Nutritional and Functional Properties of Wild Food-Medicine Plants From the Coastal Region of South China

Exploring unconventional food plants used by local communities in a rural area of West Java, Indonesia: ethnobotanical assessment, use trends, and potential for improved nutrition

BACKGROUND

As one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, Indonesia contains over 25,000 plant species, including unconventional food plants (UFPs). These plants are integral to the dietary practices of rural communities, providing essential nutrients often overlooked in modern diets. However, the use of UFP is declining, with both their dietary and cultural values being undermined. In rural West Java, this decline in UFP biodiversity coincides with public health challenges related to malnutrition. This study aims to document the diversity of UFPs used by local communities in rural West Java, assess their nutritional value, and explore their consumption practices.

METHODS

Data were collected using mixed methods, including interviews with 20 key informants and food frequency questionnaire administered to 107 women in three villages in the area. The nutritional compositions of documented UFPs were obtained from literature and analysis. Bivariate correlation was used to analyze the relationships between UFP consumption frequency and potential correlates.

RESULTS

The study documented 52 species of UFPs from 29 families, many of which are rich in nutritional value. About half of respondents (56%) consumed UFPs moderately (2-3 times a week). UFP consumption frequency had a strong correlation (r = 0.70) with associated knowledge (r = 0.70, p < 0.01) and a weak correlation with age (r = 0.240, p = 0.015), livestock possession (r = 0.260, p = 0.008), and family size (r = - 0.220, p = 0.02). Motivations for UFP consumption included availability as free food (33%), medicinal value (26%), nostalgic value (23%), and preferred taste (18%). Most respondents (92%) agreed that consumption has declined compared to the past, with perceived reduced availability and lack of knowledge cited as the primary reasons for the declining trend.

CONCLUSIONS

UFP use is common in the study area, where local communities value these plants for their critical roles in diet, medicine, and culture. Given their significant potential to meet dietary needs, educating and raising awareness about UFPs can enhance their consumption and contribute to food and nutrition security.

The action logic of the older adults about health-seeking in South Rural China

BACKGROUND

The Chinese government has invested significant resources to build many rural healthcare stations. However, in the face of convenient medical paths and accessible medical resources, the utilization rate of health services for older adults in rural areas is surprisingly low. This study explored why health-seeking behavior among older adults in rural China was not active.

METHODS

Data were collected through participatory rural appraisal (PRA) with 108 participants in 12 villages in southern China. Daily schedule and social and resource mapping were employed to outline the range of activities and the routine of the older adults, as well as in-depth interviews to understand the logic of their healthcare choices. Data collected were analyzed by content analysis.

RESULTS

Three themes were generated: (1) perceptions of health status (being healthy or sick): the rural older adults used the ability to handle routine chores as a measure of health status; (2) prioritization of solving symptoms over curing diseases: the older adults preferred the informal self-medication to cope with diseases, as long as there were no symptoms and no pain; (3) 'unpredictable' troubles: they tended to favor the 'optimal' solution of keeping their lives in order rather than the best medical treatment options.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that the medical practices of the rural elderly were profoundly influenced by their perceptions of health and their life experiences. In the face of diseases, they tended to keep their lives in order, preferring self-treatment practices that address symptoms or selectively following medical advice rather than medical and science-based clinical solutions. In the future, the construction of rural health care should focus on changing the 'inaccessibility' of healthcare resources at the subjective level of the rural elderly and develop culturally adaptable health education.

Underutilized green leafy vegetables: frontier in fortified food development and nutrition

From the ancient period, Green leafy vegetables (GLV) are part of the daily diet and were believed to have several health beneficial properties. Later it has been proved that GLV has outstanding nutritional value and can be used for medicinal benefits. GLV is particularly rich in minerals like iron, calcium, and zinc. These are also rich in vitamins like beta carotene, vitamin E, K, B and vitamin C. In addition, some anti-nutritional elements in GLV can be reduced if it is grown properly and processed properly before consumption. Tropical countries have a wide variety of these green plants such as Red Spinach, Amaranth, Malabar Spinach, Taro Leaf, Fenugreek leaf, Bengal Gram Leaves, Radish Leaves, Mustard Leaves, and many more. This review focuses on listing this wide range of GLVs (in total 54 underutilized GLVs) and their compositions in a comparative manner. GLV also possesses medicinal activities due to its rich bioactive and nutritional potential. Different processing techniques may alter the nutritional and bioactive potential of the GLVs significantly. The GLVs have been considered a food fortification agent, though not explored widely. All of these findings suggest that increasing GLV consumption could provide nutritional requirements necessary for proper growth as well as adequate protection against diseases caused by malnutrition.

Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and Antimicrobial Activity of Dracocephalum moldavica L. Essential Oil and Hydrolate

Steam distillation was used for the isolation of Dracocephalum moldavica L. (Moldavian dragonhead) essential oil (DMEO). This aromatic herbaceous plant is widespread across the Northern Hemisphere regions and has been utilized in health-improving studies and applications. In addition to the DMEO, the hydrolate (DMH), a byproduct of the distillation process, was also collected. The DMEO and DMH were analyzed and compared in terms of their chemical composition, as well as their in vitro biological activities. The main component in DMEO was geranyl acetate, while geranial was dominant in DMH. The DMEO demonstrated better antioxidant and antimicrobial activities compared with the DMH against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes, which represent sources of food-borne illness at the global level. The DMEO and DMH show promise as antioxidant and antimicrobial additives to various products.

Pharmacological screening of Eryngium foetidum Linn – A Review

Eryngium foetidum L. (Family Apiaceae) is a biennial herb, and it is used as a culinary herb and spice across the different countries of the world, including Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. due to its high aroma quality. Also, it is used to treat several ailments, such as respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal ailments, and skin diseases among different indigenous populations for its medicinal properties. Based on ethnomedical evidence, many studies have been conducted to identify the phytoconstituents, underlying mechanisms, and related pharmacological effects of different parts of this plant. This study reviewed the current state of findings related to the Pharmacological activities of E. foetidum. Based on this review, this plant is widely used for ethnomedical and culinary purposes. Pharmacological screening of the plant revealed that it had different activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anthelminthic, anticonvulsant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antimalarial, larvicidal, and hepatoprotective activities. This review further promised that potential new chemical entities could be elicited from the phytoconstituents of E. foetidum.

How Can India Leverage Its Botanic Gardens for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Wild Food Plant Resources through the Implementation of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation?

Wild food plants (WFPs) are consumed by the indigenous communities in various parts of the world for food, nutrition, and medicinal purposes. They are usually collected from the wild and sometimes grown in the vicinity of the forests and the dwellings of the indigenous people in a way such that they are not far from their natural habitats. WFPs are important for the food and nutritional requirements of the indigenous communities. The WFPs are seasonal and collected from the wild whenever they are available. Therefore, the food menu of the tribal co mmunities changes with the seasons. A number of studies have demonstrated various WFPs consumed by indigenous communities including India. The results show that an enormous diversity of WFPs is consumed by the indigenous people of India. However, a few studies also suggest that the consumption of WFPs among the indigenous communities is declining along with the dwindling of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge linked to the collection, processing, cooking, storage, and limited cultivation of WFPs. India can leverage the network of its botanic gardens for the conservation of its wild food plant resources, the traditional and indigenous knowledge linked to it, and its popularization among the citizens within the framework of Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). This article provided an overview of the need to focus on WFPs, limitations of current studies, and role of botanic gardens in the conservation of wild food plants through the implementation of GSPC. This article further provided a framework for the role of botanic gardens in the popularization of WFPs, increasing the awareness about their importance, documentation, and preservation of the traditional knowledge linked to various aspects of WFPs within the GPSC framework.

Chile (Capsicum spp.) as Food-Medicine Continuum in Multiethnic Mexico

Mexico is the center of origin and diversification of domesticated chile (Capsicum annuum L.). Chile is conceived and employed as both food and medicine in Mexico. In this context, the objective of this paper is to describe and analyze the cultural role of chile as food and as medicine for the body and soul in different cultures of Mexico. To write it, we relied on our own fieldwork and literature review. Our findings include a) the first matrix of uses of chile across 67 indigenous and Afrodescendants cultures within Mexican territory and b) the proposal of a new model of diversified uses of chile. Traditional knowledge, uses and management of chile as food and medicine form a continuum (i.e., are not separated into distinct categories). The intermingled uses of Capsicum are diversified, deeply rooted and far-reaching into the past. Most of the knowledge, uses and practices are shared throughout Mexico. On the other hand, there is knowledge and practices that only occur in local or regional cultural contexts. In order to fulfill food, medicinal or spiritual functions, native communities use wild/cultivated chile.

Improvement of a Traditional Orphan Food Crop, Portulaca oleracea L. (Purslane) Using Genomics for Sustainable Food Security and Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is a popular orphan crop used for its nutritional properties in various parts of the world. It is considered one of the richest terrestrial sources of omega-3 and omega-6-fatty acids (ω-3 and 6-FAs) suggesting its importance for human health. This ethnomedicinal plant is also an important part of traditional healing systems among the indigenous people. Many studies have indicated its tolerance against multiple stresses and found that it easily grows in a range of environmental gradients. It has also been considered one of the important biosaline crops for the future. Despite its huge nutritional, economic, and medicinal importance, it remains neglected to date. Most of the studies on purslane were focused on its ethnomedicinal, phytochemical, pharmacological, and stress-tolerance properties. Only a few studies have attempted genetic dissection of the traits governing these traits. Purslane being an important traditional food crop across the globe can be valorized for a sustainable food security in the future. Therefore, this review is an attempt to highlight the distribution, domestication, and cultivation of purslane and its importance as an important stress-tolerant food and a biosaline crop. Furthermore, identification of genes and their functions governing important traits and its potential for improvement using genomics tools for smart and biosaline agriculture has been discussed.

A novel flavonoid with antioxidant activity from Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss

Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss (P. villosa), a perennial herb, is widely used as a medicinal plant in Chinese folk. This study aims to isolate and identify the chemical constituents from P. villosa and evaluate their antioxidant activity. Normal silica column chromatography, ODS silica column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC methods were used to obtain a new compound named 3-n-pentadecyl-4'-methoxyluteolin (1) and two known compounds including luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide methyl ester (2) and apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucuronide methyl ester (3). The antioxidant activity of these compounds was determined by DPPH and ABTS methods and the IC50 values were calculated. The IC50 values of ABTS scavenging activity of 1, 2 and 3 were 12.99 ± 0.09 μM, 7.13 ± 0.07 μM and 5.15 ± 0.08 μM, respectively, and the IC50 values of DPPH scavenging activity of 1, 2 and 3 were 51.86 ± 0.41 μM, 23.95 ± 0.71 μM and 25.06 ± 0.65 μM, respectively. All the compounds exhibited good antioxidant activities in vitro.