126 1. INTRODUCTION The Himalaya is the most complex and diversifed ecosystem among the global mountain systems. It supports immense diversity in climate and habitat conditions due to great variation in topographical features 1 . Occurrence of rich vegetational diversity in the Himalayan fora that too with the high levels of endemism indicates the ecological and potential economic signifcance of the region. As a result, Himalaya is endowed with immense biological diversity in general and foristic diversity in particular. According to the estimates, Himalaya is home to nearly18,440 species of plants (including fungi), of which 25.3 per cent are endemic 2,3 . Uttarakhand, located between latitude 28°43’ to 31°8’ N and longitude 77°35’ to 81°02’ E and covering an area of 53,485 km 2 , falls under the western Himalaya biogeographical province of the Indian Himalaya Region (IHR) 4 . In the northwest, Tons river separates the state of Uttarakhand from Himachal Pradesh, whereas Kali river forms its eastern boundary with Nepal 5 . Uttarakhand covers about 12 per cent area of the IHR, and nearly 40 per cent of its total area falls under different forest types 4 indicating its rich vegetational wealth. The region is spread from foothills in the South to the northern snow-clad peaks of the Himadri, which delineates the Indo-Tibetan boundary 5 . Likewise the other Himalayan states, Uttarakhand is well known for its rich biotic wealth and cultural and ethnic diversity. Uttarakhand is largely a mountainous state, where great altitudinal variability (300 m amsl to 7817 m amsl) is seen 5 . Such a wide variation in altitude has resulted in complex topographical, meteorological, foral and faunal diversity. 2. POTENTIALS OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS Global estimates indicate that even in the 21 st century one third of the population is facing food insecurity. In response, international agencies including the World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation have given impetus on the discovery of new food resources 6 . Among others, underutilised wild edible plants are considered as potential alternative for achieving nutritional security 7 . Wild edibles even play crucial role during the acute and chronic food shortages that occur during wars and other extreme survival situations like natural calamities. An example of such a role of wild edible was witnessed during Bosnia Herzegovina war (1992-199) when the war-torn population reportedly consumed wild plants for their survival 6 . Moreover, incorporation of biologically active food components or compounds from wild edible plants will have direct health benefts. This is much signifcant for the communities reside in marginal ecosystems including the mountains, where there is poor access to healthy food 8 . In the Himalayan context, wild edible plants have been known to play signifcant role in meeting nutritional needs of Diversity, Distribution, Use Pattern and Evaluation of Wild Edible Plants of Uttarakhand, India S.K. Joshi * , B. Ballabh, P.S. Negi and S.K. Dwivedi # DRDO-Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research, Haldwani, Uttarakhand-263139, India * E-mail: skantjoshi@gmail.com ABSTRACT Wild edible plants are crucial not only for their role as a source of food and nutrition but are also integral part of culture and traditions of the Himalayan societies. Because of availability of diverse altitudinal, topographical and microclimatic conditions, the state of Uttarakhand supports a huge diversity of wild edible plants. Most of the species of wild edible plants in Uttarakhand are primarily consumed as a food by the local communities residing in remote hilly regions. However, several other species are consumed for their medicinal and health promoting benefts. The availability of enormous diversity of wild edible plants in the region has attracted attention of researchers. Consequently, research has been carried out on different aspects of wild edible plants. These include studies on distribution and use pattern, development of propagation protocols and bioprospecting and biochemical evaluation. As a result of this, some of the species are being utilized at commercial scale, and thus are considered capable of providing alternate options of livelihood for marginal communities residing in far fung areas of the state. However, there are several other promising species of wild fruits in the region, which need attention for conducting research on various aspects so that their optimum nutritional and economic potentials could be harnessed in sustainable manner. Keywords: Wild edible plants; Multipurpose plant species; Nutraceuticals; Antioxidants Defence Life Science Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2, April 2018, pp. 126-135, DOI : 10.14429/dlsj.3.12579  2018, DESIDOC Received : 07 March 2017, Revised : 17 December 2017 Accepted : 30 December 2017, Online published : 20 March 2018