Ficus virens Aiton: an unexplored leafy vegetable
Authors/Creators
- 1. 1Department of Botany, RLSY College (Bettiah), BRAB University, West Champaran, Bihar, India 2Department of Botany, SYTR Government Degree College, Madakasira, Andhra Pradesh, India 3Department of Botany, Late D.B.T. Government College, Gurur, Balod, Chhattisgarh, India 4St. Joseph's University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India 5Cognizant Technology Solutions, West Bengal, India 6Department of Environmental Sciences, Uttaranchal university, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India 7Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Odisha, India
Description
Wild plants and their products have made significant contributions to the human diet since ancient times. Among them, wild leafy vegetables play a major role in meeting the nutritional requirements of the tribal and local populations. Leafy vegetables not only provide food quantity but also make a significant contribution to the population’s nutrition throughout the year. Ficus virens is one such species that is used as traditional food and medicine by tribal communities as a wild leafy vegetable. There is less documentation available on it. Therefore, keeping this in mind, an attempt has been made to gather information about F. virens in various aspects from field and literature surveys. The survey revealed that the tender leaves or new foliage of F. virens are used in food, medicinal, and economic aspects. It needs proper documentation in a scientific way for value addition.