Underutilized wild fruits of North Maharashtra

Underutilized wild fruits of North Maharashtra

Keywords: North Maharashtra, Wild edible fruit, Underutilized.

ABSTRACT: Tribals depend much upon forest products for their various daily needs particularly food. Wild edible fruits play a significant role in the dietary requirements of the tribal and local communities. Purpose of the present study was to document the wild fruits used as food by tribals as well as rural people in North Maharashtra. Inall fruits of 46 species, belonging to 25 families of which 23 are dicotyledonous and 02 monocotyledons, are documented as edible. Amongst these, 24 are trees followed by 09 shrubs, 07 climbers and 06 herbs. Mostly, fruits of tree species are utilized. Fruits of 28 species are eaten raw (02 unripe and 23 ripe) and 24 species are cooked. Fruits of 04 species are pickled, while that of one species used to extract oil. Market survey was also done for fruits with commercial value. This is an attempt to bring underutilized wild fruits in focus.

071-076 | JRPS | 2012 | Vol 1 | No 1

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Journal of Research in

Plant Sciences An International Scientific

Research Journal

Authors:

Kshirsagar Prachi P1,

Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar2

and Vishal R. Marathe3.

Institution:

1. Dept. of Botany,

Plant Science Division,

Agharkar Research Institute,

Pune - (Maharashtra State,

India).

2. Department of Botany,

Govt. Vidarbha Institute of

science and Humanities,

Amravati - 444 604

(Maharashtra State, India).

3. Dept. of Botany, N.E.S.

Science College, Nanded

(Maharashtra State, India).

Corresponding author:

Kshirsagar Prachi P.

Email:

[email protected]

Web Address: http://www.plantsciences.info documents/PS0021.pdf.

Dates: Received: 02 Feb 2012 /Accepted: 13 Feb 2012 /Published: 19 Mar 2012

Article Citation: Kshirsagar Prachi P, Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar and Vishal R. Marathe. Underutilized wild fruits of North Maharashtra. Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076

Original Research

Journal of Research in Plant Sciences

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An International Scientific Research Journal

INTRODUCTION

The present day need is to procure information

about the new food sources and exploit the vast number

of less familiar plant resources used by tribals and rural

populations. There are several wild edible plants that are

consumed by people in different regions. Wild edible

foods include roots, tubers, leaves, flowers, fruits and

seeds from different plants. Of these, fruits are receiving

increased interest from researchers working on wild

edible plant species because of their nutritional value,

vitamin and mineral contents.

North Maharashtra, comprises of three districts

i.e. Dhule, Jalgaon, and Nandurbar. Nashik though is not

a part of North Maharashtra, geographically and

historically is the part of Northern Maharashtra.

Therefore villages of Nashik district bordering North

Maharashtra were also included in the survey (Fig-1).

According to Forest Survey of India, State Forest

Report (Anonymous, 2009), Northern Maharashtra has

very little forest cover. The highest forest cover is

existing in Nandurbar district i.e. 20.37 % followed by

Jalgaon 10.07 %, Nashik 7.01 % while only 4.4 % forest

cover is in Dhule district. This means that forest cover in

this region is far less than the needed forest cover (30 %)

and day by day it is decreasing. Naturally as forest

wealth decreases dependability on forest resources also

decreases and ultimately the traditional ethnic knowledge

too. Hence the present work was undertaken to

document the wild edible fruits in North Maharashtra.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Documentation of wild edible plants was carried

out during January 2007 - November 2009. Total 184

locals were interviewed, of which 70 provided the

information about wild edible fruits. The area selected

for survey includes rural as well as tribal areas.

Fortnightly; sometimes, weekly tours were organized for

visiting the locals of the region. Field trips were made

with the locals to observe the wild edibles in nature.

Locals were interviewed in most formal way.

Information like the name (common/vernacular/ local

name) of wild fruit and the mode of use was noted down.

Species were identified using state floras as well as

district floras (Cooke, 1967; Dhore & Joshi, 1988;

Hooker, 1872 – 1987; Lakshminarasimhan & Sharma,

1991; Naik, 1998; Sharma et al 1996; Singh &

Karthikeyan, 2000; Singh et al, 2001; Yadav & Sardesai,

2002). Herbarium specimens were prepared and

deposited in Department of Botany Govt. Vidarbha

Institute of Science and Humanities, Amravati.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Most of the surveys conducted for wild edibles in

Maharashtra in the past years were mainly conducted in

Western Maharashtra (Vartak, 1980; Vartak and Gadgil,

1980).

Recently from North Maharashta Patil and Patil

reported 36 wild edible plants of which 07 are fruits from

Nashik district. Sharma and Mujumdar (2003) studied

Toranmal area and they reported o8 uncommon edible

species used in the region with only 02 fruit species.

Mahajan and Gunale (2004) enlisted 20 wild food plants

belonging to 15 families from Southwestern Satpuda;

which include 14 species of edible fruits. Deore and

Somani (2006) reported 13 edible plants from Nandurbar

Prachi et al., 2012

072 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076

District map of Maharashtra showing study area

with star ( )

district of which 08 species are of edible fruits.

In the present work wild edible fruits reported

from North Maharashtra are enumerated in Table-1, with

botanical names followed by family name, vernacular

name (s), species voucher no. and mode of use.

A statistical analysis about the habit of wild

edible plants is presented in Table-2; which indicates

that out of 46 species; tree species are predominant;

followed by shrubs and climbers, however, the fruits of

herbaceous species are less utilized. It is also observed

that mostly the fruits of dicotyledons are utilized for

consumption.

Of these 46 wild edible fruits 28 species are

eaten raw (04 ripe while 27 unripe) and those of 24

species are consumed after cooking as curries. Fruits of

06 species are pickled and of 02 made into chutney.

Tribal communities extract edible oil from seeds of

Madhuca longifolia fruit, while fruit pulp of Aegle

marmelos made into jam which is useful on gastric

problems (always in small quantity). Powder of dry fruits

Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076 073

Sr. No. Botanical Name/ Family/Voucher Specimen No. Vernacular Name Mode of Utilization

1 Acacia eburnea (L.f) willd. / Mimosaceae / PPK -

117

Murmati, Murmata Cooked as vegetable

2 Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. / Mimosaceae / PPK -

127

Babhul,Teli Babhul Tender pods cooked as

vegetable

3 Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. / Rutaceae / PPK - 101 Bel Ripe fruit pulp are

eaten or made into jam

4 Azadirachta indica A. / Meliaceae / PPK - 12 Kadu-Nimb, Neem Ripe Fruit eaten (TF)*

5 Bauhinia variegata L. / Caesalpiniaceae / PPK - 13 Kachnar, Bhosa,

Mogar, Kalshiya

Young pods cooked as

vegetable

6 Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Coleb. / Burseraceae /

PPK - 87

Salai Pickled

7 Cadaba fruticosa (L.) Druce / Capparaceae /

PPK - 07

Kali Taykay Pickled with lime juice

8 Canavalia cathartica Thou. / Fabaceae / PPK - 14 Aaboi Cooked into vegetable

9 Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew. / Capparaceae /

PPK - 129

Gandman lakdi,

Karel, Ker

Unripe fruits Pickled;

ripe eaten

10 Capparis zeylanica L. / Capparaceae /

PPK - 102

Waghutale, Waghata Cooked as vegetable

11 Cassia tora L. / Caesalpiniaceae / PPK - 146 Tar ot a , Tar va t ,

Powada

Young pods cooked as

vegetable; mature seeds

roasted and used as a

substitute for coffee

12 Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt. / PPK - 77 Tondli, Cheri Cooked into vegetable

13 Cordia dichotoma Forst. / Ehretiaceae / PPK - 218 Bhokar, Gondan,

Gondi

Raw or cooked into

vegetable; also pickled

14 Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb. / Ebenaceae / PPK -

184

Tembhurani, Tendu Ripe fruits eaten

15 Ensete superbum (Roxb.) Cheesm. / Musaceae /

PPK - 90

Jangali Keli, Rai Keli Cooked as vegetable

16 Ficus amplissima J. E. / Moraceae/PPK - 78 Pimpari, Pimparan,

Payar

Cooked as vegetable

17 Ficus benghalensis L. / Moraceae / PPK - 144 Wad Ripe fruit eaten with

sugar

18 Ficus hispida L.f. / Moraceae / PPK - 165 Bhui Umbar, Bhuty

um ba r , J an ga l i

Aanjir, Kala Umbar

Ripe fruits are eaten

19 Ficus racemosa L. / Moraceae / PPK - 73 Umbar Fruits are eaten after

ripening or unripe fruits

made into vegetable.

20 Ficus relegiosa L. / Moraceae / PPK - 71 Pimpal Ripe fruits are eaten

Table 1: Wild edible plants of North Maharashtra

Prachi et al., 2012


21 Flacourtia indica (Burm f.) Merr. / Flacourtiaceae /

PPK - 46

Phetara, Parhenkal Vegetable prepared with

‘tur’dal.

22 Grewia flavescens Juss. /Tiliaceae / PPK - 94 K a d - d h a m a n ,

Rodage

Ripe fruits eaten. (TF)

23 Grewia tiliifolia Vahl. / Tiliaceae / PPK - 18 Dhaman, Dahi-bhat,

Kharmati

Ripe fruits eaten.(TF)

24 Lantana camara auct. / Verbenaceae / PPK - 31 Gangutri, Gangutai,

Kamuni, Ghaneri


25 Limonia acidissima L. / Rutaceae / PPK - 41 Kavath Pulp of ripe fruit eaten or

made into chutney or

jam.

26 Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb. / Cucurbitaceae /PPK

- 84

Shiri Dodka Fruit skin is made into

chutney while young

fr u i t s cook ed a s

vegetable

27 Madhuca longifolia (Keon.) Mac. / Sapotaceae /

PPK - 40

Moh, Mahua Ripe fruits are eaten.

Also used to extract

edible oil.

28 Momordica cymbalaria Hook. / Cucurbitaceae /

PPK - 105

Karanji Cooked into vegetable

29 Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Willd. /

Cucurbitaceae/PPK - 28

Kartule, Katorle,

kurutale

Cooked as vegetable

30 Moringa oleifera Lam. / Moringaceae / PPK - 06 Shevga, Mungna Tender pods eaten fried

or cooked after removing

skin.

31 Mucuna utilis Wall. / Fabaceae / PPK - 98 Kuiriee Eaten as Salad or made

into pickle

32 Mukia maderaspatana (L.) Roem. /

Cucurbitaceae / PPK - 173

Choti kakdi, Hurya

kakdi, Killari

Raw made into vegetable

& ripe fruit eaten. (TF)

33 Nicandra physaloides (L.) Gaertn. / PPK - 99 Kamoni Ripe Fruits eaten (TF)

34 Opuntia elatior Mill. / Cactaceae / PPK - 48

Nivdung, Fanta,

Sabarbond, agfanta

Ripe fruits raw or roasted

35 Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb. /Arecaceae / PPK -

61

Shindoli Ripe fruit eaten just like

a fresh khajoor

36 Physalis minima L. / Solanaceae / PPK - 161 Kamoni, Popte Ripe fruits are eaten

37 Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce / Mimosaceae /PPK

- 114

Saundad Young pods cooked as

vegetable

38 Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken / Sapindaceae /

PPK - 111

Kusumb Ripe fruits are eaten

39 Securinega virosa (Roxb. Ex Willd.) Baill. /

Euphorbiaceae / PPK - 30

Pisrungi, Pithoni,

Pithondi


40 Solanum nigrum L. / Solanaceae / PPK - 221 Karalkamuni, Kobai,

Katmanya, Kamoni

Ripe fruits are eaten.

(TF)

41 Tamarindus indica L. / Caesalpiniaceae / PPK - 96 Chinch, Imali Unripe and ripe fruit

42 Tribulus terrestris L. / Zygophyllaceae / PPK - 01 Gokharu, Gokhari,

Don shingi gokharu

Powder of dry fruit made

into ‘Ladoo’(Tonic)

43 Vigna trilobata (L.) Verdc. / Fabaceae / PPK - 75 Jangli Mug Raw or cooked

44 Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill./Rhamnaceae/PPK -

157

Kat-bor, Chan-bor Ripe berries are eaten

(TF)

45 Ziziphus rugosa Lamk. / Rhamnaceae / PPK - 35 Ghatbor Ripe fruits are eaten (TF)

46 Ziziphus xylopyra (Retz.) Willd. / PPK - 02 Bor Ripe fruits are eaten (TF)

Prachi et al., 2012

of Tribulus terrestris fried in ghee and made into

‘ladoos’ by adding sugar and dry fruits; which is given

especially on arthritis in winter season on empty stomach

in the morning. The fruits having little pulp are mostly

utilized as taste food; 11 species are exploited as taste

food.

During the market survey for present study it was

found that frequently the wild edibles are brought to

market for sale. Some of the wilds are valued as

delicacies and are sold at quite good price which gives

additional source of income to rural people. Table-3

indicates the local market values of wild fruits.

CONCLUSION

From the present investigation it is evident that,

further studies to find more underutilized fruits is an

urgent necessity, which will definitely enrich the fruit

basket. Underutilized wild fruits provide nutrition for the

forest dwellers and many of the marginalized rural

communities since the common cultivar fruits are costly

and unaffordable for them. Advocacy of wild edibles can

definitely provide the economic support to the rural

people.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am very much thankful to all informants for

imparting valuable information on wild edible plants;

their assistance and hospitality during field study. I am

also thankful to Dr. A. N. Deore for their support during

documentation and for the taxonomic identification of

plant material in field.

REFERENCES:

Annonymous. 2009. Forest Survey of India – State

forest report, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt.

of India, Dehradun. 248,195.

Cooke T, (Rpr.). 1967. The Flora of the Presidency of

Bombay, I, II, III. Botanical Survey of India, Culcutta.

Deore CR and Somani VJ. 2006. Ethnobotanical

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Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076 075

Table 2: Composition of wild plant species under

different categories of life form

Plant Group Herb Shrub Tree Climber

Dicotyledon 05 09 22 07

Monocotyledon 01 -- 1 --

Total 06 09 24 07

Sr.

No. Name of Plant Prize

1 Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. 15 – 20 Rs./Kg

2 Cordia dichotoma Forst. 50 – 60 Rs./Kg

3 Diospyros melanoxylon

Roxb.

25 – 35 Rs./Kg

4 Ficus racemosa L.

10 – 15 Rs./Kg

5 Limonia acidissima L. 70-80Rs./Dozen

6 Momordica dioica Roxb. ex

Willd.

60 – 70 Rs./Kg

7 Moringa oleifera Lam. 50 – 60 Rs./Kg

8 Tamarindus indica L.

Young

25 – 30 Rs./Kg

Tamarindus indica L.

Mature

40 – 50 Rs./Kg

9 Tribulus terrestris L. 20 – 30 Rs./Kg

10 Ziziphus xylopyra (Retz.)

Willd.

25 – 30 Rs./Kg

Table 3: Fruits sold in market

Prachi et al., 2012

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004.


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Underutilized wild fruits of North Maharashtra