Ashish Kar

Biotech Teri

Guwahati Sashin

Kumar Borthakur

Pramod Medhi

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ISSN No. 0976-8602                                                            VOL.-II, ISSUE-IV, OCTOBER-2013 
Asian Resonance 
64 
 
Medicinal uses of wild edible plants among 
the Ao Nagas of Mokokchung and its 
vicinity of Nagaland, India 
 
 
 
 
    
 
Pramod Medhi,  
Pandu College,  
Guwahati, India 
 
 
 
Ashish Kar 
Environment & Industrial 
Biotech., TERI, Guwahati 
 
 
 
Sashin Kumar Borthakur  
Gauhati University, Guwahati 
 
 
 
Keywords:   Wild edible plants; Ao Nagas; Local market survey; 
Mokokchung district; Nagaland. 
Introduction 
Wild plants as food have been formed an integral part of the 
culture and tradition of many indigenous communities of the world. It 
constitutes an essential component in the diet and food security of many 
tribal communities, particularly living inside the forest or in its vicinity. They 
collect and consume a wide variety of wild plants and/or plant parts as well 
as edible mushrooms for sustenance in and around their habitat. 
Out of the Earth's estimated half million plant species, about 3000 
species have been used as agricultural crops and of this only 150 species 
have been cultivated on a large scale (Mohammed et al, 2008). Also more 
than 85-90% of world’s caloric intake is contributed by 12 crops only 
(Misra et al., 2008). Millions of people in many developing countries still 
depend on wild plant resources to meet their food requirements especially 
during food crisis (FAO, 2004; Balemie and Kebebew, 2006) and plays a 
vital role in the food security of many rural communities. However, there 
has been an increasing interest in studying these wild food plants and their 
conservation and development for sustainable use can be noticed from 
different parts of the globe. 
Several interesting works have been carried out by the workers 
like Rao and Jamir (1990) on ethnobotany of Ao and Angami Nagas of the 
Nagaland; Jamir (1995) on wild edible fruits in Nagaland State; Jamir 
(1996) on wild edible in Nagaland State; Takatemjen et al. (2009) wild 
edible fruits of Wokha district of Nagaland; wild edible fruits and vegetables 
of Nagaland Mozhui et al. (2011) on wild edible fruits used by the tribals of 
Dimapur district; Rongsensashi et al (2013) on wild edible fruits of Fakim 
Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagaland; Deb et al. (2013) on survey and 
documentation of underutilized crops of Mokokchung, Wokha and 
Zunheboto districts of Nagaland. 
Scrutiny of literature revealed that scanty and sporadic works 
have been carried out on wild edible plants of Ao Nagas of Mokokchung 
district and their local market value. Therefore, present investigation has 
been carried out with an objective to document the wild edible plant 
resources of Ao Nagas and also those sold in the Mokokchung market of 
Mokokchung district of Nagaland along with prevailing market prices. 
The Ao Naga food 
Rice is the staple food for the Nagas. A typical Naga dish consists 
of a meat, boiled vegetable, rice and chutney with pungent chillies. 
Different species of garlic and ginger including leaves are generally used in 
Abstract 
   The present investigation recorded 102 species of wild 
edible plants of Ao Nagas from Mokokchung and its vicinity areas 
of Nagaland state, India. The total recorded species belongs to 
be distributed in 52 families and 84 genera. Study recorded that 
80 species belongs to dicots, 19 are monocots and 1 species 
each from Fungi, Pteridophyte and Gymnosperm. Again, the 
market survey revealed a total of 38 species are sold in the 
makeshift market of Mokokchung town; out of which 27 species 
from forest, 4 species from Jhum field and 7 species from 
homestead garden were collected for sale. Local market rates of 
the wild edibles ranges from Rs.5/- to 50/- per 
bundle/piece/packet/unit, depending on the plants or plant parts 
sold. All the recorded plant species are also used otherwise as 
medicine by the local Ao Naga people of the study area. 
ISSN No. 0976-8602                                                            VOL.-II, ISSUE-IV, OCTOBER-2013 
Asian Resonance 
65 
 
cooking with meat. Frog meat with local herbs is 
another favourite dish of the Nagas (Majumadar, 
2011). 
Ao Nagas cuisine also mostly consists of 
wild vegetable, meat, fish, rice, fermented food 
etc. They cook vegetables and meats together and 
are basically boiled. The main drink is rice beer, which 
is prepared with vegetable ingredients. Moreover, 
the fermented tender bamboo shoot cooked with fish 
and pork and soybeans. The fish, pork, soybeans and 
other meat hunted from wild are the major source of 
protein supplements in their diet, which may be 
fermented, either smoked or sun dried. 
The Ao Naga cuisine is characteristically the 
non-vegetarian food cooked by boiling instead of 
frying them. They are of a unique taste, enhanced by 
the flavour of the local herbal ingredients. Pork meat 
is the most popular one and cooked with fermented 
bamboo shoots. Since the cuisine is spicy in nature, 
seasonings occupy an important place in the 
preparation of food items. Chilies, ginger and various 
local herbs and leaves are an integral part of their 
cuisine and are used in most of the dishes. 
 Anishi is prepared from edible Colocasia 
leaves wrapped by banana leaves and kept aside till 
colour becomes yellow, then made into paste for 
preparing cake by adding chilly, ginger and salt, and 
are allowed to dry keeping over the fire place/hearth. 
Then, the cakes are cooked with dried pork, 
called Anishi, a typical Ao naga delicacy (Mao and 
Odyuo, 2007) 
Again, the Nagas belief that certain meats 
can cure human diseases viz., dog meat can cure 
pneumonia and even the physical injuries can be 
healed by the bee/wasp larvae, snails and frog meat, 
etc. Even, they believe that a venomous snake bite 
can be treated by consuming a fluid of few live 
earthworms. Due to such beliefs in the curative and 
medicinal power of the meat of various animals and 
insects, the popularity of such items has remained the 
same over the ages. 
Materials and methods 
Study area and field survey 
Mokokchung district of Nagaland state, India 
is bounded by the state of Assam to its north, and four 
districts of Nagaland state, viz., Wokha to its west, 
Tuensang and Longleng to its east, and Zunheboto to 
its south. The district lies between 26.32° 19′ 0″ N 
longitude and 94.52° 31′ 0″ E latitude. The district 
covers an area of 1,615 km². The temperature ranges 
from 4° to 30°C and average annual rainfall is 
2000mm (Anonymous, 2012). Total population of the 
district is 193,171 (2011 population Census) and 
density120/km
2
 (310/sq mi)(Anonymous, 2011). 
A total of 83.53% and 8.14% have been 
occupied by forest area cover out of total 
geographical area of the district and the state 
respectively. Two types of forests are found in the 
district viz., Northern Tropical Semi Evergreen 
Forests: found in the foothills of Assam-Nagaland 
border area and mostly dominated by the deciduous 
plant species and less evergreen plant 
species. Northern Sub-tropical broad leaved wet hill 
forests: is found in the hill areas between 500 
to1800m above msl., mainly characterized by semi-
deciduous trees. The soil type of the district is mainly 
of alluvial, non laterite red and forest soil. 
Mokokchung town (also district headquarter) 
is located in between 26°20′N to  / 26.33°N latitude 
and 94°32′ E to 94.53°E longitude and at  / 26.33; 
94.53the elevation of 1,325 m (4,347 ft) above 
msl. Mokokchung district is predominantly inhabited 
by the Ao Nagas and the Mokokchung town is the 
heart and cultural center of the Ao Naga people. The 
town is economically and politically the most important 
urban centre in northern Nagaland. 
The present ethnobotanical investigation 
covered the recording of wild edible plants sold in the 
daily makeshift market of Mokokchung town and also 
the Ao Naga dwelling vicinity areas surrounding the 
town. The surveyed Ao Naga villages 
nearby Mokokchung town were viz.,Changki, 
Chuchuyimpang, Mokokchung, Khensa and Ungma 
villages, etc. (Anonymous, 2012) 
The ethnobotanical field survey was carried 
out during the month of April-2012 to January-2013. 
During the survey, data on local name, parts used 
available season, source of collection, mode of uses 
and medicinal uses were collected and recorded. 
 
Map-1: Map showing the location of Mokokchung 
town. 
Informant selection and interview 
Interview of the local informants on the use 
of local flora on wild edible plants and fruits was 
conducted following the method of Jain & Rao (1977). 
A total of 54 elders (34 male and 20 female) from 5 
different villages and Mokokchung market were 
included in the present study. The age of the 
informants ranges from 21-78 years. Most of the 
selected informants belong to those families who have 
a strong connection with traditional agriculture for their 
day-to-day needs. In most cases selection of 
informants were based on recommendations made by 
local community members on those elders who were 
more knowledgeable about the use of local plants 
including traditional or folk medicine. Ao Naga names 
ISSN No. 0976-8602                                                            VOL.-II, ISSUE-IV, OCTOBER-2013 
Asian Resonance 
66 
 
of the recorded plants were checked and verified with 
the reference of Changkija et al. (2010). 
Plant collection and identification 
During field surveys, along with the 
documentation, the voucher specimens were also 
collected from different villages and field numbers 
were also been allotted to those collected specimens. 
Then, herbarium specimens were prepared following 
standard procedure by Jain and Rao (1977). The 
collected plants were identified and confirmed after 
consulting the Gauhati University Herbarium (GUBH). 
The identified voucher specimens were deposited at 
the Gauhati University Herbarium (GUBH) for future 
reference. 
Results and Discussion: 
The present study revealed the rich wild 
edible plant diversity and traditional knowledge on the 
uses of wild edible plant resources by the Ao 
Naga community from Mokokchung town and its 
vicinity areas of Nagaland. 
A total of 102 species of wild edible plants, 
plant parts and fruits including 1 species of wild edible 
mushroom were recorded. The recorded species were 
arranged alphabetically (Table-1) for analysis of its 
taxonomic richness. Family wise recorded species 
were found to be distributed within 52 families (42 
dicots, 7 monocots, 1 each from fungi, pteridophyte 
and gymnosperm) and also all the recorded species 
belongs to 84 generas. Out of the total species 
documented from the present work, it was recorded 
that 80 species belong to dicots, 19 are monocots and 
1 each from Fungi, Pterodophyte and Gymnosperm. 
 The dicot families Solanaceae and 
Anacardiaceae had the highest number of wild edibles 
each recorded with 5 species; Amaranthaceae, 
Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Rosaceae each with 4 
species; Acanthaceae, Moraceae, Cucurbitaceae and 
Lamiaceae each with 3 species. The Monocot families 
Zingiberaceae, Araceae, Poaceae, Arecaceae, 
Liliaceae, and Dioscoreaceae were represented each 
with 3 species. 
  Again, considering the use of the plant 
parts the categorization of the species recorded can 
be done as- leaves 11; shoot 23; whole plant 6; stem 
bark 1; corm 1; tubers 5; root bark 1; flower 4, 
inflorescence 4, seed 1; kernel 2; nuts 1; fruit 33; 
fruiting body (fungi) 1; circinate frond 1 and 8 with 
more than one parts are used such as tuber & leaves; 
fruit & rhizome; fruit & bark; fruit & seed; shoot & 
calyx; tender fruit & tender shoot; shoot & fruit and 
leaves & fruit. Significantly, all the recorded 102 
species are also used as medicinal herbs by the Ao 
Nagas of the study area. 
Out of the total recorded 102 species, a total 
of 38 species were found to be sold in the 
Mokokchung makeshift market and are listed in the 
Table-2. Considering the sources of collection for 
marketing, 27 species from forest; 4 species from 
cultivated Jhum field and 7 species from homestead 
garden were recorded. Local market rates of the wild 
edibles ranges from Rs.5/- to 50/- per unit, depending 
on the plants or plant parts sold. Quantity of the sold 
items in the market was as bundle, piece, packet and 
unit form. Fermented food products of soybean, 
bamboo shoots, dry fish, crab and colocasia leaves 
were also found to be sold in the market. Smoked 
meats, fish, chilly were also common items in the 
market. Frog, crab, eel fish and different wild birds 
had also been observed in the market. Though 
the Allium hookeri, Allium porrum, Cyphomandra beta
cea, Eryngium foetidum, Hibiscus sabdarifa, Manihot 
esculenta,Passiflora edulis, Phyllanthus acidus, Solan
um gilo, Zingiber officinale, etc. are recorded to be 
cultivated but included in the present study because 
of their uses of parts otherwise in the study area, are 
not of common use in other areas. 
The Ao Nagas of the present study area 
have been using diverse plant resources since time 
immemorial and thus gathered rich traditional 
knowledge on it for their primary health care, food and 
shelter. But, due to various anthropogenic activities 
and overexploitation, these plant resources are under 
tremendous stress condition. Agricultural land 
expansion, practice of traditional shifting cultivation, 
forest fires and also lack of sustainable harvesting 
practices such as excessive extraction of some plants 
both for household consumption or sale in the local 
markets for income generation are known to be the 
main reason. Therefore, proper and organized 
documentation of local plants used and identification 
of potential species for prioritization of conservation 
through sustainable management, so that the 
resources and knowledge base can be preserved, 
managed and utilized. 
Consumption of wild food plant resources 
formed not only an important part of the culture and 
tradition of Ao Nagas but also contributes a significant 
amount to the diet and household economy of the 
local people, particularly the poor and economically 
marginalized families, thereby generating a 
supplementary income to their economy. 
It is also noteworthy that among the urban 
dweller ethnic people still there is a very high demand 
for the wild edibles because of their traditional food 
habit and life style. Multi-tier plant garden can be an 
effective measure not only for conservation and 
sustainable management of these wild vegetables 
and fruits but also for income generation and food 
security of the ethnic people. Commercialization of 
some of the ethnic products can be a successful 
venture for economic upliftment and social justice of 
the ethnic groups (Medhi and Borthakur, 2012). 
Moreover, many of these edible plants are 
also reported to have medicinal value. But the 
nutritional values and toxic side effects of these wild 
edible bio-resources of the region have not yet been 
investigated. Therefore, some of the recorded wild 
edible plants may serve as baseline data for future 
studies on nutritional values and possible side effects. 
It will also be helpful to identify and priorities plants 
that may improve nutritional values and increase 
dietary diversity. Again, some of these wild edible 
plants may have the potential to be valuable food 
sources if brought into cultivation and could be part of 
a strategy to be used as sources of supplementary 
food. 
ISSN No. 0976-8602                                                            VOL.-II, ISSUE-IV, OCTOBER-2013 
Asian Resonance 
67 
 
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to the 
local informants and the village community and also 
the vendors of Mokokchung market for sharing their 
knowledge on medicinal uses of wild edible plants 
among the Ao Nagas of the study area. 
  
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Asian Resonance Medicinal uses of wild edible plants among the Ao Nagas of Mokokchung and its vicinity of Nagaland, India

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Asian Resonance Medicinal uses of wild edible plants among the Ao Nagas of Mokokchung and its vicinity of Nagaland, India

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