Knowledge and use of wild edible plants in two communities in Malai Madeshwara Hills, Southern India.

The current study aims to explore the local community knowledge on the uses of Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) and assess their aid to the food security; dietry diversity and revenue of households in Malai Madeshawara (MM) Hills reserve forest. A comprehensive inventory of ethno-botanical knowledge of the forest dependent communities in MM Hills Reserve Forest has been documented. Data were composed through: (1) A survey of 120 households aimlessly chosen from a total of 355 households in four villages. (2) Focus group discussion and personal observations. Ninety-two plant species were found to be used as source of supplementary food, medicine and beverages. Fourteen of the WEPs were collected by 95% of the households. WEPs are as important as farm produce in the annual food supply. Eighty-nine of the WEPswere collected only for their own consumption. Of the ninety two WEPs, 58 species (62%) are collected from the forest and the remaining is found as weed in agricultural lands. Commuity discerns that use of WEPs is declining due to the intervention of social and food security schemes, driven dietry shift and lifestyle change. The results revealed that WEPs are of high importance to the local commuities in terms of food security, dietry diversity and cultural identity. The findings suggest further investigation of nutritional profiles, cultural values and conservational study of the reported wild edible plant species.