Documentation of the wild edible fruits of tehsil Takht-e-Nasrati, Pakistan

Abstract

N.S. Khattak, F. Ijaz*, N.U.A. Fatima, N. Taimur, G. Nawaz, S. Bibi, S. Kamal, R. Ahmad, S. Nawaz, S. Saman, Sami-Ur-Rahman, N.A. Khattak, S. Parveen and A. Azeem

Plants play a miraculous role in the improvement of our living standards. Along with cultivated, wild edible fruit plants also contribute to raising our national and local economy. Very little research has been conducted on wild edible food, and no such study has been conducted in the study area. Therefore, the main objectives of the present study were to (i) document the wild edible fruits of tehsil Takht-e- Nasrati, (ii) assessing the traditional medicinal usage patterns of wild edible fruit species. The study was carried out from 01.01.2014 to 01.01.2015. In total, 11 plant species belonging to 10 families were collected. The families to which these plants belong are Malvaceae, Moraceae, Oleaceae, Sapotaceae, Aricaceae, Solanaceae, Salvadoraceae, Cappidaceae, and Boraginaceae, are represented by a single species each. The family Rhamnaceae is the only family which has 2 species of wild nature producing edible fruits. The collected and identified wild edible fruit plants were Grewia tenax (Forsk.) Fiori, Ficus religiosa L., Olea ferruginae Royle, Phonix sylvestris (L.) Roxb., Monotheca buxifolia (Falc.) Dcne. ex Engler, Solanum nigrum, Salavadora oleoides Decne, Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew, Cordia myxa L., Zizyphus mauritiana Lam., and Z. nummularia (Burm. f) Wight & Arn.

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