Wild edible fruit tree resources of Arunachal Pradesh, North East India

Abstract

The paper reports on the survey of wild edible fruit trees covering 49 sites from 17 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, India. A total of 52 wild edible fruits species representing 33 families was reported, out of which 10 had medicinal uses. The highest number of wild edible fruits belonged to family Moraceae (9 spp.) followed by Anacardiaceae (4 spp.) and Actinidiaceae (3 spp.). More than half the fruits (66.67%) are available during the monsoon season, i.e. between June and October. Dilenia indica, Castanopsis indica, Canarium strictum, Terminalia citrina, Phoebe cooperiana, Phyllanthus emblica and Artocarpus intergifolia are the commonly traded fruits. This is perhaps the only extensive survey which has so far been carried out on wild edible fruit tree resources covering all the districts of Arunachal Pradesh. In the present era where there is global interest on bioresource documentation, this study is significant for securing intellectual property right and preventing biopiracy.