For the present study, we have focused mainly on the district Birbhum, the land of varied topography, dry deciduous Saal forest, and diverse tribal groups resides in remote villages as well as urban and semi-urban areas of this district. The study area is located in between 23°32′30′′ and 24°35′00′′ North latitudes and 87°5′25′′ and 88°1′40′′ East longitudes, and occupies an area of 4,545 sq. km (Figure 1). In Birbhum, 15,927 hectares of land is covered by forest; out of which 2,849 hectares of land is under the reserved forest areas, 6,242 hectares is protected forest areas and 6,835 hectares of land is unclassified state forest land. Some of the main forests in the district are Ballavpur forest, Gonpur forest, Chaupahari forest, Chorchor forest, forest of Chinpai and Bhandibon. All these natural forests are rich in varieties of medicinal and edible species of diverse plant groups which are gathered mainly by the tribal people for partial fulfillment of their daily diet and primary healthcare needs. Apart from the Santals, ethnic communities like Konra, Mahali, Sardar, Dhangar, etc. also reside here (Mandal and Rahaman, 2022).

The Santals are the third largest ethnic group in India having unique cultural heritage. They are the descendants of pre-Dravidian people who migrated to eastern India nearly three centuries ago (Sarkar and Singha, 2019). Greater portion of the Santal reside in the Indian states namely West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar. In West Bengal, population of the Santal tribe is 5.5% of the state population. In this state, majority of the Santals reside in the districts of Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, and Midnapore that comprise the greater part of the laterite region in West Bengal.

Once the Santals were purely a nomadic tribe but later they embraced a settled livelihood. Nowadays, they have adopted multidimensional strategies for income generation. Small-scale agriculture and cattle rearing are the primary means of earning their sustenance. Santals are also engaged in making musical equipment, mats, baskets, crafts, ornaments, brooms, leaf plates and cups out of the plants and supplement their income by selling these items in the nearby markets. A large section of Santal people acts as daily labourers in the neighboring agricultural field, industrial setups, mining and urban areas. They are occasionally engaged in hunting and fishing also. In spite of all these means of revenue generation, till date Santal people in the area face certain hardships of life such as poverty, social and economic backwardness, low level of education and poor health status.

Poor economic condition reflects in their food and feed culture. Plain rice is the main staple food. Frequently this rice is taken in a unique way after soaking it in water overnight. Some common vegetables like brinjal, pumpkin, papaya, sweet potato, chili, etc. are mostly grown in their home garden and cultivated field for daily use. Apart from that, Santals use several wild and semi-wild fruits and vegetables most frequently in cooking to fill the stomach as well as to enhance the flavor of their food or for preservation purposes. Rice beer or “daka-handi” is a traditional drink and remains very popular among the after from Santals. They also like to drink “mahua” liquor, a drink made from the fermented dried flower of Madhuca longifolia (J.Koenig ex L.) J.F.Macbr.

In West Bengal, the researchers evidenced the poor growth rate and high prevalence of undernutritional condition among the Santal people of all ages (Das and Bose, 2012; Stiller et al., 2020). They also highlighted several factors like poverty, low educational level, poor knowledge of health care, insufficient intake of nutritional food, social taboos and belief in supernatural powers. All these factors become vital obstacles to the tribal people in achieving the desired health status (Sarkar and Singha, 2019).

For ethnogastronomical data collection, field surveys were conducted for a period of 1 year (July, 2021 – June, 2022) in purposefully selected 11 Blocks of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India where approximately 80% of district’s tribal population resides at present. “Block” represents one of many administrative units under a Subdivision of a district usually consisting of several villages. We have randomly selected 10 localities from villages and cities from each of the studied blocks like Rampurhat-I, Mohammad Bazar, Rajnagar, Suri-I, Suri-II, Sainthia, Labpur, Nanoor, Bolpur-Sriniketan, Illambazar, and Dubrajpur. At first, 528 inhabitants of the studied area have randomly been asked whether they use wild edibles as vegetables or for medicinal purposes. Among them, 153 inhabitants have responded positively. From them, data were collected through informal interviews, group discussion, and using semi-structured questionnaire (Supplementary File S1). Plants were identified and collected as voucher specimens during in loco interaction and use of visual stimuli. Knowledge holding capacity of each of the key participants has been estimated as follows- Knowledge holding capacity = the numbers of wild edibles known to the individual total numbers of wild edibles recorded × 100

The data on local name of the wild edible species, its traditional uses, cooking methods, season of availability, frequency of use in a week, side effects if any, and market value have been recorded. Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) was requested from each of the participants before starting the interviews as their participation was voluntary. Participating children under the age of 15 years were requested to provide the FPIC of their own and their parents. At the time of field survey we have strictly followed the best field practice as proposed earlier by the scientists (Heinrich and Verpoorte, 2014; Heinrich et al., 2018), and the Code of Ethics recommended by International Society of Ethnobiology (2008). The collected data have been compared with the available literature on ethnobotany of wild edibles from Laterite region in West Bengal (Banerjee et al., 2013; Bouri and Ganguly, 2016; Banerjee, 2018; Chatterjee et al., 2022).

Sample specimens have been collected following the national guidelines (NMPB, 2015) and preserved as herbarium specimens following conventional techniques (Jain and Rao, 1977). These specimens have been kept in the Departmental Herbarium, Department of Botany, Krishna Chandra College, Hetampur, India for future references. For identification of the collected wild edibles, both consultation of different Floras and expert opinions have been considered (Dixit, 1984; Guha Bakshi, 1984; Purkayastha and Chandra, 1985; Bilgrami et al., 1991; Sanyal, 1994; Fraser-Jenkins, 2008; Ranjan et al., 2016; Deb et al., 2018). The updated scientific names are used here following the standard websites like Plants of the World Online,¹ and Germplasm Resources Information Network.²

The collected data have been analyzed using specific statistical tools like Relative frequency of citation (RFC), and Cultural food significance index (CFSI) to identify the most popular and culturally accepted species in the area. Jaccard similarity index (JI) is used to draw a comparative account among the recent studies conducted in and around the surveyed area.

Among the 153 key participants, age ranged from 10 to 87 years which included 87 women, 37 men, 21 girls and 8 boys from 132 households scattered in the remote rural areas, semi-urban and urban settlements in Birbhum district (Table 1). Among the participants 17 were traditional healers having versatile knowledge of plants and well-recognized in the respective localities for their healing skills. In the folk culture of eastern India, the knowledge of locally available wild edibles was found to be extensive among the female informants those who are mainly attached with household activity and working as daily labourers. Attachment of female individuals with the local food plants have also been observed in other parts of the world also (Tbatou et al., 2016; Ghanimi et al., 2022). Participants aged above 50 years collectively can able to identify, recalling local names and ethnogastronomic uses of 77 wild edible species. Greater knowledge-holding capacity of the aged participants is quite common in most of the ethnobotanical studies (Beltrán-Rodríguez et al., 2014; Ghanimi et al., 2022). Aging is accompanied by learning that helps one individual to gather knowledge and experiences throughout his/her life. Gathering of wild edibles is independent of education and literacy level of the participants but mostly dependent on their socio-economical conditions, type of settlements, social recognition and faith in local biodiversity. Few young participants have expressed their fondness toward urbanized lifestyle and commercially available, cultivated fruits and vegetables which is a matter of concern.

A total of 83 wild edible species (WES) were documented that spread across 48 families. Among the 83 species, 65 species were angiosperms, 3 species were pteridophytes and the rest 15 were from fungal groups. Among the 15 edible mushrooms, 12 were soil fungi, 2 wood fungi, and one grew on paddy straw. Among the reported 46 families, Amaranthaceae was represented by the highest number of WES (6 species) followed by Fabaceae and Rubiaceae (5 species). This data was in contrast with the observation made earlier from India where Leguminosae and Compositae represent highest number of edible species (Ray et al., 2020). Families like Asteraceae, Lyophyllaceae, and Malvaceae were represented by four species each. Three species were recorded under Dioscoreaceae and Araceae. Nine families, Agaricaceae, Amanitaceae, Boletaceae, Apocynaceae, Commelinaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Moraceae, and Rhamnaceae were represented by two species each. Only one species represented rest of the 31 families.

In the present study, maximum number of edible species recorded under the family Amaranthaceae, which may be due to their ease availability in the studied area, herbaceous nature, and preference as leafy vegetables. Potentiality of Amaranthaceae members as food items endowed with nutritional value has already been established (Preetha et al., 2018; Nuñez-Estevez et al., 2021; Ruth et al., 2021). So, diverse nature of this plant family in relation to accessibility, palatability and food value can contribute a lot toward achieving food security.

According to the habits, most of the recorded WES were found herbaceous in nature (40%) followed by mushroom (18%), tree (19%), climber (15%), and shrubs (8%). Uses of the herbaceous species in greater number are a characteristic of many folk cultures. It is a fact that humans would prefer to search for food and medicine, which are very easy to access, most abundantly growing, and have long span of availability (Albuquerque et al., 2005). For these reasons, herbaceous plants have played a significant role in folk people’s food and medicinal heritage (Cheng et al., 2022; Khalid et al., 2023).

Local inhabitants of the study area collect various edible parts like flower, calyx, fruit, fruiting body, leaf, petiole, young coiled fronds, seed, stem, shoot, underground parts like root, tuber, and corm. Leaves were the mostly collected plant parts (28.41%) that are mainly used as leafy vegetables followed by fruit (22.73%), fruiting body (17.05%), shoot and stem (17.05%), underground parts (7.95%), flower and calyx (4.55%), and seed (2.27%). In the present study most frequently cited leafy vegetables were Ipomoea aquatica, Azadirachta indica, Enydra fluctuans, Colocasia esculenta, Marsilea vestita, Centella asiatica, and Hygrophila auriculata. These observations are in line with the previous work conducted in eastern India (Sinha and Lakra, 2005; Banerjee et al., 2013; Bouri and Ganguly, 2016; Banerjee, 2018; Das, 2018; Kumar and Saikia, 2020). On the other hand, fruits of Ficus racemosa, Madhuca longifolia, Coccinia grandis, Neolamarckia cadamba, Ziziphus nummularia, and Artocarpus lacucha were informed as popular choices for the local people. Both the plant parts (leaves and fruits) were mostly utilized by the local tribes and in agreement with the current study, those edible parts were found as the main source of wild food in other areas of the Asian continent including India (Khan et al., 2015; Bhatia et al., 2018; Mallick et al., 2020; Cheng et al., 2022; Amin et al., 2023).

A total of 2,603 citations were made by the 153 participants for 83 types of different wild edible species. In the present study, among the 83 WES, 60 species were collected solely for edible purposes. On the other hand, 23 edible species were attached with both ethnomedicine and local food heritage. Local people have deep understanding and knowledge of the therapeutic properties of those wild edible species. As for example- butter fried leaves of Centella asiatica and Bacopa monnieri are consumed for their brain boostering properties, Hygrophila auriculata is mainly taken for its anti-anemic capacity, soup of Termitomyces heimii is taken as cure for dysentery, tuber of Dioscorea alata is attached with its anthelmintic potentialities, etc. Local people consciously consumed those species as medicinal food in spite of their low test appreciation score. It is an establish fact that those herbs can provide both high nutritional inputs and medicinal effectiveness.

Documented wild edibles were mostly gathered from late monsoon to mid-winter. Maximum collection rates were informed during March–April and September–November. The highest collection of wild mushrooms occurs in the month of October. Participants informed that most of the leafy vegetables were collected during the period of May–July. Edible leafy vegetables were mostly collected from marshy land (e.g., Alternanthera philoxeroides), agricultural fields (e.g., Centipeda minuta), water bodies (e.g., Ipomoea aquatica), fallow lands (e.g., Ouret lanata), and road sides (e.g., Amaranthus viridis). Herbaceous leafy greens which are easily accessible were mostly collected by women and children. In the contrary, male members of the community harvest edible underground parts and fruits which need extra physical strength and the support of mechanical tools. Some participants pointed out sustainable harvesting practice followed by folk taboos and beliefs attached with ethno-conservation practices (Kala, 2006; Oka, 2018). As for example, during collection of root vegetables (e.g., Asparagus sp.) some parts were left behind which will hopefully help in reviving the plant and sprouting occurs from the remains under favorable condition.

In 17 cases plant parts were eaten raw and mostly they were the ripe fruits. Rest of the cases edible parts were taken in the form of boiled and cooked vegetables, curry, chutney, pakora, pickles, traditional drinks, and recreational tea (Figures 2A–C). Plant like Pandanus amaryllifolius is used as flavoring agent only.

Despite the potential for wild edibles as food in the future, some people are concerned about their alleged toxicity because of pesticide residues, heavy metals, chemical additives, microorganisms, and/or the synthesis of hazardous chemical compounds (Xu et al., 2016; Sai Latha et al., 2018; Urugo and Tringo, 2023). The scientific community is deeply divided on this issue. The non-toxic character of naturally occurring wild foods is defended by one group, while the existence of heavy metals, oxalic acids, cyanogenic glycosides, lectins, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and several other poisonous chemicals is warned of by the opposing party (Liu et al., 2015; Buenavista et al., 2021; Saha et al., 2023). Tribes in the studied area have an inherent knowledge of how to treat wild foods after gathering, which aids them in avoiding such harmful dangers. Before consumption in fresh form, washing with clean water is a very common practice that helps in removal of dirt, putrid residue, or other unwanted things from surface (Ruan-Soto et al., 2017). In few cases specialized treatment were given to the edible parts before cooking. In case of wild edible mushrooms, after thorough washing with water, boiling once or twice in plain water or saline water or lime water or with tamarind juice were done according to the local tribe’s emic perception of collected mushroom’s habit, external features and palatability (Sharma, 2015). It was informed that the cuticle of the pileus and stipe was peeled off in case of species like Amanita vaginata, Russula emetic, Boletus edulis, Amanita vaginata var. alba, and Astraeus hygrometricus to reduce their bitterness and to enhance softness. Hot water treatment and boiling are the best possible pre-cooking methods for reducing soluble oxalate content and pyrrolizidine alkaloids in some wild leafy vegetables and underground parts (Chai and Liebman, 2005; Savage and Dubois, 2006; Hajšlová et al., 2018; Takenaka et al., 2022). Local tribes of eastern India followed this method for processing the leaves and petioles of Colocasia esculenta, leaves of Typhonium trilobatum, tuber of Dioscorea spp., and corm of Amorphophallus sylvaticus. The use of organic acids, such as lime or tamarind juice, as part of local custom greatly reduces the concentration of insoluble oxalate crystals in food items. Regular usage of ginger, garlic, and turmeric while cooking may potentially serve as effective detoxifiers (El-Barbary, 2016; Ajanaku et al., 2022).

Most of the wild edibles are seasonal and only harvested during their time of availability. For future use, long-term storage is required without compromising their nutritional quality. Recorded wild edible mushrooms like Termitomyces heimii, Amanita vaginata var. alba, Russula emetic, and Termitomyces clypeatus were first thoroughly cleaned with lukewarm saline water, made sun-dried completely, and then stored in airtight containers for future uses. Local tribes of Himachal Pradesh in India preserved Morchella sp. in the same way (Kumari et al., 2022). Most of the time, ripe fruits were consumed fresh, while pickles were preferred for storage. In the present study, tribes of eastern India preserved fruits of Artocarpus lacucha, Grewia asiatica, Carissa spinarum, and Ziziphus nummularia in the form of pickle. Traditional pickling methods for preserving perishable fruits and vegetables have long history and have been opted universally (Behera et al., 2020). In few cases leafy vegetables like Hibiscus sabdariffa, Trigonella stellata, Cocculus hirsutus, Cajanus scarabaeoides, and Sonchus oleraceus were made shade dried for long-term use.

Many of the recorded wild edibles are gradually finding their place beside the cultivated ones and becoming a source of income generation for the local tribes. As for example, it has been reported that from August to October, in this duration of 3 months a huge income (nearly Rs. 35,000/household) is generated by selling the wild edible mushrooms like, Agaricus campestris, Amanita vaginata, Termitomyces heimii, Volvariella volvacea, and Astraeus hygrometricus (Figure 2D). Similar observations were made by the earlier workers also (Pradhan et al., 2010; Singha et al., 2020). Not only that, presence of highly demanding, nutritious, non-cultivated edibles parts like leaves of Marsilea vestita, Azadirachta indica, Enydra fluctuans, Ipomoea aquatica, Alternanthera sessilis, and Typhonium trilobatum; leaves, petioles and corms of Colocasia esculenta; tubers of Amorphophallus sylvaticus, and Dioscorea alata; petioles of Nymphaea nouchali; fruits of Ficus racemosa, and Artocarpus lacucha; medicinal food like Hygrophila auriculata, Centella asiatica, Mollugo spergula, and Bacopa Monnier are very common in the vegetable markets of rural, urban and semi-urban areas and sold in an average price of Rs.100-150/Kg (Figure 2E). So, there are strong reasons for domesticating some of these economically beneficial wild edibles which can strengthen the arena of food security as well as supply steady nutritional inputs and opens up new avenue for income generation to the local people (N’Danikou and Tchokponhoue, 2020). Collaborative efforts from the government, social activist, ecologist, agriculture and food scientists, local tribes can achieve the sustainable development goals by employing the strategies of food sovereignty, food security or a mixed method approach (Charoenratana et al., 2021).

Recorded wild edibles are presented in Table 2 describing their local names, updated taxonomic information, habits, duration of availability, edible parts, mode of eating or cooking, and traditional uses. Side by side, numbers of quotation (FC), value of relative frequency of citation (RFC) and CFSI score are also tabulated here. RFC value for the recorded species varied from 0.04 to 0.76. In the present study, Madhuca longifolia was identified as mostly cited edible species with maximum number of food use mentions (FC-116; RFC-0.76). Higher RFC value (i.e., close to 1) indicates greater importance of the species in the locality. Some other wild edibles like Colocasia esculenta (FC-72; RFC-0.47), Azadirachta indica (FC-83; RFC-0.54), Volvariella volvacea (FC-64; RFC-0.44), etc. were cited frequently also by the local tribes.

Ethnogastronomical data of 83 WES were analyzed using the most effective quantitative index like CFSI and the value ranged from 844 to 0.2. Plants like Colocasia esculenta, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Madhuca longifolia which have multiple edible parts, to them CFSI is calculated separately for each of the edible parts and then combined score is given to the edible species. All the wild edibles are arranged in a descending order according to their CFSI score along with detail calculations in Supplementary File S2. The enlisted wild edibles are then classified into six groups (Pieroni, 2001); species with very high cultural significance (CFSI ≥ 300), species with high significance (CFSI ranges from 100 to 299), moderate significance (CFSI varies from 20 to 99), low significance (CFSI ranges from 5 to 19), species with very low significance (CFSI ranges from 1 to 4) and species with negligible cultural significance (CFSI < 1).

Thirteen wild edibles were found very highly significant (CFSI value ranges from 315 to 844) and highest CFSI value was estimated for Colocasia esculenta (CFSI = 844) followed by Enydra fluctuans, Ipomoea aquatica, Mollugo spergula, Azadirachta indica, Bacopa monnieri, Volvariella volvacea, Madhuca longifolia, Amaranthus viridis, Hygrophila auriculata, Centella asiatica, Marsilea vestita, and Termitomyces heimii. In this group most of the plants are wild edible greens that are easily accessible, mostly available, and mainly used as leafy vegetables by the local inhabitants. The plant with multiple edible parts has high plant parts used score (PUI) as well as multi-functional food use score (MFFI). Every food plant is designated with the identity “edible” due to its edible plant parts that are very much attached with the local food heritage (Sujarwo and Caneva, 2015). For this reason we first calculated CFSI value separately for each of the edible parts like, corm, petiole and leaf of C. esculenta and then considering the cultural significance of that plant as a whole we combined the CFSI values of corm, petiole and leaf (corm − 147 + petiole − 308 + leaf – 389 = CFSI value of C. esculenta − 844) which make the plant most culturally significant species in the surveyed area with maximum CFSI value. Interestingly two edible mushrooms like V. volvacea, and T. heimii also took a significant place in this group. It may be due to their huge acceptance as a healthy food, high test appreciation score and quotation number. Seventeen species were designated as highly significant as their CFSI score ranged from102 to 274. CFSI score of 29 moderately significant species varied from 22 to 98. Eighteen WES having low significance as their CFSI value ranged from 5 to 19. Very low significance (CFSI = 1–4) was attached with 5 WES like Ceratopteris thalictroides, Phoenix acaulis, Tripidium bengalense, Tamilnadia uliginosa, and Pandanus amaryllifolius. One species like Dillenia pentagyna was found having negligible significance (CFSI = 0.2) due to its rare occurrence in the locality and very poor utilization frequency.

The wild edibles recorded from Birbhum district is compared with the data published earlier from other districts of laterite region in West Bengal as well as adjoining states like Jharkhand and Odisha where ethnic composition and biodiversity is very much alike (Sinha and Lakra, 2005; Banerjee et al., 2013; Bouri and Ganguly, 2016; Banerjee, 2018; Das, 2018; Kumar and Saikia, 2020). Results of Jaccard similarity index (JI) revealed that for all the cases JI score is very low (varies from 0.11 to 0.21) which means there is a huge knowledge dissimilarity among the inhabitants of different parts of laterite region (Table 3). It is interesting to note that being a part of the similar type of phytodiversity, every region has some unique knowledge on food plant utilization. The scenario is supported by the Venn diagram analysis where it has been found that knowledge about 47 plants is unique among the inhabitants of the studied area (Birbhum district) in eastern India (Figure 3).

Perusal of ethnobotanical, and ethnogastronomical literature published earlier from laterite region of West Bengal revealed that out of 83 wild edibles, 29 species as a whole or its edible parts are the new addition to the existing inventory of the wild edibles (Figures 2F–N) of this area (Banerjee et al., 2013; Bouri and Ganguly, 2016; Banerjee, 2018; Biswas, 2021). Plants like Alternanthera philoxeroides, Antidesma ghaesembilla, Carissa spinarum, Commelina diffusa, Emilia sonchifolia, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Rivea hypocrateriformis, Tamilnadia uliginosa, Sonchus oleraceus, Ziziphus nummularia, Tripidium bengalense, and Pandanus amaryllifolius have been recorded first time as wild edibles from the studied region. Moreover in few cases some plant parts and few species have been documented here as wild edibles that differ from the previous work of Bouri and Ganguly (2016). In the present study Polygonum plebeium is documented instead of Polygonum barbatum and Nymphaea nouchali is reported as an alternative for Nymphaea pubescens (Bouri and Ganguly, 2016). Similarly earlier workers have documented the plants Cajanus scarabaeoides and Cordia dichotoma for their edible fruits but here in both the cases only tender leaves of those plants have been enlisted (Bouri and Ganguly, 2016). This observation may have some impact on the local food heritage as it expands the list of wild edibles as well as provide the opportunity to opt alternative food sources in absence of one another.

The majority of research found a link between food insecurity and micronutrient insufficiency in consumers (Kirkpatrick and Tarasuk, 2008; Lowe, 2021; Lopes et al., 2023). Micronutrient deficit or “hidden hunger” is considerably one bigger problem than hunger, demonstrating the need of integrating food and nutrition security (Shetty, 2009). The phrase “food security” generally refers to a circumstance in which members of the population under consideration have access to enough food to meet their nutritional needs and to provide an adequate intake of calories. Dietary variety is one of the sustainable food-based ways for ensuring optimal micronutrient consumption and gaining calories. Many of the recorded wild edible fruits, roots, tubers, herbs, and mushrooms are high in micronutrients and they may help improve food security by addressing concerns like hidden hunger. Present study documented 83 wild edible species, different parts of which are collected by the local inhabitants throughout the year. They are consumed with relish mainly as to accompany the main cereal based staple dishes. Most of the recorded wild edibles are good source of food and are mostly rich in micronutrients (Ghosh-Jerath et al., 2016). For example- previous researchers have already explored that Colocasia leaf characterized by rich dietary fiber, micronutrients, proteins, and very low in calories (Mitharwal et al., 2022). It contains significant amount of β-carotene, ascorbic acid, folic acid, riboflavin, B vitamins, vitamin A, iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium. Corms of this culturally most valuable species are also a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins (Rashmi et al., 2018). It can be utilized as an additional tuber vegetable next to potato, and sweet potato which can be a great contribution toward achieving food security. It can also be processed as a food ingredient in nutraceutical industry also.

The plant Madhuca longifolia has been inextricably linked to the tribal culture of eastern India and remains as a cultural touchstone species for ages both for its food value and holiness. Flower, unripe fruit and seeds of this plant were recorded as edible items, among which flower was the mostly used plant part. Among the ethnic people of eastern India, utilization of Madhuca flower to make a traditional beverage called “mahua” or “mahuli daaru” is very common. Madhuca flower contains high amount of reducing sugars, Ca, P, Vitamin C, and Carotene (Pinakin et al., 2018). Regular use of this food item in its dried, fresh or processed form will be an advantage to combat malnutrition. Not only that, seed of Madhuca contain 50–61% oil which is edible and having lucrative fatty acid profile includes palmitic acid, stearic acid, and oleic acid. Nutritionists prefer vegetable oils with high oleic acid content because it lowers blood cholesterol, which in turn lowers the risk of coronary heart disease (Ramadan et al., 2016).

In rural and semi-urban vegetable market, presence of Marsilea vestita or “Sushni shak” is very common which indicate its wider use. Fondness for this edible leafy green mostly attached with its sleep boosting and antidepressant activity (Bhattamisra et al., 2008). Additionally, Marsilea contains high amount of essential vitamins like Thiamine (394 mg/100 g), Riboflavin (2.5 mg/100 g), and Vitamin C (240 mg/100 g) which provide added advantage of gaining required micronutrients in consumer’s daily diets (Jadhao and Wadekar, 2010).

Human beings have been consuming mushrooms as an important food source for centuries due to their attractive and multiple functional attributes (Bhambri et al., 2022). Local tribes of the laterite region of West Bengal preferably consumed wide array of wild macro-fungi which are nutritious and medicinally important (Dutta and Acharya, 2014; Das et al., 2015). Edible fungi like Volvariella volvacea, Termitomyces heimii, and Astraeus hygrometricus possess lots of essential minerals, amino acids, bioactive compounds, and vitamins (Paloi and Acharya, 2014; Roy et al., 2014; Pavithra et al., 2016). On the other hand Amanita vaginata, Agaricus campestris, and Amanita vaginata var. alba are also well recognized in the studied area for their deliciousness but their nutritional profiling is still not scientifically validated thoroughly.

Many of these locally growing nutritious wild edibles can be a potent substitute for commercially available costly marketed vegetables and fruits. Earlier workers from different parts of the world have experienced the same (Bvenura and Sivakumar, 2017; Duguma, 2020). Larger parts of the recorded species belong to the herbaceous group and can easily be accessed and raised in home gardens simultaneously which will help in maintaining a continuous food supply chain in the local tribe’s kitchen. Besides, 23 wild edibles having several medicinal properties which can provide additional advantage of health benefit along with food security. So the recorded species have high possibilities of providing the desired food security and micronutrient sufficiency if they are included in regular dishes.

Biodiversity loss due to anthropogenic activity, ecological factors and natural causes are a matter of ongoing discussion worldwide. Threats for wild edible resources are not bereft out of it (Oluoch et al., 2023). In the present study, during group discussion some threats for the local WES have been identified. Habitat destruction was identified as a most potential threat to the wild edibles of laterite region in West Bengal. Forest lands of this region have currently been encroached rapidly mostly for developmental activities and less for expansion of agricultural lands. Secondly, a competitive unsustainable harvest practice for species with good market value received substantial attention among the informants and was pointed out as a cause of population decline of species like Amorphophallus sylvaticus, Asparagus racemosus, and Dioscorea alata in the locality. So, habitat preservation and sustainable harvesting of wild edibles are very much crucial for the protection of these important wild crop genetic resources. Day by day socio-economic status of the rural tribals is changing rapidly which directly influence their consumeristic attitude toward urbanized culture. This may be a possible cause of reduced consumption of wild edibles and fading away associated traditional knowledge. Raising awareness among the community members is a long-term effective solution for sustenance of wild edibles in their natural habitat. Additionally collection of germplasm, raising them in situ or ex situ and formation of gene-bank are also crucial for conserving such treasure trove of our mother nature. Environmental conservationist, social activist, agriculturist, economist and other entrepreneurs can collaboratively step forward in this direction abide by the government laws and policies to protect the population of wild edibles and make fruitful utilization in benefit of the local tribes.