Assessment of Wild Edible Fruits Consumed through the Tribal People of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs), Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was conducted with the ethno-botanical survey, documentation and future potentialities of the wild edible fruits used through the tribal people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs). The wild edible fruits play an important role in meeting the food and nutritionneeds of the tribal people living in the CHTs. This paper deals with documentation of 49 types of wild edible fruits plant speciesbelonging to 25 families used by the tribal people of CHTs. Their botanical names, families, local name, habit and fruit ripening time are discussed. Suggestions have been made to improve the quality (variety) of wild fruits through domestication, hybridization, grafting and also for their chemical analysis for improved food values and economic properties. Attempts should be taken to protect the wild edibles fruit species in the vanishing from natural forests. Also the general public should be encouraged to cultivate and use these wild fruits in addition to the conventional fruits by improving the varieties and nutritional value of the wild fruits through research.