Edible medicinal non-timber forest products from floral wealth of tribal Odisha

Published in: Sabujima, 2014, 22: 41-44                                                                    (ISSN 0972-8562)
Plant Lovers' Association 
Bhubneshwar, Odisha


Sanjeet Kumar & Padan Kumar Jena 
Department of Botany, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack- 753 003 
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com

Odisha is the hub of rural, tribal and primitive aboriginal communities. It has diverse physiographical zones with rich fauna and flora. Odisha’s floral diversity is a reflection of its unique geographical position, undulating landscape, as well as its altitudinal and climatic variations. State is covered with many protected forest zones. These forest zones provide uncountable life goods of which non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are most important. NTFPs or NWFPs (non-wood forest products) normally refers to all botanical and zoological materials other than timber collected from forests by local rural and tribal communities. According to Wickens, NTFPs are, “All the biological material (other than industrial round wood and derived sawn timber, wood chips, wood-based panel and pulp) that may be extracted from natural ecosystems, managed plantations etc., and be utilised within the household, be marketed, or have social, cultural or religious significance”. FAO (1999) defined NTFPs as “goods of biological origin other than timber or fuel wood derived from forest, other wooded land and trees outside forests”. Along with biological resources, Walter (1998) added non-consumptive services to humanity such as ecological, environmental, cultural, religious, tourism and recreation in the values of NTFPs. NTFPs are the important natural resources of the Eastern Ghats where majority of people depend on them as a source of food, fodder, fiber, medicine, condiment, dye and other useful materials. They are known as “minor” forest products in many countries but, in Odisha, they act as “major” for the rural and tribal mass. Production and consumption of NTFPs though have never appeared as resources of great economic importance at the macro level, but have contributed a greater share to the national economy as compared to the commercial timber. At the micro level, however, rural and tribal mass living in and around the forest for centuries have recognized NTFPs as important forest wealth. Since the early 1990s, the role of NTFPs for sustainable forest management (SFM) and poverty reduction has received increased attention. NTFPs have been fundamental resources for development of SFM and conservation strategies. These products have also played an important role in supporting household livelihoods and used to raise the perceived value of forest resources as edible medicinal NTFPs too. They also act as incentives for more sustainable use of forest and woodland resources. In Odisha, majority of rural and tribal household and also a large proportion of semi-urban households depend on NTFPs to meet their nutritional, health and day-to-day liabilities. NTFPs are the only source of income for some aboriginals of wild Odisha. In such cases NTFPs play an important role in providing local job opportunity to wide mass of the forest inhabitants of the state. However, the practices of collection and utilisation of NTFPs by the rural and tribal communities are gradually decreasing due to rampant deforestation and more so because of the migration of these local inhabitants from their traditional habitat.

In Odisha, among the various NTFPs, the edible medicinal NTFPs are important for providing food as well as medicine along with generation of petty cash by selling these products in the local weekly market. Edible NTFPs can fight against malnutrition and food problems during the most critical periods of food unavailability. Many researchers have reported numerous medicinal plants and their uses but very less reports are available on phytoresources having both food and medicinal values. Keeping this in mind an attempt has been made to identify those plants having both nutritional as well as medicinal values taking the help of literature and through field survey of forests. Results so far studied have revealed 46 major edible medicinal NTFPs of Odisha having predominant use among rural and tribal mass. The botanical name, local name, parts used as food and medicine are listed in Table-1. Edible NTFPs available in the Odisha can be studied as their habits, distribution, plant parts used and purpose of use which have been enlisted in Table-2. Literature and Field survey results have revealed that edible medicinal floral NTFPs are more important than timber. Some reasons for the NTFPs to receive wider attention than timbers by tribal and rural mass may be due to any of the following attributes. i) transportation and trading of raw, semi-processed or processed NTFPs are relatively easier due to their lower mass/volumes; ii) harvesting of edible medicinal NTFPs are less destructive  to plants as compared to cuttings of trees; iii) edible medicinal parts of plants can be harvested once or many times in a year as compared to the timber yielding plants; iv) the collection becomes a continuous source of income for many; v) poor rural and tribal mass can get an easy return of their labour; vi) they use these products as their food and medicine during the period of crisis.

Table-1: Major edible medicinal NTFPs used by rural and tribal mass of Odisha collected from literature and field survey.

Botanical name	Local name (s)	Family	Parts used as edible medicinal NTFPs
Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.	Baelo	Rutaceae	Fruits and Leaves
Alocasia fornicata (Roxb.) Schott.	Kanda	Araceae	Tubers  and Leaves
Alocasia macrorrhizos (L.) G.Don.	Mankanda	Araceae	Tubers
Amaranthus spinosus L.	Konta Sago	Amaranthaceae	Leaves
Amaranthus viridis L	Khoda Sago	Amaranthaceae	Stem and Leaves
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius Dennst.	Olua	Araceae	Tuber
Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall.ex.Nees.	Bhineema	Acanthaceae	Flowers
Annona squamosa L.	Ata, Sitaphal	Annonaceae	Fruits
Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.	Panasa	Moraceae	Fruits
Azadirachta indica A.Juss.	Neem	Meliaceae	Flowers and Leaves
Musa ornata Roxb.	Kadali	Musaceae	Fruits and stem
Buchanania lanzan Spreng.	Char, Tarub	Anacardiaceae	Fruits
Centella asiatica (L.) Urban.	Thalkudi , Bhui Pataki	Apiaceae	Leaves
Cissampelos pareira L.	Mulika chera, Paru	Menispermaceae	Root
Cocos nucifera L.	Nodia	Arecaceae	Fruits
Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott.	Saru	Araceae	Tuber and Leaves
Cordia oblique Willd.	Dhuani	Ehretiaceae	Fruits and Leaves
Curcuma amada Roxb.	Palo	Zingiberaceae	Rhizome
Curcuma aromatica Salisb.	Palua	Zingiberaceae	Rhizome
Dillenia indica L.	Oao	Dilleniaceae	Fruits
Dioscorea bulbifera L.	Pita alu	Dioscoreaceae	Tuber and bulbils
Dioscorea pentaphylla L.	Korba alu	Dioscoreaceae	Tuber and bulbils
Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.	Kendu	Ebenaceae	Fruits and Leaves
Elephantopus scaber L.	Chaulichapi, Meghuchuria	Asteraceae	Root
Hibiscus sabdariffa L.	Planga	Malvaceae	Flowers
Indigofera cassioides Rottl.ex DC.	Giliri	Fabaceae	Flowers
Curcuma longa L.	Holdi	Zingiberaceae	Rhizome
Madhuca indica Gmel.	Mahula	Sapotaceae	Flowers
Momordica dioica Roxb.ex Willd.	Kankad	Cucurbitaceae	Fruits
Momordica charantia L.	Kolera	Cucurbitaceae	Fruits
Luffa aegyptiaca Mill.	Ban Jani	Cucurbitaceae	Fruits
Moringa oleifera Lam.	Sajana	Moringaceae	Leaves, Fruits and Flowers
Nymphaea pubescens Willd.	Dhala Kain	Nymphaeaceae	Rhizome
Ocimum canum Sims.	Tulsi, Ban tulsi,	Lamiaceae	Whole plant
Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb.	Khajuri	Arecaceae	Fruits and Stem Juice
Phyllanthus emblica L.	Anola	Euphorbiaceae	Fruits
Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre.	Karanja	Fabaceae	Seeds
Portulaca oleracea (L.)	Badabalbalua	Portulacaceae	Leaves
Psidium guajava L.	Pijuli	Myrtaceae	Fruits
Pueraria tuberosa (Willd.) DC.	Bhui Kakharu	Fabaceae	Tuber
Semecarpus anacardium L.f.	Bhalia	Anacardiaceae	Fruits
Streblus asper Lour.	Sahada	Moraceae	Fruits
Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels.	Jamkoli	Myrtaceae	Fruits
Tamarindus indica L.	Tentuli	Caesalpiniaceae	Fruits
Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb.	Bahada	Combretaceae	Fruits
Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill.	Kantakoli	Rhamnaceae	Fruits

The role and contribution of NTFPs have been crucial in subsistence, livelihood support, sustainance of rural as well as  tribal economics and biodiversity conservation since time immemorial for a state like Odisha due to their varietal richness in the state. The role is particularly important in the wild mountainous forests such as Similipal Biosphere Reserve forest, Karlapat sanctuary, Niyamgiri hill forest, Gonasika forest range etc., where a large proportion of tribal and rural populations depends upon forest products for subsitance livelihoods.  These edible medicinal NTFPs at times become only source of survival  in the remote areas where modern medicine hardly find a place even today. As a result, the rural and tribal people in those areas of the state continue to depend on local therapy for their primary healthcare.

This study revealed that edible medicinal NTFPs play a significant role in supplement of nutrient, medicine, reduction of poverty and sustainable forest management in Odisha. The plants included in this group (Table-1) form significant component of the household livelihood and source of income for the tribal and rural people of Odisha. Thus, it is clear that these products are not only  important for the economy of the state but biodiversity conservation as well. Further comprehensive study is needed to examine and enlist the information on edible medicinal NTFPs collected over times against the existing data while highlighting the traditional knowledge systems of the State.

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