Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 6(1), January 2007, pp. 173-176 Wild edible plants of the Anamalais, Coimbatore district, western Ghats, Tamil Nadu VS Ramachandran PG and Research Department of Botany, Kongunadu Arts and Science College (Autonomous), Coimbatore 641 029, Tamil Nadu Email:
[email protected] Received 25 August 2006; revised 25 September 2006 Anamalai hills, western Ghats, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu were surveyed to list out the edible plants utilized by the tribal communities such as Kadars, Pulaiyars, Malasars, Malaimalasars and Mudhuvars. About 74 plant species including 25 leafy vegetables, 4 fruit yielding and 45 fruit / seed yielding varieties have been identified. The local tribal communities for their dietary requirements since a long time have utilized these forest produce. Many of these less familiar edible plants can be subjected to further investigation to meet the food and nutrition security of the nation. Keywords: Tribals, Anamalais, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Wild edible plants, Kadars tribe, Pulaiyars tribe, Malasars tribe, Malaimalasars tribe and Mudhuvars tribe IPC Int. Cl.8: A61K36/00, A01G1/00, A01G17/00, A47G19/00, A23L1/00, A23L1/06, A23L2/02 Tribes constitute an important component repre- Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, which is spreading senting about 8% of the total population of India; it is to an area of 985 sq km. It is located at 10o-12o5’– about, 1.04% of the total population of Tamil Nadu. 11o7’ N latitude and 76o 77o–58.2’ E longitude, and at Tamil Nadu is the home of as many as 36 different an altitude ranging from 340 m to 2400 m.