Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Opinion 2: 1 (2012) 9 11.

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JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND OPINION
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9
REVIEW
SOME LESS KNOWN WILD VEGETABLES FROM THE GARBHAGIRI HILLS IN
AHMEDNAGAR DISTRICT (M.S.) INDIA
Salave Ashok
1
*, P. Gopal Reddy
2

1
Dept.of Botany, Shri Dnyaneshwar Mahavidyalaya, Newasa, Ahmednagar-414603
2
Research Centre of Botany, P.V.P. College, Pravaranagar (Loni), Ahmednagar
ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT
Received 06 Jan 2012
Accepted 18 Jan 2012
Corresponding Author:
Salave Ashok

Dept.of Botany, Shri
Dnyaneshwar
Mahavidyalaya, Newasa,
Ahmednagar-414603, India
salave_ap@yahoo.com
An extensive field surveys were arranged in the study area of the Garbhagiri hills in
Ahmednagar district for documentation of information on the traditional vegetable of
the native wild ethnoflora among the local inhabitants. The information given here is
collected from the knowledgeable informants through verbal and informal interviews
at their working places during pre-monsoon of 2008 to post-monsoon of 2010. In this
paper 35 species belonging to 30 genera from 21 families used by the Gosavis
populace in routine life has been reported to fill up the gap of ethnobotanical
knowledge in these areas.


2011, JPRO, All Right Reserved.
KeyWords: Wild
Ethnoflora, Garbhagiri hills,
vegetable.

INTRODUCTION
Being a part and parcel of nature, since the ancient
times, man is utilizing wild plant species for completion of
his certain needs and necessities viz. food, vegetable,
medicine, fodder, agricultural tools, house construction etc.
It has been found that almost all the plants were in use by
the traditional healers, hakims, vaidyas and ethnic societies
of the world either as a food or as a herbal drug Therefore
its our prime duty to document all these wild plants
scientifically and investigate their economic importance.
Since the last three to four decades considerable progress
has been made in the field of ethnobotany due to recent
explorations.
Recently it has been realized that certain plants are
playing a key role in the form of vegetable in day to day diet
of certain rural and tribal people. These vegetable plants
are affordable, easily available and also have rich
nutritional value.
THE STUDY AREA (GARBHAGIRI HILLS)
Being a part of the Western Ghats, Sahyadri
mountain ranges form three offshoots in Ahmednagar
district namely Kalsoobai range, Baleshwar range and
Harishchandragad range.The region between Baleshwar
range and Harishchandragad range is referred to as
Ahmednagar plateau or Agargaon hill ranges.
(Anonymous, 1976).The Garbhagiri hills in the district
represent a varied panorama with respect to vegetation
and wild ethnoflora due to varied topographical and
climatic conditions. It is located in between 191030N-
193157N latitude and 747166E-751039E longitude.
The hills documented in the Gazetteer of
Maharashtra for Ahmednagar district under the name
Agargaon hill ranges have been described as Garbhagiri
hillsin the famous Hindu religious epic, Navnath Kathasar.
They lie in between Baleshwar and Harischandragad
ranges which are the offshoots of Sahyadri mountain
ranges that run along the west coast of India.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Recent interest in ethnobotanical explorations
has increased due to the work of Janaki Ammal (1956) and
Jain (1967 and 1989) followed by Mahanta and Gogoi
(1988), Manandhar (1995),William et.al.(2005), Pieroni
Salave et. al/ Some Less Known Wild Vegetables From The Garbhagiri Hills In Ahmednagar District (M.S.) India
10
et.al.(2007), Orech et.al (2007), Marwat et.al.(2008),
Nagendra Prasad et.al (2008).
METHODOLOGY
Frequent field tours were arranged in the study
area during the period from pre-monsoon of 2008 to post-
monsoon of 2010 to collect the data on vegetable uses of
the wild ethno-flora from the local inhabitants. The plant
specimens were collected by knowing their vernacular
names through the knowledgeable informants (Schulte
1962 & Jain and Rao 1967).The data on ethno-veterinary
information was confirmed through the traditional healers
from same community through verbal and informal
interviews.
The voucher specimens were prepared, tagged and
confirmed by referring the standard floras viz. Singh and
Karthikeyan 2000, Pradhan and Singh 1999. They were
preserved as per plan suggested by Jain (1989) in the
Department of Botany, P.V.P. College, Pravaranagar for
future study.
ENUMERATION/RESULT
The taxa described here are enumerated
alphabetically according to their botanical name with
family (in parenthesis) followed by local name, part used,
occurrence and habit.
Table:1-Detailed analysis of the plant species used as vegetable
Sr.No Botanical Name Local name Parts used Occurrence Habit
1. Coccinea grandis (L.)Voight. (Cucurbitaceae) Tondali Fruit Cultivated crop plant Climber
2. Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) Karle Fruit Cultivated crop plant Climber
3. Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.)Spr.(Cucurbitaceae) Ran-karle Fruit Rare Climber
4. Momordica dioca Roxb.ex.Willd.(Cucurbitaceae) Kartule Fruit Rare Climber
5. Achyranthes aspera L.(Amaranthaceae) Aghada Leaf and shoot Common Herb
6. Amaranthus cruentus L. (Amaranthaceae) Rajgira Leaf and shoot Cultivated crop plant Herb
7. Celosia argentea L. (Amaranthaceae) Kombda Leaf and shoot Common Herb
8. Colocasia esculenta (L.)Schott.(Arecaceae) Alu Leaf and shoot Cultivated crop plant Herb
9. Caralluma adscendens var fimbricata (Wall.) Gravely &
Mayumath. (Asclepiadaceae)
Shindal-makadi Leaf and shoot Rare Herb
10. Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae) Chandvel Leaf and shoot Common Herb
11. Indigofera cassioides Rottb.ex. DC. (Fabaceae) Rantur Seed Rare Herb
12. Indigofera linifolia (L.)Retz.(Fabaceae) Lal Godhadi Leaf and shoot Common Herb
13. Abelmoschus mannihot (L.) Medik. (Malvaceae) Ran-bhendi Fruit Common Herb
14. Boerhaavia diffusa L.(Nyctaginaceae) Lal-punarnava Leaf and shoot Common Herb
15. Commicarpus chinensis (Linn.) Heimerl. (Nyctaginaceae) Pangli Punarnava Leaf and shoot Common Herb
16. Oxalis corniculata L.(Oxalidaceae) Ambushi Leaf and shoot Common Herb
17. Oxalis latifolia C.B.Cl.(Oxalidaceae) Lal Ambushi Leaf and shoot Common Herb
18. Portulaca oleracea L.(Portulacaceae) Ghol-bhaji Leaf and shoot Common Herb
19. Solanum anguivi Lam. (Solanaceae) Laxmi-vange Fruit Rare Herb
20. Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae) Kamoni Fruit Common Herb
21. Clerodendrum serratum (L.)Moon. (Verbenaceae) Bharangi Leaf and shoot Rare Herb
22. Tribulus terrestris L.(Zygophyllaceae) Sarata Leaf and shoot Common Herb
23. Bauhinia perpurea L.(Caesalpinaceae) Rakta-kanchan Seed An exotic ornamental Shrub
24. Capparis decidua (Forsk.)Edgew.(Capparaceae) Kiral flower bud and
fruit
Common Shrub
25. Argyreia nervosa (Burm.f.) Boj. (Convolvulaceae) Samudrashok Leaf and shoot Rare Shrub
26. Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.(Convolvulaceae) Nalichi Bhaji Leaf and shoot Common Shrub
27. Rivea hypocrateriformis (Desr.).Choisy.(Convolvulaceae) Sanjvel Leaf and shoot Rare Shrub
28. Dioscorea bulbifera L. (Dioscoreaceae) Sapkand Bulbils Rare Shrub
29. Canvalia cathartica L. (Fabaceae) Abai-vel Seed Rare Shrub
30. Cissus quadrangularis L. (Vitaceae) Kand-wel Fruit Rare Shrub
31. Bosswellia serrata Roxb. ex. Coleb. (Lythraceae) Salai Fruit Rare Tree
32. Ficus racemosa L. (Moraceae) Umbar Receptacle Common Tree
33. Limonia acidissima L. (Rutaceae) Kawath Fruit Common Tree
34. Madhuca latifolia (Roxb.) Chevalier. (Sapotaceae) Moha Fruit Rare Tree
35. Gmelina arborea Roxb.(Verbenaceae) Shivan Fruit Rare Tree
DISCUSSION
During the field visits (table:1) in all total 35 species
belonging to 30 genera from 21 families have been
reported from the study area.These plants have been
practiced by the Gosavis populace in curing certain
ailments and in their routine demands completion. Out of
all the plant species, majority of genera belongs to
convolvulaceae and cucurbitaceae families (four each)
which are followed by fabaceae and amaranthaceae
families (three each), nyctaginaceae, oxalidaceae, solaceae
and verbenaceae families (two each) and remaining all
families include one genus each. Some of the plant species
viz. Cissus quadrangularis (Vitaceae), Gmelina arborea
(Verbenaceae), Clerodendrum serratum (Verbenaceae),
Solanum nigrum (Solanaceae), Limonia acidissima
(Rutaceae), Madhuca latifolia (Sapotaceae), Ficus racemosa
(Moraceae), Bosswellia serrata (Lythraceae), Canvalia
cathartica (Fabaceae), Momordica cochinchinensis
(Cucurbitaceae), Momordica dioca (Cucurbitaceae),
Caralluma adscendens var fimbricata (Asclepiadaceae),
Coccinea grandis (Cucurbitaceae), Dioscorea bulbifera
(Dioscoreaceae), Rivea hypocrateriformis (Convolvulaceae),
Ipomoea aquatica (Convolvulaceae), Colocasia esculenta
(Arecaceae), Argyreia nervosa (Convolvulaceae) possess
potential of better economic exploitation.Since all the
plants are in use in more or less proportion throughout the
world, they have wide scope for bio-prospecting. Therefore
it is our prime duty to protect, conserve and maintain it in a
proper way for our future studies.
From (Table:2), it has been found that leaves and
shoots in seventeen plants (48.57%), fruits in eleven
plants (34.29%),seeds in three plants (8.57%), receptacles,
Salave et. al/ Some Less Known Wild Vegetables From The Garbhagiri Hills In Ahmednagar District (M.S.) India
11
bulbils and flower buds in one plant each (2.86%) found to
have vegetable uses.
Table: 2-Plant parts used in number of plant species studies with
their percentage
Plant part
used
Flowe
r
buds
Leaf
and
shoot
Fruit bulbils Seed receptacl
e
No. of plant
species
01 17 12 01 03 01
% of plant
species
2.86 48.57 34.2
9
2.86 8.57 2.86
Table: 3-Occurrence wise distribution of the plant species
Occurrence of the
plant
Common Rare Cultivated
crop plant
An exotic
ornamental
No. of plant species 16 14 04 01
% of occurrence 45.71 40.00 11.43 2.86
From above study (Table:3), it is found that
occurrence of sixteen plants is common (45.71), fourteen is
rare (40.00), four is cultivated crop plant (11.43) and one is
an exotic ornamental (2.86).
Table: 4-Habit wise distribution of the plant species
Habit of the plant Herb Shrub Tree Climber
No. of plant
species
18 08 05 04
% of habit 51.42 22.86 14.29 11.43
From above study (Table:4), it has been found
that habit of eighteen plants are herb (51.42), eight are
shrub(22.86), five are tree (14.29) and four are
climber(11.43).
CONCLUSION
The study area in the Garbhagiri hills is bestowed
by nature with a great phyto-diversity. The study area
comes under the jurisdiction of Beed district and is located
in Savargaon village in Ashti taluka and denotes that the
wisdom of the local informants in regards to traditional
ethnobotanical knowledge.
The study enlightens immense scope and wide
potential for researches in the area. To document, conserve
and evaluate the information, collective efforts are needed
from the ethno-botanists and ethno-pharmacologists. As an
ethno-botanist, its our duty to protect and spread the
indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge through various
media before it lost. Due to biotic interference and
deforestation vast amount of wild ethno-flora is under the
threat of extinction. To conserve it, there is urgent need of
collaborative work regarding urgent protection and
preservation by villagers, semi-government and
Government authorities.
Rural, tribal and non-tribal populace participation
can be initiated by giving incentives to local people and
creating general awareness among them about the
usefulness of the wild ethno-flora. The central and the state
government authorities should encourage the field of
ethnobotany by exploring the hidden green ethnobotanical
wealth which in turn will help in elevating the export of
herbal medicine and growing the trade and economy of the
country by increasing herbal trade with the major
countries around the world. This will also improve the
health and quality of life of this entire nation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Author is thankful to the Dr. K.J. Salunke of
Padmashri Vikhe Patil College, Pravaranagar (Loni) for
cordial help and guidance in editing of this paper.
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