Nutrient and Mineral Compositions of Wild Leafy Vegetables of the Karen and Lawa Communities in Thailand.

Prasit Wangpakapattanawong,Pimonrat Tiansawat,Henrik Balslev,Kittiyut Punchay,Angkhana Inta

doi:10.3390/foods9121748

Prasit Wangpakapattanawong, Pimonrat Tiansawat + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9121748

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Abstract

Wild food plants are commonly used in the traditional diets of indigenous people in many parts of the world, including northern Thailand. The potential contribution of wild food plants to the nutrition of the Karen and Lawa communities remains poorly understood. Wild food plants, with a focus on leafy vegetables, were ranked by the Cultural Food Significance Index (CFSI) based on semi-structured interviews. Twelve wild plant species were highly mentioned and widely consumed. The importance of the wild vegetables was mainly related to taste, availability, and multifunctionality of the species. Their contents of proximate and minerals (P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu) were analyzed using standard methods. The proximate contents were comparable to most domesticated vegetables. The contents of Mg (104 mg/100 g FW), Fe (11 mg/100 g FW), and Zn (19 mg/100 g FW) in the wild leafy vegetables were high enough to cover the daily recommended dietary allowances of adults (19–50 years), whereas a few species showed Mn contents higher than the tolerable upper intake level ( > 11 mg/100 g edible part). The wild leafy vegetables, therefore, are good sources of minerals and we recommend their continued usage by indigenous people. Further research on these wild leafy vegetables’ contents of antioxidants, vitamins, heavy metals, anti-nutrient factors, and food safety is recommended.

Highlights

The consumption of wild plants persists in many communities, especially among indigenous peoples to whom wild food plants are part of their traditional food systems [1]
The highest taste score was for Oroxylum indicum (15%), followed by Spondias pinnata (10%) and Ficus auriculata (9%)
Our study has revealed the importance of wild food plant species, leafy vegetables, commonly used in traditional diets in northern Thailand

Summary

Introduction

The consumption of wild plants persists in many communities, especially among indigenous peoples to whom wild food plants are part of their traditional food systems [1]. Indigenous people often experience food insecurity and malnutrition, but local communities often possess traditional knowledge that can help them to alleviate these problems through harvesting, hunting, and gathering of wild plants [2,3]. Of the 380,000 different vascular plants known globally [4,5], only nine species represent two thirds (66%) of all the crop production. These nine species are maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), soybean (Glycine max), oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), cassava (Manihot esculenta), sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum), and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) [2]. Wild plants have important roles in diets, but some of them provide important health benefits with documented biological and pharmacological effects [10,15,16,17]

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