AJINSHA J S

M.Phil scholar Department of Botany, University of Kerala,

Kariavattom ,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695581.
e-mail:-anoojsl@gmail.com
 INTRODUCTION
 Today, ethnobotany is a broad field of science of human interactions, with
plants and the ecosystem.
 Kanikkars are the indigenous population found in the southern part of Kerala
state.
 These tribal people live in the Kulathupuzha and Peringammala forest ranges
of southern Western Ghat region.
 The edible wild fruits have played a very vital part in supplementing the diet
of the people. The dependence on these fruits has gradually decline as more
exotic fruits have been introduced. But many people in tribal areas still use
them as a supplement of their basic need of food
 STUDY AREA

 Peringammala Grama Panchayath.

 This Panchayath situated along the

phytogeographic region of Western Ghats
and covers a total area of 217.9 sq. km.
 The land area is boundered in the north by
Kulathupuzha reserve forest in the south by
Vamanapuram River, in the west by
Thiruvananthapuram Shenkottai Road and
in the east by Kulathupuzha and Palode
Researve forests.
 Administratively this devided in to 19 wards
and also devided into 17 tribal settlements.
 OBJECTIVES

•To document the traditional knowledge of fruit plants used by

the Kani tribal communitiy of Peringammala Grama

Panchayath.

•To prepare an extensive data exclusively based on the ethnic

uses of plants with special emphasis on food and herbal

medicine.
 
 METHODOLOGY


Ethnobotanical studies of Peringammala Grama Panchayath in the

Thiruvananthapuram district was carried out for a period of 2019

December to 2020 june .


The study includes survey, field work, documentation of tribal knowledge

on wild fruit plants.

All informations related to the species were written on the card, which

included (1) plant name, (2) family, (3) uses, (4) plant part used, (5)

application and administration.


It was detailed in the discussion part. Presentation: Species are arranged

alphabetically .
.
 RESULTS
ARECACEAE
CACTACEAE

Phoenix loureiroi Kunth

Opuntia elatior Mill.
Ripe fruits eaten and tender top porsion.
Ripe fruits eaten after slicing outer spiny skin.
CAESALPINIACEAE Amaranthaceae

Amaranthus viridis
Cassia tora L. (V - Tarota, Tarvat, Powada)
Leaf and stem
Young pods cooked as vegetable.
FLACOURTIACEAE . CUCURBITACEAE

Mukia maderaspatana (L.) Roem.

Flacourtia indica (Burm f.) Merr.
(V - Choti kakdi, Hurya kakdi, Killari)
(V – Phetara, Parhenkal )
Ripe fruits eaten as such or made into
Young fruits boiled and vegetable
vegetable.
prepared with ‘tur’dal.
SOLANACEAE
MELIACEAE Juss.

Azadirachta indica A.
Solanum nigrum L.
V - Kadu-Nimb, Neem.
Ripe fruits are eaten raw.
Ripe fruits are eaten.

MORACEAE
Ficus racemosa L. (V - Umbar)
Fruits are eaten after ripening or
unripe fruits made into vegetable.
Ficus hispida L.f.
Ripe fruits are eaten.
CYCADACEAE
Cycas beddomei Dyer
Fruit and Tender tip eaten fried or cooked.
MUSACEAE
Ensete superbum (Roxb.) Cheesm.
(V - Jangali Keli, Rai Keli)
Fruits are cooked as vegetable.
 RHAMNACEAE RUTACEAE

Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill. Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.

Ripe berries are eaten. Ripe fruits are eaten raw or fruit pulp
made into jam.
SAPOTACEAE SOLANACEAE

Madhuca longifolia (Keon.) Mac.

Physalis minima L.
Ripe fruits are eaten.
Ripe fruits are eaten.
Also used for edible oil extraction.
 Habit
18
16
14
Number of plants 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Tree Herb Shrub Climber woody climber

 In present study about …….. wild edible plants have been enumerated, among
them 0 are Tree, 0 herb, 0 shrub, 0 climber , and 0 woody climber.
 Out of 0 species, angiosperms comprised the highest number being represented by
0 species followed by pterdophytes 0 and gymnosperm 0 species.
 Dicotyledons were represented by 0 and monocotyledons were represented by
only 0 species .
  Among the 18 hamlets , the most utilized species belong to Fabaceae (6),
followed by Amaranthaceae, cucuebitaceae, moraceae (3), euphorbiacae
(2), and mirtaceae (2), and the remaining families were represented by
one or two species each.

Family wise distribution

6

4
3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

e e e E E e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
c ea cea ac EA EA cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea cea era cea
a a e a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a f a
di Ar hac TAC IAC ric str ret rbit ore en rbi ab eli or ing us yrt on flor Po mn ubi ut pot lan uli elli en
c ar t C I N a la b u c b
E ph o F M M or M M b s i a R R a o rc b rb
a an CA LP C e
C Com Cuc ios M um s Rh S S te Um Ve
An ar A D Eu el Pa S
a m S N
E
CA
 CONCLUSION
 The observations of the study are that 0 species of flowering
plants are flourishing very well in association with the
inhabitants of kani tribes residing at Peringammala Grama
Panchayath.
 An analysis of species wise usage shows that 122 species
are employed by the tribals as medicine, 43 spp. as wild
edibles, 10 spp. as hygiene, one sp. are making musical
instrument, 3 spp. as insect repellent, 6 spp. as firewood, 4
and mat making, 13 spp. in customs and rituals, 2 spp. as
spp. as fish trap and fish poison, 6 spp. in hut construction, 3
spp. as basket odder plants, 32 spp. are used as Non Wood
Forest Products, 4 spp. as recreation and 8 spp. as
miscellaneous purposes.
 REFERENCES
 Cooke T. The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay. Vol. I, II, III.
Botanical Survey of India. Culcutta, 1967.
 Hooker J. D. The Flora of British India. Vol. I – VII. London, 1872
– 1997.
 Naik V. N. Marathwadyatil Samanya Vanaushhadhi. (Marathi)
Amrut Prakashan, Aurangabad, 1998.
 Sharma B. D., S. Karthikeyan, and N. P. Singh. Flora of
Maharashtra state, Monocotyledones. Botanical Survey of India.
Calcutta, 1996.
 Singh N. P. and Karthikeyan S. Flora of Maharashtra State –
Dicotyledones, Vol. I. Botanical Survey of India. Calcutta, 2000.
 Singh N. P., P. Lakshminarasimhan, S. Karthikeyan and
Prasanna P. V. Flora of Maharashtra State – Dicotyledones, Vol. II.
Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, 2001.
THANK YOU