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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www.plantsciences.info
Journal of Research in
Plant Sciences
An International Scientific
Research Journal
Authors:
Kshirsagar Prachi P
1
,
Prabha Y. Bhogaonkar
2

and Vishal R. Marathe
3
.

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:
prachisfriend@gmail.com


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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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 l akdi,
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 vat ,
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
umbar , J angal 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



074 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076
21 Flacourtia indica (Burm f.) Merr. / Flacourtiaceae /
PPK - 46
Phetara, Parhenkal Vegetable prepared with
turdal.
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
Ripe fruits eaten. (TF)
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 ui t s cooked as
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
Ripe fruits eaten. (TF)
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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Dhore MA and Joshi PA. 1988. Flora of Melghat Tiger
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Hooker JD. 1987. The Flora of British India, I - VII.
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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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076 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1: 071-076
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