BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
This article is part of the Research TopicRevitalization and Sustainable Utilization of Neglected and Underutilized Plant Species (NUS) for Enhanced Human Nutrition and Agroecological ResilienceView all 6 articles
Leaf nutritional composition and calcium speciation of a karst-endemic wild vegetable used by the indigenous people of Hainan Island, China
Provisionally accepted
Ren-Fen Wang1
Fang Wen1,2
Ke Tan1,2,3*
Wen-Qian Xiang2,3Zhe Zhang2,4
Yi-Gang Wei1
Ming-Xun Ren2,3*Ping-Ya Chen5*- 1Guangxi Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guilin, China
- 2Hainan Institute of National Park & Key Laboratory for National Park Protection and Development of Hainan Province, Haikou, China
- 3International Joint Center for Terrestrial Biodiversity around South China Sea of Hainan Province, School of Ecology, Hainan University, Haikou, China
- 4School of Breeding and Multiplication (Sanya Institute of Breeding and Multiplication), Hainan University, Haikou, China
- 5Haikou Customs Technical Center, Haikou, China
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Primulina heterotricha, a species endemic to Hainan Island, China, belongs to the Gesneriaceae family and is traditionally consumed as a wild vegetable by the Li ethnic group, the earliest inhabitants on the island. Despite its long history of use, systematic research on this species has been lacking. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of the nutritional composition of P. heterotricha. The results reveal a high moisture content (95.4 g/100 g), and is rich in dietary fiber (2.95 g/100 g); it is characterized by low energy value (3.72 kcal/100 g) and low carbohydrate content (0.709 g/100 g). Notably, the species is characterized by exceptionally high calcium levels (289 mg/100 g), of which the predominant form is NaCl-Ca (133 mg/100 g), while other forms include H₂O-Ca (67.8 mg/100 g), AIC-Ca (55.9 mg/100 g), HCl-Ca (15.3 mg/100 g), Res-Ca (8.80 mg/100 g), and HAC-Ca (8.60 mg/100 g). These findings not only confirm the high nutritional value of P. heterotricha as a calcium-rich wild vegetable resource but also underscore its potential applications in functional foods, the development of local specialty ingredients, and the preservation of the traditional dietary culture of the Li ethnic group. Moreover, this work provides a solid foundation for further research on its food industry applications and highlights the importance of documenting and safeguarding ethnobotanical knowledge in minority-inhabited regions of Hainan Island.
Keywords: Ethnobotany, Gesneriaceae, Hainan Island, Primulina heterotricha, Traditional knowledge
Received: 19 Nov 2025; Accepted: 06 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wang, Wen, Tan, Xiang, Zhang, Wei, Ren and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ke Tan
Ming-Xun Ren
Ping-Ya Chen
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