Ethnobotany of wild edible plants traditionally used by the local people in the Ramnagar region from Nainital District, Uttarakhand, India

ABSTRACT The present investigation deals with the ethnobotanical study conducted during the year 2014-2016 to collect, identify and record the wild edible plants(WEPs) used by the local as well as tribal people inhabiting in rural areas in the Uttarakhand state of ramnagar region of district Nainital, India. A total of 59 plant species belonging to 36 families are reported in this paper based on an ethnobotanical field study. The four major life forms were herbs, shrubs, climbers and trees. Trees (56%) made the highest proportion in this communication of the edible plant species followed by shrubs (25%), herbs (13%) and climbers (6%). Fruit, seed and leaves are found as most preferred edible plant parts. The plant species are arranged in alphabetical order by their botanical name with family, Habit, Altitudinal range (m), Flowering and Fruiting period, Local name, part/s used and ethnobotanical use. Keywords: Wild edible plants, Ethnobotany, rural areas, Ramnagar, India. REFERENCES Abbasi, A.M., Khan, M.A., Ahmad, M., Zafar, M., Khan, H., Muhammad, N., Sultana, S.,: Medicinal plants used for the treatment of jaundice and hepatitis based on socio-economic documentation. Afric J Biotech 2009, 8:1643–1650. Abbasi, A.M., Khan, M.A., Ahmad, M., Zafar, M., Jahan, S., Sultana, S.,: Ethnopharmacological application of medicinal plants to cure skin diseases and in folk cosmetics among the tribal communities of North- West Frontier Province, Pakistan. J Ethnopharmacol 2010, 128:322–335. Abbasi, A.M., Khan, M.A., Ahmad, M., Zafar, M.,: Medicinal plant biodiversity of Lesser Himalayas-Pakistan. New York: Springer; 2012:1–212. Arya, J.C.,: Studies on medicinal flora of trai region of Uttarakhand. 2015, D.Phil submitted to D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University Nainital. Badhwar, R. L., Fernandez, R.R.,: Edible wild plants of the Himalayas.The forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehradun Ford-Lloyd ,B.V., Schmidt, M., Armstrong, S.J., Barazani, O., Engels, J., Ge, S., Hadas, R., Hammer, K., Kell, S.P., Kang, D., Khoshbakht, K., Li, Y., Long, C.L., Lu, B.R., Ma, K.P., Nguyen, V.T., Qiu, L.J., Wei, W., Zhang, Z.W., Maxted, N.,: Crop wild relatives-undervalued, underutilized and under threat? BioScience. 2011;9:559–565. doi: 10.1525/bio.2011.61.7.10. [Cross Ref] Gaur, R. D., 1999. Flora of Garhwal, Trans Media, Srinagar (Garhwal). Ghorbani, A., Langenberger, G., Sauerborn, J.,: A comparison of the wild food plant use knowledge of ethnic minorities in Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, SW China. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2012;9:17. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-8-17. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Cross Ref] Hazrat, A., Nisar, M., Shah, J., Ahmad, S.,: Ethnobotanical study of some elite plants belonging to Dir, Kohistan valley, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan: Pak J Bot 2011, 43(2):787–795. Hooker, J. D.,: Flora of British India. Vols. I – VI. L. Reeve and Company Ltd, The East House Book , Ashford, Kent, UK: (1875 –2006). Hussain, K., Shahzad, A., Hussnain, S.Z.,: An Ethnobotanical survey of important wild medicinal plants of Hattar District Haripur, Pakistan, Ethnobot Leaflets 2008, 12:29–35. Khan, A., Mehmood, S., Khan, R.U., Khan, S.U.,: Ecological, Taxonomical and Ethnobotanical Study of Wild Fruit Producing Xerophytes of District Bannu, Kpk. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 2013, Vol I (4): pp. 112-120 Lulekal, E., Asfaw, Z., Kelbessa, E., Van, D., Amme P.,: Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Africa Focus. 2011;9:71–121. Sateesh Pujari and Estari Mamidala (2015). Anti-diabetic activity of Physagulin-F isolated from Physalis angulata fruits. The Ame J Sci & Med Res, 2015,1(1):53-60 Osmaston, A.E.,: A forest flora for Kumaun. International Book Distributors, Dehradun, 1927, pp. 605. Tewari, L.M., Singh, N., Upreti, K., Pangtey, Y.P.S.,: Medicinal plants of Ranikhet. 2008, I Edition Consul Book Depot, Nainital Upreti, K., Tewari, L.M., Pangtey, Y.P.S., Jalal , J.S.,: diversity and distribution of wild edible fruit plants of Uttarakhand. Biodiversity potentials of the Himalaya, Gyanodaya Prakashan, Nainital 2010, pp. 157-196.