range along the western vegetable while parts of 79 plant species are side of India. The area is one of the eaten raw (Table 2). Edible plants are either thirty-four biodiversity hotspots of the consumed when they are available or they world. are stored and consumed throughout the year. Edible parts of plants need to be dried for storage and for making pickles, syrup, are edible; they are boiled and consumed ladoos (sweetmeat), etc. while the inflorescence is used for vegetable preparation. There are many Single part of some species is used for plant species whose edible leaves are edible purpose. Thalamus of only one made into vegetable preparations such as species Nelumbo nucifera is eaten as Cissus adnata, Cissus quadrangularis, vegetable. Roots of plant species like Glossocordia bosvallia, Acmella Sterculia urens and Sterculia villosa are paniculata, Vernonia cinerea, Amaranthus eaten roasted while those of Hemidesmus spinosus, and Amaranthus viridis (Table indicus and Leea indica are used as 3). The plant species whose leaves and vegetable. Rhizomes of Ensete superbum fruits are edible show some variation in their mode of consumption. Leaves of Ocimum tenuiflorum are used in Table 2. Mode of consumption of wild preparation of tea while those of Ocimum edible plants. americanum are prepared as chutney. Mode of consumption No. of plant species Fruits of several plants are eaten raw. The Vegetable 90 fruits of Garcinia indica are made into Eaten raw 79 syrup while the fruits of Aegle marmelos Roasted 9 are used in preparation of soft drinks Boiled 5 (Table 3). As health drink 3 There are in all 47 plant species which Pickle 4 have more than one edible part.