CHAPTER 1

1.1 WILD EDIBLE PLANTS

1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS

1.2.1 Hill’s Classification

1.2.2 Brouk’s Classification

1.2.3 Singh and Arora’s Classification

1.3 WILD EDIBLE PLANTS USED BY TRIBALS IN INDIA

1.3.1 Emergency Foods in Indian History

1.4 OJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 WILD EDIBLE PLANTS

Plants are the basis of life on earth and are central to people‟s livelihood. The
wild floras of many countries contain a great variety of useful plants which have been
a valuable source of the basic needs. Millions of people in many developing countries
do not have enough food to meet their daily requirements and many others are
deficient in one or more micronutrients (FAO, 2004). The diversity in wild species
offers variety in family diet and contributes to household food security. In addition to
food values, some species are marketable and provide the opportunity to supplement
household income.

“Wild edible plants” are wild plants with one or more parts that can be used
for food if gathered at the appropriate stage of growth, and properly prepared (Kallas,
2010). Wild edible plants could be weeds growing in urban areas to native plants
growing in deep wilderness. Since pre-historic times, man has known to have
identified the plants useful for their food from the natural stands. Man has the
intelligence edge over other animals and hence is able to screen the edible and
poisonous plant parts by the process of trial and error method.

Wild edible plants play a major role in supplying food for poor communities
mainly for tribals and rural people, since it is freely available within the natural
habitats and they have knowledge on how to gather and prepare food items from these
wild plant resources. Wild plants, besides from being used by poor communities, are
commonly used today as supplement for healthy diets in even the most developed
region of the world (Redzic, 2006).About one billion people in the world use wild
foods (mostly from plants) on a daily basis (Aberoumand, 2009). Ethnobotanical
investigations on wild edible plants suggest that more than 7,000 species have been
used for food in human history (Grivetti and Ogle, 2000). In countries like China,
India, Thailand and Bangladesh hundreds of wild edible plants are still consumed
along with domesticated species (Mazhar et al., 2007).

India is a vast country where nature has bestowed rich botanical wealth and a
large number of diverse types of plants growing wild in different parts. India is one of

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the world‟s 12 mega diversity centres with 47,147 plants species including all lower
groups (BSI, 2012) and is divided in 20 agro-ecozones. About 800 wild plants are
consumed as food chiefly by tribal communities (Singh and Arora, 1978). Out of the
total wild edible species of plants, about 300 species occurs in the north eastern part
of India (Watt, 1889-99; Kanjilal, 1934-40; Singh and Arora, 1978; Jain and Dam,
1979). The regions has two biodiversity hotspots and Manipur falls in the Indo –
Myanmar global biodiversity hotspots (Mittermeieret al., 2004, Myers et al., 2000)
with tropical to sub-tropical and temperate forest.
Cultural Diversity
Manipur is a small picturesque state in the north-eastern part of India. The
state has an almost rectangular shape with a little valley in the centre encircled by
mountain ranges on all sides enclosing an area of 22,327 km2 with a population of
27.21 lakhs (2011 Census, Directorate of census operation, Manipur). So,
geographically the state is divided into a centrally located valley and the surrounding
hills. The hills, which are adminstatively divided into five districts and six
autonomous district councils (Naik,1972) are inhabited by 34 recognised tribes who
are broadly classified into „ Any kuki tribes‟ and „Any Naga tribes‟ by the constitution
(STs) order, 1950 (Planning Commission,2001). It constitutes about 90 percent of the
total geographical area of the state population. The Imphal valley constitutes about 10
percent of the total landmass of the state and inhabited mainly by the Meiteis and
Meitei Pangals who together constitute 64.6 percent of the total population of the
state.
People of various ethnic groups dwelling in the hills and valley region inhabit the
state of Manipur. This region abounds in many varieties of plants growing in the hill
terrains, marshy places and lakes. The native of this area still gather and consume
wild food plants in their own traditional way (Arora, 1981; Singh et al., 1988). There
are altogether nine districts in the state viz. Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal,
Bishnupur, Ukhrul, Chandel, Tamenglong and Churachanpur districts. Imphal East
district lies in the latitude of 23o 55/ to 24o 30/ North and longitude of 92o 59/ to 93o
50/ East with a total geographical area of 669 km2. Most of the areas of Imphal East
district are hilly with an altitude of 790 m above sea level. The total forest cover of
Imphal East district is 220 km2 which is 32.8 % of the total geographical area of the
state (FSI, 2011). The district has rich and varied vegetation. The climatic conditions
are suitable for a wide range of wild edible plants which grow both in the hills and the
plains.

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 The local communities use this rich plant diversity in their day to day life for
sustenance. Among the economically important species, wild edible plants form
supplementary/substitute food for hill and plain communities at the time of scarcity.
Different parts of wild edibles such as roots, tubers, rhizomes, stems, fruits,
inflorescences, flowers, seeds, thallus, fruiting body and fronds are consumed either
raw, roasted, fried, cooked boiled or in the form of spices, seasoning material, pickles,
jams, etc. In the present context, use of wild edibles is limited to certain
communities/areas in spite of their potentials in the local, national and international
markets. There is a great scope for enhancing the acceptability of wild edibles as
income generating resource for the hill and plain communities of this state and as
potential plant resources for human consumption. The attributes have necessitated the
identification and domestication of wild edibles to develop effective strategies for
their wider consumption.

1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS

Various workers have classified the wild edible plants in different ways. Some
of the important classification techniques are discussed below:
1.2.1 Hill’s Classification
According to Hill (1952) economically important plants may be classified as follows:
1. Food Plants – plants yielding various types of food. These include:
(a) Cereals – plants yielding rice, wheat, maize, etc.
(b) Millets – plants yielding small – grained food stuff e.g. jowar, bajra, ragikaon,
etc.
(c) Pulses – plants yielding various types of pulses like gram,pea, pigeon pea,
lentil etc.
(d) Vegetables – plants yielding vegetables like radish, carrots, sweet potatoes,
Potatoesbrinjal, cabbage and its allies, fruit vegetables, legume vegetables like
beans of various types etc.
(e) Fruits – plants yielding fruits like orange, banana, apple, guava, mango etc.
2. Food Adjuncts – plants yielding spices, flavouring materials, beverages etc.
(a) Spices and other flavouring materials – plants yielding spices like ginger,
turmeric,cinamomum, cloves, pepper etc.
(b) Beverages – plants yielding beverages like tea, coffee, cocoa etc.
3. Drug Plants – plants yielding drugs.
(a) Medicinal plants – plants yielding medicine e.g. Cinchona, Ipecac,
Rauvolfia, etc.

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 (b) Fumitories and Masticatories – plants yielding narcotics e.g. tobacco,
opium, ganja etc.
4. Industrial plants and plant products – plant yielding fibres, timbers, rubber,
tannin, gums, essential oil, sugars, cellulose products etc.
(a) Fibre plants – Plants yielding fibres of various types e.g. cotton, jute,
hemp, flax etc.
(b) Timber plants –Plants yielding timber e.g., teak, sal, mahogany, etc.
(c) Rubber plants – Plants yielding rubber, e.g., Hevea, Ficus elastica, etc.
(d) Gums and Resin – Plants yielding gums and resin, e.g. Pine.
(e) Essential oil – Plants yielding oils, e.g., mustard, castor, linseed,
coconut, groundnut etc.
(f) Tanning and dye yielding plants, e.g., Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis),
Bixa orellana etc.
(g) Sugar and Starch –Plants yielding sugars and its components e.g.,
sugarcane, sugarbeet etc.
1.2.2 Brouk’s Classification

Brouk (1975) divided economically important plants into seven classes, they are as
follows:

(a) Plants consumed by Man – Brouk classified various plants and plant
products, which are consumed by man wholly or partly for various purposes as
food – cereal and pseudo-cereals, vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc.; processed plant
product - plants providing extracts, flavourings, beverage plants, fumitories
masticatories, fermentive micro-organisms etc.
(b) Plants consumed by livestock- Plants and plants parts which are used as food
for livestock are categorized as animal fodder plants e.g. various grasses,
Artocarpus heterophyllus, Bamboo species, Reeds etc.
(c) Semantic plants – Brouk described semantic plants, which acquire economic
importance as a result of some special significance. A particular tree or flower
is ranked as an abstract value and represent as a symbol for a state/nation. e.g.
India‟s national flower is Lotus, Manipur State‟s flower and tree are – Siroy
Lily (Lilium mackliniae) and Toon (Cedrela toona), Assam‟s State tree and
flower are – Bamboo (Arundinaria griffithiana) and Champa (Michelia
champaca) etc. Certain plants are also associated with magical properties and

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 superstitious beliefs. Flowers are used to express our good feelings towards
the person to whom these are presented e.g. rose, tuberose (Polianthes
tuberosa) commonly known as Rajnigandha by the Bengalies, Champa etc.
(d) Shelter plants – Bamboo and other timber yielding plants.
(e) Ornamental plants- Ornamental flower like orchids etc.
(f) Industrial plants – plants yielding beverages like tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber,
etc.
(g) Medicinal plants –plants having medicinal values.

1.2.3 Singh and Arora’s Classification

Singh and Arora (1978) claimed for the first time the classification of Wild
edible plants only without mentioning the economically important plants in India.
Their classification was based on the utility of the plants as a whole or any plant parts
consumed by man as wild edible forms. They had the opportunity to categorize the
wild forms used by different traditional communities of Indian sub – continent.

The edible wild kinds have been classified into a few broad categories based
on the plant – parts eaten, e.g. the roots/tubers, leaves and shoots, flowers, ripe and
unripe fruits, and the seeds, nuts and kernels.

1. Plants with Edible Underground Parts – The underground parts of many

wild plants form an important source of starchy food consumed by the tribal
inhabitants living nearer to the forest tracts where the edible kinds occur; e.g.
Curcuma spp., Colocasia spp., Alocasia spp., Zingiber spp., etc.
2. Plants with Edible Greens – Many of the wild annuals are used as greens.
About 220 such kinds‟ belongings to botanically different groups e.g.
Portulaca oleracea, Chenopodium album, Amaranthus spinosus etc.
3. Plants with Edible Flowers – A few wild species are important for their
edible flowers, buds, inflorescences, etc. e.g. Madhuca longifolia, Bauhinia
species, Alpinia galanga, Capparis spinosa, Rhododendron arboreum etc.
4. Plants with Edible Fruits – Majority of these wild fruits are eaten raw when
ripe e.g. Zizyphus mauritiana, Elaeagnus spp., Elaeocarpus spp. Artocarpus,
Fragaria spp., etc.
5. Plants with Edible Seeds – Only a few species are such whose seeds, nuts
and kernels are consumed quite often as food by the tribal, a large percentage

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 of such kinds however, has found usage mainly as scarcity foods during
famine e.g. seeds of Artocarpus heterophyllus, Sterculia spp., Parkia
roxburghii etc.
6. Other Edible Kinds – Occasionally, plant-parts other than the leaves, roots,
flowers, fruits, seeds, nuts, and kernels are also used as foods e.g. bark of
Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Betula alnoides, Terminalia tomentosa etc.; the
species extracted from the inner wood is made use of as a drink.

1.3 WILD EDIBLE PLANTS USED BY TRIBALS IN INDIA

Wild food plants are that plants which implies the absence of human
interference and management but it results from the co – evolutionary relationship
between human and its environment. The problem of food supply prevails mostly in
some countries of the third world e.g. Africa, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Indonesia, Afghanistan, etc. Conventional food plants are not sufficient to fulfill the
requirement of food and therefore extensive work is being done on emergency food
plants throughout the world (Jain and Tiwary, 2013).
Living close to nature, the tribal communities have acquired immense
information about the use of wild food plants, which is not known to the outer world.
The local inhabitants know specific attributes in the long process of selection. The
overall choice of plants and different plant parts consumed by man has been held
important by different human cultures. The folk selection was based on local needs,
customs, preferences and habits (Arora, 1995). According to a report of Government
of India, food deficiency usually prevails in under developed tribal areas (Arora and
Pandey, 1996). In fact, tribals and our ancestors do have far more information
regarding useful aspects of plants as compared to modern techno-based man. Indian
tribals are utilizing over 9500 wild plants for various purposes, out of which 78.94%
wild plants are used for medicinal purposes and nearly 41.05% of wild plants are used
as solely edible species. Many plants do share both the above categories (Anonymous,
1995). According to FAO‟s production yearbook (Anonymous, 1987) developed
countries, especially urban populations began to depend almost entirely on the
extensive and intensive agriculture production of merely 100 plant species. The wild
plants consumed as edible by tribals during scarcity of conventional food on account
of natural calamities are called supplementary or emergency food plants.

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The term emergency food is associated with nearly all the tribal groups found all over
the world.
With the increasing population, the people of third world countries in the near
future have to switch over to such food plants to cope up with the increasing demand
of food and to maintain nutritional requirement of the world. The rapid growth of the
mineral industry is in part due to the need for supplements in diet lacking sufficient
mineral content, but supplements on being synthetic in nature may not provide
minerals in soluble and metabolically available form (Fairweather, 1996). Plant
resources may play an important role to sort out various problems related to food,
medicines etc. Majority of tribal communities depend upon such food plants in the
absence of conventional food, for e.g. Fagopyrum esculentum is consumed by
inhabitants of Himalayan zone, Ficus glomerata is eaten by Abujhmaria tribe of north
western part of Baster, Lamium album, consumed by the aboriginals of Gurez valley
of Kashmir etc. Tribals have been known to use wild plant species in the following
manner:
a) Directly as food stuff (to satisfy hunger).
b) Indirectly, by adding flavor to the food.
There are about 20,000 species of angiosperms which are used directly or
indirectly and have been mentioned in various new and old literatures. According to
the report published by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India
(Anonymous,1995) there are nearly 3900 wild plant species which are used by tribals
as subsidiary food. These subsidiary food plants should match the parameters
regarding healthy and nutritive food prior to be selected as food for the nation. Out of
3,900 or more wild plant species used as food by tribals, about 800 are new claims
and at least 250 are worthy of consideration for development as alternative sources
of nutritive food which civilization might need in the near future. Agreat ethnic and
diversity of use of wild edible plants can be observed among the Nagas. The sixteen
sub-tribes of the Nagas practice shifting cultivation and their staple crops are taro,
potato and rice. The species which are considered as edible are (Allium bakeri,
Alpinia bracteata, Artocarpus chaplasha, Bauhinia purpurea, Callicarpa
arborescens, Castanopsis indica, etc.) (Rao, 1994).

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 The 29 ethnic groups of the indigenous community of Manipur in north-
eastern India use as food about 400 species of wild plants, ranging from algae to
angiosperms as food (GOI, 1994)

1.3.1 Emergency Foods in Indian History

The concept of emergency food plants is quite old in India. Number of

examples of such food plants can be cited from ancient Indian scriptures. In ancient
scripture „Kautilya’s Arthashastra‟ information regarding emergency food is
mentioned, which can be taken for survival during emergency (Basak, 1964, 1980;
Shamastry, 1929). Kautilya’s Arthashastra is one of the oldest extant treatises in
Sanskrit and deals with exceptional interest and values. It comprises vast information
regarding the concept. Kautilya states that during emergency, one can survive by
consuming any of the food as mentioned below. Proper administration of any kind of
the recipes enables one to remain free from hunger for a considerable period of time.
1. Ingestion of a dose of powder of sinis (Albizzia lebbeck Benth.), udumbara
(Ficus glomerata Roxb.), and shami (Prosopis cineraria) (L.) Druce, mixed
with ghee, prevents hunger at least for a period of fortnight.
2. Consumption of a specified quantity of the scum, prepared from the mixture of
kaseruka (Scirpus grossus Linn.) rhizome of utpala (Nelumbo nucifera
Gaertn.) roots of ikshu (Saccharum officinarum L.) mixed with visa (Aconitum
ferox Wall.), durva (Cynodon dactylon Pers.), milk and ghee, enables one to
fast for a month.
3. One can go without food for a month after consuming a specified quantity of
the powder of masa (Phaseolus radiatus L. V.roxburghii), yava (Hordeum
vulgare L.), kulattha (Dolichos biflorus L.) and the root of durbha
(Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf.) along with milk and ghee.
4. If one drinks the glutinous paste of the roots of prasnaparni (Uraria
lagopoides DC.) and salaparni (Desmodium gangeticum DC.) along with
cow‟s milk, one can fast for a month.
The nutritional evaluation of about 200 wild edible plant species collected
from tribal areas have so far been carried out in different laboratories in India. All the
nutritional constituents have been estimated, to determine their nutritional status. It
has been noticed that the tribals, who still live in their undisturbed forest areas and
having the traditional food habits like consumption of a large variety of seasonal

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foods, are found to be healthy and free from most of the diseases (Anonymous, 1995).
This probably emphasizes on sound nutritional status of wild edible plants, consumed
by tribals as regular food or supplementary food.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are as follows:
1) Identification and documentation of wild food plants.
2) Mode of preparation of the plant resources.
3) Socio-economic aspects of the plant resources.
4) Nutrient analysis of selected wild edible plants.