~ 218 ~ ISSN Print: 2394-7500 ISSN Online: 2394-5869 Impact Factor: 8.4 IJAR 2021; 7(5): 218-223 www.allresearchjournal.com Received: 12-02-2021 Accepted: 03-04-2021 Alok Ranjan Sahu Department of Botany, Vikash Degree College, Vikash Knowledge Hub, Barahaguda Canal Chowk, Bargarh, Odisha, India Nirius Jenan Ekka Assistance Professor, School of Life Sciences, Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Odisha, India Corresponding Author: Alok Ranjan Sahu Department of Botany, Vikash Degree College, Vikash Knowledge Hub, Barahaguda Canal Chowk, Bargarh, Odisha, India A preliminary report on the use of leafy vegetables by the native of Bargarh district, Western Odisha, India Alok Ranjan Sahu and Nirius Jenan Ekka DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/allresearch.2021.v7.i5d.8567 Abstract The study was conducted on four dominant tribal communities namely Sahara, Binjhal, Kondh and Gond of Bargarh district, Western Odisha, to assess the diversity of plant species consumed as ‘leafy vegetables’. A total of 39 plant species, belonging to 31 genus and 26 families were recorded in the interviews and enquiries. The dominant families were Amaranthaceae and Brassicaceae contributing five species each. The Cucurbitaceae family contributed three species and the families Chenopodiaceae, Convolvulaceae and Fabaceae contributed two species each respectively. Rest of the 20 families contributed one species each. The leafy vegetables consumed by these four tribes include 29 nos. of herbs (74%), 05 nos. of trees (13%), 04 nos. of climbers (10%) and one shrub (3%). Species like Amaranthus oleraceous, Amaranthus viridis L., Basella alba L., Chenopodium album L., Cucurbita maxima Duchesne., Coriandrum sativum L., Glinus oppositifolius (L.) A.DC., Ipomoea aquatica Forssk., Marsilea minuta L., Moringa oleifera Lam. and Spinacia oleracea L., were used most extensively. Most of the tribal people depend on wild leafy vegetables than the cultivated ones. Many wild leafy vegetables were used for medicinal purposes as well, e.g. Alternanthera sessilis L.R. Br., Glinus oppositifolius (L.) A.DC. Ipomoea aquatica Forssk., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Enhydra fluctuans Lour., Hygrophila auriculata Schum. (Heine.), Murraya koenigii L. Spreng and Oxalis corniculata L. Domestication of these reported species will not only improve the economic condition of the people but will also aid in conservation of biodiversity, sustainability and food security. Keywords: Bargarh district, Odisha, traditional knowledge, wild leafy vegetables Introduction Wild vegetables are an important component of traditional food system around the world (Turner et al, 2011) [22] . More than 53 millions tribal people in India depend on plant resources for their food purposes (Bharucha and Pretty, 2010) [4] . Although, the life style of Indians is rapidly changing into an urbanized way of life, the tradition of consuming wild plants as food has not been completely erased. Besides, growing a few crops, people frequently collect wild edible plants to meet their subsistence needs. In many developing countries, human diet is dominated by a single staple food and has only minor amount of other food items, resulting in high risk of inadequate intake of both macro and micronutrients. In India, the staple diet is rice/wheat-based. Parboiled, polished rice is the staple food and other food items such as vegetables, fish, pulses, fruits and animal products only constitutes a minor part of the diet. Vegetables, especially leafy vegetables, are good source of nutrition, being rich in carbohydrates, proteins, oils and are important in the diet as they contain b-carotene, folic acid, ascorbic acid, antioxidant phenols and minerals such as Ca, Fe, P, K, Na and Zn (Aberoumand, 2009; Aberoumand and Deokule, 2009; Misra and Misra, 2013) [1, 2] . The flavenoids is an important compound found in vegetables which possesses a remarkable spectrum of biochemical and pharmacological actions, affecting cellular functions such as growth, differentiation and apoptosis (Carlo et al. 1999) [5] . The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a daily intake of more than 400 g of fruit and vegetables per person, to protect against diet related chronic diseases (WHO, 2013) [23] . In the last two decades, the traditional leafy vegetables are being gradually replaced by incorporating high yielding varieties, thereby threatening the existence of many invaluable traits present in rural areas of India. Moreover, there is a rapid decline of traditional knowledge about wild edible leafy vegetables and increased reliance on processed food. International Journal of Applied Research 2021; 7(5): 218-223