Green Leafy Vegetables of Tripura: A Case study

Background: Present study was carried out in Tripura, which is a small hilly state belonging to the north eastern part of India. Tripura is very rich in plant diversity because of its varied climate and optimum rainfall. Leafy vegetables which are found abundantly in the natural habitat have a very important role to provide nutrition and health benefits among the indigenous people. Aim: In this study Tribal markets of Tripura were surveyed to explore the wild leafy vegetable plants. Materials and Methods: The methods used in this investigation were considered for collecting basic information and to record the on the various wild leafy vegetable plants and their uniformity and handling in the vicinity of the indigenous people of Tripura prior to conduct the study, necessary information was gathered from the claimant. Participants considered during the study were selected by sampling method. Results: Wild Leafy plants such as Typhonium trilobatum (Kharkon), Hygrophila auriculata (Kulekhara), Ipomoea aquatica (Kolmi), Centella asiatica (Thankuni pata), Alternanthera philoxeroides (Joldaroga), Chenopodium album (Jilmil Saak), Amaranthus retroflexus (Morcha ssak), Corchorus capsularis (Paat pata), Leucas aspera (Drun), Enhydra fluctuans (Helongcha), Naptunia oleracea (Moloncha) etc, are very popular leafy vegetable plants found in wild state. I have explored and identified 37 wild leafy vegetable plants which are found in the rural markets of Tripura during the study. Nowadays, though various sophisticated medical instruments and medicines have been invented, many people in rural areas try to use local herbs and creepers for the treatment of minor illnesses. Conclusion: The commercial status of these leafy vegetables are very less known and remained unexplored as these plants are only sold in the tribal dominated markets. This study also revealed that most of these plants are also traditionally used as home remedies and in herbal formulations practiced by the folklore practitioners besides providing important food supplements by the indigenous people of Tripura. This study will facilitate the nutritional evaluation and exploration of medicinal properties of these wild leafy vegetable plants in future pharmaceutical research activities.