Cultural significance of Western Himalayan wild food plants

Western Himalayas of Kashmir are endowed with an abundant diversity of wild food resources to sustain the basic life of native communities. But the traditional knowledge and cultural significance of wild food plants traditionally utilized by them is not documented yet. Therefore, this investigation was accomplished to delve and document wild food plants used and its cultural importance among the Himalayan communities of India. Field surveys comprise well-structured interview schedules, interview of key respondents; free listing and participatory observation. Two indices viz., cultural food significance index (CFSI) and Jaccard index (JI) were evaluated to recognize the culturally important wild foods. Statistically, one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to appraise whether the socio-economic variables significantly affected the number of plants cited by respondents. Traditionally, a sum of 55 species of wild plants corresponding to 45 genera and 31 families are consumed by the Himalayans. The measured CFSI values varied between 0.82 and 1395.00. The wild plants extracted by the Himalayan people for food are diverse and prolific in nature. This study provides a base root to be reproduced in other regions of India and to be widespread by means of nutritional and pharmacological studies to facilitate maintenance of traditional knowledge.