Knowledge and uses of wild edible plants by Paniyas and Kurumbas of Western Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

412-418The ethnobotanical study on wild edible plants was carried out from January 2010 to June 2011 in two talukas of Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. Information on edible plants was gathered from the ethnic community of “Paniyas and Kurumbas”. Plant specimens were collected and identified along with their ethnobotanical uses. A total of 123 ethnobotanical species were collected in which 72 are wild edible plants belonging to 37 families. Out of these, 56 species were collected from wild and 16 species from semi wild/cultivated places. The life forms include 24 species of trees which makes up the higher proportion of the edibles followed by herbs (22), shrubs (14) and climbers (11). The dominant families which are used by the tribals are Solanaceae (7 species), Amaranthaceae and Euphorbiaceae (5 species each), Myrtaceae and Rutaceae (4 species each). The plants widely used by this tribal community are eaten as raw or boiled, fried, sometimes consumed as pickles and also as flavour. Present study highlights the new ethnobotanical uses of the plants used by the tribals of Western Nilgiris