Wild edible plants as emerging ethanomedicines from the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

The present investigation provides information on wild edible plants with potential medicinal values from the Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh. Informed consent semi-structured interviews from 179 inhabitants. of seventeen villages from three blocks were conducted to collect the research data. A total of thirty three ethno- medicinal wild edible plants belonging to nineteen families and twenty five genera were documented. Of these, twenty one were herbs, nine shrubs and three tree species. Prunus armenica and Zanthoxylum armatum were most significant ethno-medicinal wild edible plant species and these species still have importance among the people of the region. Many other wild edible plants such as Ephedra gerardiana, Podophyllum hexandrum, Berberis spp, Bergenia ciliata, B. stracheyi, Rheum australe, R. webbianum, Podophyllum hexandrum species though considered medicinal but are not used for this purposes and edible parts of these species are simply regarded as supplementary food. The practice of using wild edible plants still exists among the rural populations of Kinnaur district, but is vanishing fast. Consequently, the recording, preserving, and documentation of this traditional knowledge to future generations is essential.